Behind the Brand: Rakha

Organic. Eco-Friendly. Small Scale Production. Vegan.

North London eco brand Rhaka puts sustainability at the very heart if its production process. They work with a number of different manufacturers depending on the type of product as well as quantities. The vast majority of Rhaka's manufacturers are either GOTS or Fair Wear, BSCI, STEP, SEDEX certified.

The brand also works with a small family atelier which produces small quantities and specifically delicate items such as Cupro or Silk shirts that need attention to detail and fabrics that are quite hard to work with.

80% of Rhaka's garments are made from all certified bio-degradable materials that can compost in landfill within months and 20% made from recycled GRS certified materials. All the materials the brand uses are either GOTS, Vegan, GRS or Oeko Tex certified. Rhaka also makes sure that they create a closed-loop system throughout the supply chain as well as considering the life cycle of the products once it's purchased.

Rhaka works with mills that use water treatment plants and have policies in place that are aligned with SDG 12 goals set by the UN, these include programs such as industrial symbiosis and targets to reduce energy, water and waste aiming for a Zero waste by 2020.

In order to create a circular economy throughout the supply chain, they make sure there is no use of blended fabric compositions so that the garment can be either safely composted or recycled for a lifecycle extension.

We spoke to Gozde from Rakha about why making the brand sustainable and vegan-friendly was the only option.

Maybe a classic one but I wanted to create a brand and make clothes which I could not quite find out there. I was also very keen to offer people a better option without the guilt and the thought of having to compromise from style

I had just finished my studies in fashion design both in London and Milan, worked in different fields of the fashion industry for a short time. I mainly worked in fields relating to design, production and product development before I started Rakha almost a decade ago

All our production is based in Turkey either in Istanbul or Izmir although, we do source some speciality materials from Germany and India such as organic peace silk and C2C accessories. We work with suppliers and manufacturers which have certifications such as; Fair Wear, Vegan, GOTS, GRS, STEP, C2C etc.. but we do also work with a small family atelier in Istanbul for the production of our delicate garments. We visit them every month and make plans on how we could grow both of our businesses by supporting each other with Ugur and Ismail. We feel truly blessed to be working with them, with a family who are so passionate about what they are doing and always looking to find new ways to improve the quality of the garments and technology.

The IPCC report states that we only have 12 years to limit global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees. We came to a point where people and businesses are finally beginning to realise that making a profit or buying things without considering people and the planet is not the way forward, we are now all seeing the consequences of this. Businesses have the power to make major positive impacts in order to change this. Fashion is considered to be one of the 2nd most polluting industry in the world and we should all be working towards the SDG goals, especially SDG 12 to encourage and implement better ways of production and consumption of fashion products. A triple bottom line approach is the only way we can re-consider things starting from the design and product development stage of our value chain and transform the way we make things.

Rakha is a laid back stylish city woman who is environmentally and socially conscious.

We are now working on our new circular economy business model to give our products maybe a 2nd and a 3rd life before we recycle them.

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