Sustainability & Transparency

Our Promise - Sustainability & Transparency

Offering sustainable and ethical products that don’t compromise on design or quality.
Being transparent about where products are made and sources.
Avoiding the use of plastic across all our products and operation.
Endeavouring to reduce waste, looking for creative ways to reuse off-cuts.
Designing quality products to last, no throwaway fashion.
Creating supplier loyalty through mutually beneficial goals.

We seek to get as close as possible to the original source of our products. Knowing that everything we produce has an impact on the world, we want to take responsibility and limit that impact. We believe that fair trade is our duty, endeavouring always to use natural, ethically produced materials.

The simplest and best way for us to live sustainably is to reduce our consumption. That’s why our products are consciously designed with quality and longevity in mind. By lasting for years to come, Original Source and Supply items stand against throw-away fashion.

We are transparent about who makes our products and how. Below is a list of the people, factories and suppliers that we work with, past and present.

Current Collection

HANGBAGS

Fabrics for these are either factory excess or rejects. We buy them in small quantities and we may even update the fabric if we find a better option on the market.

The zips are upcycled waste from the fashion industry, meaning that they are zero waste. Colours may vary slightly, but we think this is what makes them special. All zips are tested and cut to measure before being stitched into the bag. This is a lengthier process than just buying ready-to-use zips, but we’d rather use zips that might otherwise end up in landfill.

The Hangbags have a clean finish and are completely bagged out (no visible seams). The straps are reinforced to make them last as long as possible.

They are stitched by Hemanthi at her house in Colombo. It’s thanks to her we managed to get this pattern right after many trials. Upali helps with checking the zips and shortening them.

TOPS AND SHORTS TRAVEL SETS

We buy fabrics in small quantities from a local source in Pettah market who carries excellent quality linen. Once they’re gone, they’re gone!

They are stitched by a team of seamstresses in the south, from their homes. They used to work in nearby garment factories in Koggala, before these were shut down during the economic crisis. Working from home allows the women to manage their time around housework and child care. We have donated machines to enable this.

All the seams are finished with a French seam, meaning the raw edges are tucked in, leaving a clean and tidy finish. We decided to use a French seam to make our shorts and tops to the highest quality and to last as long as possible.

ZERO WASTE HEADBANDS

Made from zero waste fabrics sourced in Colombo as well as off cuts from our own productions. The pattern pieces for these are relatively small, which allows us to use small pieces of discarded fabrics. This means we have had hundreds of different designs over the years, and sometimes there is only one of each. Stitched by different seamstresses across the island. ZERO WASTE HEADBANDS

GREETING CARDS AND POSTCARDS

Greeting cards, notebooks and hand tags are made in a printer in Rajagiriya, outside of Colombo. We are collaborating with a local paper recycling plant to use waste from the printers (and our own off-cuts) to make hand tags and other stationery products. Our greeting cards and envelopes are held together with a paper band. This is to avoid using unnecessary plastic.

POSTERS

Digitally printed in Colombo on high-quality paper. All packaging for the posters is upcycled. The tubes are the inside of fabric rolls, which Upali and his wife cut by hand at home. The fabric covers on the end of the tubes are cut off scraps from our own robe and travel bag productions. If you don’t know what to do with your old poster tube, please get in touch and we’ll take them back off you!

Meet the Seamstresses

Shamali

Hemanthi

Nini

Watch me interview Shamali in my best attempts at Sinhala! We talk about how long she has worked with OSAS, where she learnt to sew and what her favourite thing to listen to whilst sewing is. We even have a little chat about favourite foods.

Previous Products and Collaborations

BLOCK PRINTED FABRIC

Jaipur had been at the top of my wish list for years. When I finally got there in September 2016, I was blown away by the fabrics. Their beauty and intricacy is a result of hundreds of years of quality craftsmanship as exemplified by Block Print House. The Chippa family have generations of experience and expertise as Deepak explains in this video.

Printing, washing and dyeing – Block Print House – Read more about them and the block printing process here.
Cotton, for the latest collection we have decided to use organic cotton as it makes it more traceable.
Fabric Mill – By happy coincidence our block printers and canvas bag factory share a mill in Tamil Nadu, South India. We can’t wait to visit them!

SHIRT MANUFACTURER

Mullaithivu Training Development Centre, Sri Lanka

This factory offers training, jobs, transport and lunch to women living in post-war Mullaitivu. “It is considered as the poorest district in the country with mediocre development in all areas as compared to other districts.”

TRAVEL BAGS

Fabrics are either factory excess or rejects and sometimes zero waste. They are sourced directly from printers, high street retailers or excess fabric markets.

Shamali has been making these in her small shop on the outskirts of Colombo since we started in 2016.

Upali is in charge of delivering fabrics and picking up the bags. His keen eye for details means he is now also in charge of quality control. They’re in good hands.

ROBES

We buy fabrics in small quantities for these and make maximum four pieces in each print. Fabrics are either factory excess or rejects and sometimes zero waste.

There are now two seamstresses making these. Renuka has been making them in her shop in Galle since we launched them. Recently, Hemanthi has also started making them from her home too, for orders in Colombo.
We rarely have more than one or two of each style of robes made up and in stock, so a lot of the time they are made to order.

All the seams are finished with a French seam, meaning the raw edges are tucked in, leaving a clean and tidy finish. We decided to use a French seam to make our robes to the highest quality and to last as long as possible.

TOTES AND WASH BAGS

Sterling Fabrics, Karur, Tamil Nadu

These are made in a small family-run factory in Karur, India. They export for the European market and have a strong reputation for quality. We have worked with them from the start. They allow us to use their excess fabrics and trims from their productions for our items. This means that zip colours will vary on our wash bags and the fabric base colours may change. We’ve called this a “flexible approach to design”.

COLOURING PACKS

Our book covers are recycled and we’re currently looking to source suitable recycled paper in Sri Lanka. Each colouring book comes in a mini tote bag, made from zero waste fabrics. We use the smallest pieces for these and have hundreds of different prints and colours. It’s rare to find more than three the same.

We have donated more than 100 of our colouring books to children’s charities in Sri Lanka – read more about it here. With our donations we also give a detailed lesson plan for English language teaching, using our colouring book as a tool. If you’re interested in getting a copy of the lesson plan, message us here.

COASTERS AND MAGNETS

These are digitally printed in Colombo near our office and then hand-cut nearby. The cork for the coasters is also cut by hand, before being stamped and carefully pasted onto each tile. We are currently working on finding the exact source of the cork. The magnets are stuck on by Upali and his wife in their home.

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