Tonic Tee's: An Organic Snack

August 27, 2020

We’re shakin’ things up and bringing you a limited edition of Tonic Tee’s this Fall.
Men's & Women's. 3 Prints. XS-XL.

100% certified organic cotton blended with 100% delight.

How it works
Pre-ordering: the Ultimate Vorfreude

We’ve opened up a pre-order on our limited edition Tonic Tee’s. Place your order today and you’ll get the early bird price. The catch? A lil’ waiting time. We’re operating on a pre-order basis so that we have an idea as to how many tee's to make to avoid over-stock. The t-shirts should reach our studio by the middle to end of October.

We don't have a fixed date just yet but we’ll be posting updates on our website during the next coming weeks. As soon as they arrive, they will be promptly on their way to you.

For us as an independent label working with a small factory, offering a pre-order is a way for us to encourage a slower way of shopping, something worth the wait. It allows us to offer something for our ‘man-fans’ and the anticipation of it arriving gives you a taste of ‘vorfreude’, the best freude.

TIZZ & TONIC Colourful Underwear Made in Germany

(And if you’re wondering, men’s underwear is being worked into future plans too.)

The Pre-Order Method
Pre-planning: little to no over-production

You can pick and purchase your favourite prints and sizes - maybe even do a little 'matchy-matchy' with your best buds and gal pals. Once orders are placed, we’ll be calculating how much fabric and other supplies are required and then the process will roll out. The production of the t-shirts is estimated to take around 6-8 weeks, a realistic fashion pace. The manufacturing is happening in Tiruppur India, where our partner factory is based. This is the same company that provides us with all our soft organic cotton - both solid colours and prints, a factory that we’ve spent the last 2 years building a relationship with.

The region has a long tradition of high quality craftsmanship, perfected by people who are enthusiastic about beautiful quality textiles.

Why a pre-order?
Slow fashion: a realistic production pace

Globally, more than 100 billion items of clothing are produced every year and about 20% goes unsold. Pre-ordering reduces the waste and damages inputted by the fashion industry to the global ecosystem. Just like our own manufacturing and sales model, we want to provide low impact manufacturing, minimal waste and little to no overstock and overproduction. We can do this by offering the sizes in the quantities and prints that people actually want.

Since we make all of our own products, having organic cotton t-shirts produced for us is a new adventure. We didn’t want to have a bunch of t-shirts laying around with no one to please, so we decided to pre-order a small, specific amount of shirts. Since we don’t sell to any other retailers at this time, this method also allows us to calculate the common sizes of our customers.

Due to Covid-19 clothing sales are down by a crazy 79%, meaning brands aren’t just closing stores but are also accumulating mountains of unsold inventory. Pre-ordering is a solution to cut back on unnecessary waste. To thank you for jumpin’ on board even with the wait, we are offering a sweet, reduced price for the early birds. So pre-ordering offers perks for both the supply chain, for you and us.

Organic Cotton
If I can’t eat it, why does it matter?

Cotton comes from a plant, it is grown like our food. Cotton is the most used non-synthetic fiber in the world. Some say that it is the fabric of our lives. It is everywhere, from the clothes that we wear, the sheets we sleep in, to our towels and our home decor. Cotton is renewable and biodegradable, unlike most chemical fibers which are petroleum based and non-renewable. Although overall it only accounts for 2.4 percent of global crop land, conventional (non-organic) cotton accounts for 22.5% of the world's insecticide use and is a hugely water thirsty crop. Organic cotton cultivation restricts the use of fertilizers, crop-protection chemicals, and does not contain the harsh bleaches that conventional cotton uses. It has also been shown (depending on the location) to use up to 90 percent less blue water (the rainfall that enters bodies of water, the main source of water used for irrigation purposes). Its production helps to sustain the health of soils, ecosystems and people by using natural processes rather than artificial inputs. Currently, the market share of organic cotton is just 1% of the total cotton market. Which living in Germany is hard to believe since it is widely available.

Organic Cotton is a trifecta
Environmental, Social & Economic benefits

Millions of people around the world live in rural communities dependent on agriculture. Cotton production also supports around 100 million rural families globally. The economies of some of the poorest countries in the world depend on it. Organic farming systems based on the organic principles of health, ecology, fairness and care build thriving and resilient communities. Converting agriculture production systems to organic is challenging, especially for small-scale farms.

We recognize that in a sustainability space organic cotton is not the perfect option, but it is one in a range of textiles that people can choose these days.

So, are you ready to become an (organic sourced) fruit salad?
Shop the Tonic Tee's today!