Sustainability

At Mistral, we recognise the impact our business has on our planet. See below how we are making sure that impact is a positive one!

Mistral is a family-owned brand with a big heart. We recognise the impact that our business has and are working very hard to ensure that it’s a positive one. We care deeply about our planet, people and animals, and place sustainability at the very heart of any decisions we make, to keep us moving continuously in the right direction. Additionally we’re in constant dialogue with our suppliers to help ensure that they’re also putting best industry practice into action.

Our Environment

 

Mistral’s signature colourful prints are heavily influenced by the land around us, and looking after our environment is a central element of all our business choices.

We believe in paying attention to detail – it’s not just about the big gestures, the little things all add up!

You’ll find eco-friendly cleaning and toiletry products in our head office, and we’ve been really focusing on driving our plastic usage down by introducing biodegradable bags for online deliveries.

When you shop with us in store, you’ll leave with your new clothes in a sturdy, recycled paper bag. In fact, all of our printed materials, from tags through to packaging, are produced on recycled paper from a sustainable source.

Any packaging, paper or plastic that isn’t used, is recycled by us. We’ve also switched our energy supplier to ensure that all electricity across the business comes from a green, renewable source.

Finally, we put a lot of thought into choosing the most sustainable delivery options. When it comes to our products, we also avoid air freight wherever we can.

This helps to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible (and we’re currently looking into offsetting it entirely – watch this space!)


Animal Welfare

 

We’re huge animal lovers at Mistral, and we know you are too! We’re committed to using and selling cruelty-free products. We do not use or sell products which have been tested on animals, and we never will.

Any animal products contained within the items that we sell, for example, wool and leather, are ethically sourced.


Global Manufacturing Practices

Keeping the standard up...

 

We know that our responsibility starts a long time before clothes hit our shelves or online store. We work in partnership with our suppliers and factories to ensure all Mistral products are manufactured to the highest standards in a sustainable and ethical way.

We don’t leave anything to chance here, and make sure that we regularly visit our suppliers in person, to check that everything is happening in a way that aligns with our high business standards.

We aim to produce high quality products in an ethical way, and currently work with suppliers in the UK, India, China and Portugal. We take care to ensure that we work with Sedex approved suppliers – this means that standards for responsibility and sustainability have to be kept high at all times.


People are precious...

 

We make sure that all the factories we work with operate in complete compliance with their country’s laws and regulations. We also insist that all employees are hired on the basis of their own abilities and merit, never as a result of their beliefs or characteristics.

Human trafficking and modern slavery are a very real problem, thought to affect millions of men, women and children every day. We are acutely aware of this horrific issue, and go to great lengths to ensure that we guard against it. We do not allow factories to use forced labour in any form (including underage workers) and are totally against any form of modern slavery in any of our platforms.

Factories must treat workers with respect and dignity and provide them with a safe environment from which to work and pay workers at least the basic minimum legal wage.


Sustainable Fabric Choices

Sustainable fabric has seen some real advances in recent years, and at Mistral we work hard to ensure we’re taking full advantage.

There are always improvements that can be made, but when it comes to eco friendly, sustainable options, we’re making great strides. In Spring 2020 we introduced recycled yarns into our collection.

These are sourced from secondhand clothing and other textile waste, which is spun into new yarn and fabrics to be used in our garments.

 

Organic Cotton

 

Recycled Polyester

 

EcoVero Viscose

 

RWS Wool


Small Scale Production

We are a small business and as a result we are able to work on a small scale. We work closely with our production teams to ensure that we don't over produce and that there isn't excessive waste at the end of each season.

This also gives our clothing an element of exclusivity as there is only ever a small number of each garment made, making our clothing even more unique!


Rewear, Reuse, Recycle

Helping towards a more sustainable future for fashion.

Are you aware that almost 150 million tonnes of clothing and shoes are sold worldwide every year?

The majority of this ends up in landfills or is incinerated instead of being reused or recycled, wasting valuable resources and causing harm to the environment.

As part of Mistral’s commitment to look after our planet, we have introduced the Mistral Rewear, Reuse and Recycle Scheme.

We make our clothes to the highest standard, so that they will be well-loved and well-worn season after season. However, we know that sometimes, a bit of a wardrobe refresh is necessary...

Simply give your pre-loved garments to our store staff to add to our collection bin and we will reward you with a 10% off voucher to use the next time you shop with us.

 

What happens to your pre-loved clothes?

Mistral is working with the SOEX I:CO take-back system. This means clothes that can be resold are sent to vintage and other stores. Other items, unsuitable for resale, will be recycled into fibre for things such as car seats, new clothes and cleaning cloths. Even the dust created used, being transformed into cardboard products!