Manifesto
What is Type Three?
Type Three is a commitment, a perspective and a brand. A Type Three Solution can be defined as a product or service that is provided in a manner where all the resources used are consequently returned back to the people and the planet that helped create it. This is the fundamental purpose for Type Three.
What does a Type Three Solution look like in regard to people?
This can manifest in different ways and might look different depending on the context of the project. Below you can find a base guideline.
The fair and just treatment of all stakeholders involved in the supply chain, from farmers to retail, and everyone in between.
Assisting in the cultivation of spaces that allow for divergent thought in the fashion world and beyond.
Empowering and uplifting young creatives and change agents throughout all of Type Three’s interactions.
Biolocalism: intersectional and cultural sensitivity, ensuring that a solution for the planet does not come at the expense of people.
What does a Type Three Solution look like in regard to the planet?
Similarly to people, a Type Three Solution for the planet might mean different things in different contexts. Below you can find a base guideline.
Supply chain transparency for each material used in the garment
Garment breakdowns, so you know exactly what you're wearing. This refers to the material composition of each product.
Adherence to a strict material selection, only working with materials in which biological and technological nutrients can be returned/reused.
Impact analyses of each garment and what that means for the environment
Circular design: Considering the post consumer life cycle of our products and taking into account worst case scenarios for where our products might end up.
Conscious scale and production. Small batches, slow fashion.
In essence, a Type Three Solution lies at the intersection between sustainability and social equality and cannot exist without the mutual prioritisation of both.
Who is it for?
Type Three concerns itself with the futures of today’s youth,
In other words, for the homies, by the homies because we are all inheriting the same world.
How will you achieve this?
Iterative processes of design, art, education and music will be used in a series of phases.
Each Phase will have a subset of goals that will concern itself with ethics and sustainability and set out to achieve them.
These goals will be decided based on the company’s logistical capabilities at the time.
A change in phase would indicate the attainment of the goals in the previous phase, and a logistical capability to attack the goals in the next phase.
Each phase will build on the last until a Type Three Solution can be provided for the relevant product/service.
Find out more below.
Phase One
Phase one’s primary concern is launching the business and creating both products and content that reflect our values. Serving as a foundational first step towards achieving a type three solution in the fashion industry.
Goals
To launch the company, the goal of this phase is to efficiently start our journey towards achieving a type three solution in the fashion industry.
To establish a series of products that serve as the first step in achieving a type three solution
Key focuses
Content: This phase should focus on producing art, music and design that reflects the ambition and cultural identity of type three.
Materials, working with sustainable materials and having a clear and traceable supply chain for each material that is present in the products
Ethics, manufacturing in a manner that uplifts local communities in a meaningful way.
Education: providing introductory resources for consumers to further educate their consumption decisions. Spread awareness on how different forms of consumption support different systems of power. To teach the customer to be critical of the advertising and media involved in marketing (with relation to the fashion industry)
Transparency: Show our supply chain, who we worked with and why we worked with them
Environmental footprint: Calculating the benefits of our products compared to traditionally unethical and unsustainable brands.
Limitations
Market power: As we are just starting out, we are at the whim of the very narrow list of suppliers that we can work with that operate in an ethical manner. This means that our products are more expensive than we would like.
Finance: We are a start up. We have no corporate backing nor would we engage with a corporation that does not align with our values, this means that we have to make the most of our very limited resources.
Demand: Although we have an idea, we don't know what our audience looks like just yet. Research can only take us so far.
Infrastructure: The industry in its current state does not align with most of our principals and codes of conduct. This means arranging for a fully transparent supply chain when being a startup is almost impossible, access to sustainable materials in the region is sparse.
The industry doesn’t have the infrastructure for small MOQs and organic materials.