Double awards for Kingly boost organic credentials of textile supplier

Clothing specialist Kingly has marked a double achievement by gaining an important textile standard and winning a major promotional gift award. The company has been approved for GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certification, making it one of only 52 socks manufacturers worldwide to meet the standard. It is the only GOTS accredited producer of socks in the UK.

GOTS shows that the company has conformed to a certain standard for the organic composition of its socks. Organic cotton used in textiles must not have used chemical pesticides, genetically modified seeds, or artificial fertilisers.

There are further requirements in terms of employment conditions and production methods including the use of water, so achieving the combination is a challenge. Kingly’s GOTS-certified cotton socks have also been awarded the 2022 Promotional Gift Award. The company has previously won a Promotional Gift Award in 2020 for its upcycled socks in compostable bags.

The socks were made from fibres mechanically recovered from recycled clothing, and the bags were made of potato starch. Kingly is also committed to zero-waste and has adopted this approach to eliminate textile waste in every aspect of production.

Offcut waste is retained and re-used, and waste fibres are retained and find a new life as stuffing for printed pillowcases, furniture, and so on. Rob Armour, CEO of Kingly, said: “Kingly’s ZeroWaste Facility is a benchmark that other manufacturers should aim to match. Crucially, we have been able to introduce these changes and meet these standards, and remain profitable.”