Dudes can run through a rack of clothes quicker than Dale Earnhardt Jr. can zip around a track. So we are excited to hear that Dockers has launched a line of clothing called Wellthread. The Dockers Wellthread Collection was developed by Levis Strauss & Company’s Eureka Innovation Lab and everything is reinforced in the right places to increase durability.
It is also eco friendly in that they are using cold-water pigment dye to help save energy and water in their anchor poplin shirt. The Clean Chino and Field Jacket are both made with a salt-free dyeing process (again saving energy and water).
We spoke to the Dockers team to find out more about the collection:
Tell us about the Fair Labor practices and community development.
Dockers® Wellthread Collection is partly produced at a factory in Bangladesh that is part of our new pilot program to improve the well-being of the apparel workers who make the garments.
These factories go beyond the strong labor and environmental standards the company has implemented and utilize input from the workers to create initiatives specific to their own needs.
We read their line is ‘engineered built to last’ – explain further please.
The Dockers® Wellthread design team studied garments from the company’s historical archives to see how clothing has held up over time and from there created a pilot collection of khaki jackets, T-shirts and casual shirts.
Any other eco angles?
Dockers® Wellthread Collection was designed with recyclability in mind once the garment has approached the end of its lifespan. Extremely long staples of cotton can be more easily recycled, so the brand developed a unique, long-staple yarn for its premium twill.
Other elements include:
- Every garment in the collection uses 100% cotton thread and pocketing.
- The sundries include compressed cotton or metal that can be easily extracted by magnets.
- Using a drying cycle is tough on fabric and hard on the environment, so the design team also added care instructions to wash in cold water and added a locker loop on the khakis to encourage line drying.
High five to Dockers who has continued to develop Earth saving technology at affordable prices!
