Organic cotton has been the bedrock of our sustainable clothing since Silverstick was founded in 2010. We use Aegean organic cotton, certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), this is the highest quality organic cotton in the world. Organic means the cotton is grown without the use of chemicals such as pesticides and insecticides.

Organic cotton uses 45-50% less water than conventional cotton because our farmers use crop rotation to maintain healthy and fertile soils. Every 2-3 years the organic cotton is rotated with a corn or wheat crop, which fixes the nitrogen from the air and puts it back into the soil. This means the soil retains nutrients and crucially the organic matter in the healthy soil retains more moisture.

The emissions of our organic cotton clothing is lowered even further because it is grown very close to our factory in South West Turkey. This is one of the reasons we chose Turkey for our production as there is very little distance for the organic cotton to be transported from field to factory.

Turkish organic cotton is the only Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) free organic cotton in the world. The south west region has an ideal landscape and climate for it to grow, with sunny Summer days and an adequate amount of rainfall. The fields are flat and open so the wind is able to remove many harmful insects. Only natural manures are used so there is no chemical pollution of local waterways from field water runoff. The organic cotton is sown in April and handpicked in September. Once picked it is mechanically ginned to separate the lint from the seeds and then combed and spun.

Aegean organic cotton is of the highest quality because it has a long fiber. These long fibres make a very strong yarn that can be spun to have a smoother surface, which means our Silverstick fabrics are softer, cleaner and have more dye absorbency. Additionally Aegean organic cotton has a premium white colour that is very receptive to dye. So, all the effort we put into choosing the colours of our designs is well rewarded in our end product.

The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certifies our organic cotton. It is the world's leading organic textile processing standard, ensuring our clothing is truly organic at every step of production. This makes it better for the planet, the farmers and the end wearer.