Tony Tonnaer,
director Kuyichi

‘In 2002 I was faced with the choice of either continuing my own business or taking up Solidaridad's offer and trying to make Kuyichi a success. I don't regret choosing the latter. Kuyichi enables me to control the whole production process: from cotton to consumer. Much has happened with the past few collections, but not yet everything from Kuyichi is completely clean and honest. In fact, we are not making a secret of it; transparency is part of our concept. A substantial of our T-shirts and sweaters are made from 100% organic cotton and for our jeans we finally developed the 100% organic denim we have been dreaming of. We searched for that denim for three years, because

producers are not straining to invest in new materials if only small runs are required.
Certain finishes also remain a problem. There are no clean alternatives for them, but they are indispensable for the right look. For the moment we are using such a finish, but in a careful way. I estimate that ninety percent of our customers buy Kuyichi because they find it a tough product, not because of the story. It does give them a good feeling though, because Kuyichi's philosophy is in tune with the times. Young consumers are highly critical. They make high demands on the level of creativity and want to know where something comes from. The MADE-BY Track&Trace system caters very well for this curiosity.’