Spun in South Africa

Once cotton has been harvested, cleaned and prepared, the fibre moves into the spinning process.

Here, thousands of individual cotton fibres are prepared, aligned and spun together to create continuous yarn suitable for textile production.
 

Our upstream textile supply chain includes yarn manufactured in South Africa from cotton sourced primarily from South Africa, the SADC region and wider Africa.
 

This allows another important stage of the garment journey to remain within the regional textile economy.

African cotton. South African yarn.
 

Why Yarn Quality Matters

When comparing garments, most people look at the things they can immediately see.
 

The fit.

The colour.

The GSM.

The print.
 

But the quality of the yarn sitting underneath all of those things matters too.

Yarn influences the character of the finished fabric.
 

Consistency

Consistent yarn helps create a more uniform knitted surface and contributes to predictable fabric performance.
 

Strength

The structure and quality of a yarn influence its ability to withstand the stresses of knitting, garment manufacturing and everyday wear.
 

Softness

Fibre quality, preparation and spinning all contribute to the eventual hand feel of the fabric.
 

Appearance

A cleaner and more consistent yarn can contribute to a smoother, more refined fabric surface.
 

Decoration

The fabric created from the yarn ultimately becomes the surface onto which your brand is printed or embroidered.

Quality at the beginning of the process creates a better foundation for everything that comes afterwards.
 

More Than GSM

GSM is important.

But it isn't quality.
 

GSM simply tells us the weight of a square metre of fabric.
 

Two T-shirts can both be made from 180 GSM cotton fabric and feel completely different.

The cotton fibre, yarn construction, knitting, finishing and garment construction all contribute to the final result.
 

That's why we don't believe premium apparel should be judged by a single number.
 

A premium garment is the result of the entire process.
 

And yarn is one of the foundations of that process.
 

Making Better Use of Cotton

Spinning cotton inevitably creates fibre waste.
 

But waste doesn't always have to become rubbish.
 

Within our upstream yarn manufacturing network, usable cotton waste generated during the spinning process is recovered and reused.
 

Waste fibre from ring spinning can be collected and incorporated into other yarn production rather than simply being discarded.
 

Other cotton waste streams can be redirected into secondary industries and applications such as:

• upholstery

• furniture stuffing

• carpeting

• acoustic felt

• other textile products
   

This helps extract more value from cotton that has already been grown, harvested and transported.

It is a practical example of how better manufacturing decisions can reduce unnecessary material loss.
 

A Dry Spinning Process

Water is one of the biggest environmental conversations surrounding textile production.

It is also an area where accuracy matters.
 

The yarn manufacturing stage within our primary upstream cotton supply operates as a dry mill.
 

This means the actual yarn-spinning manufacturing process does not require process water and does not generate manufacturing effluent.
 

Water is still used within the facility for normal human and operational requirements such as ablutions.

And this does not mean the entire cotton garment has no water footprint - cotton agriculture, fabric dyeing and other stages of textile production have their own environmental impacts.
 

But understanding those differences is important.
 

Responsible manufacturing starts with understanding where impact actually occurs, rather than making broad environmental claims about an entire garment.
 

Reducing Manufacturing Waste

Cotton isn't the only material used in a spinning facility.
 

Yarn manufacturing also requires packaging, transportation materials and other consumables.

Within our upstream textile supply chain, environmental initiatives include the recovery and recycling of materials such as:

Cotton fibre waste
Recovered and reused where suitable.

Plastic packaging
Collected for recycling rather than simply discarded.

Bale wire
Recovered and recycled.

Cotton hard waste
Redirected into other products and industries where possible.
 

Small improvements across large manufacturing volumes can create meaningful reductions in unnecessary waste.
 

Using Energy More Intelligently

Spinning yarn at industrial scale requires significant machinery and electricity.
 

Improving energy efficiency is therefore another important part of responsible textile manufacturing.
 

Initiatives within our upstream yarn manufacturing network include:

• energy-efficient LED lighting

• motion-controlled lighting

• smart electricity metering

• battery-powered forklifts and material-handling equipment

• monitoring energy consumption across manufacturing operations
   

These measures don't make textile production impact-free.
 

They represent something we believe is more meaningful:

continuous improvement.
 

Responsible Cotton Initiatives

Our upstream yarn supply participates in recognised cotton and textile industry initiatives focused on improving responsible sourcing and production.
 

These include participation in Better Cotton and the South African cotton industry.
 

Better Cotton works across the global cotton sector to improve cotton farming practices and support more sustainable production at farm level.
 

For us, participation in programmes like these adds another layer of accountability and improvement to the supply chain behind our garments.
 

Supporting a South African Textile Industry

The environmental story is only one part of why local yarn manufacturing matters.
 

There is also an economic and industrial one.
 

South Africa once had a significantly larger textile manufacturing industry.
 

Maintaining local spinning capability helps preserve:

• manufacturing knowledge

• technical textile skills

• industrial employment

• regional cotton demand

• local knitting capability

• domestic garment manufacturing
   

Every stage that disappears locally makes the next stage more dependent on imported materials.
 

That's why we believe local manufacturing should extend beyond simply sewing an imported garment together.

Wherever practical, we want more of the journey to happen here.
 

More Than 60 Years of African Spinning Heritage

Part of the upstream yarn manufacturing network behind our cotton supply has been involved in African cotton and yarn production for more than 60 years.
 

That represents decades of accumulated knowledge in fibre selection, cotton preparation, spinning and textile production.

It's an important reminder that local textile manufacturing isn't new.
 

There is a long history of textile knowledge and manufacturing capability within South Africa.
 

Our job is to keep finding ways to support it.
 

From Thousands of Fibres to One Continuous Thread

A finished T-shirt makes yarn look simple.
 

It isn't.
 

Thousands of individual cotton fibres have to be cleaned, prepared, aligned and spun together before they become the continuous yarn required to knit fabric.
 

That yarn then has to perform consistently across industrial knitting equipment before it ever becomes something that resembles clothing.
 

By the time you hold an In.It garment, most of this work has become invisible.
 

But it's still there.
 

Inside every stitch.
 

At a Glance

Yarn ManufacturingSouth African spun cotton yarn within our core local cotton supply chain

Cotton OriginPrimarily South Africa, SADC and wider Africa within the relevant upstream supply

Industry HeritageMore than 60 years of African cotton spinning experience within our upstream manufacturing network

Spinning ProcessDry-mill yarn manufacturing with no process water or manufacturing effluent at the relevant upstream facility

Cotton WasteUsable spinning waste recovered and reused or redirected into secondary applications

Other WasteRecycling initiatives include plastic packaging and bale wire

EnergyInitiatives include LED lighting, smart metering and battery-powered material handling

Responsible SourcingParticipation within the upstream supply chain in recognised cotton-industry initiatives including Better Cotton
 

Transparency Matters

Responsible manufacturing doesn't mean pretending that making clothing has no environmental impact.
 

It does.

Cotton has to be grown.

Factories require electricity.

Fabric has to be dyed.

Garments have to be transported.
 

Our approach is to understand those impacts, work with partners making measurable improvements and be transparent about what we know.
 

Where figures and environmental initiatives on this page relate to upstream manufacturing, they are based on published information and documentation from organisations within our textile supply chain.
 

We deliberately don't publicly disclose every commercial manufacturing partner.
 

We do, however, believe our customers deserve to understand the standards, practices and processes behind the garments carrying their brands.
 

The Journey Continues

Cotton has become yarn.

Now thousands of metres of that yarn need to be transformed into fabric.