About Gossypium…
 Gossypium began in 1998 when two textile technologists, Abigail Garner and Thomas Petit, got together sharing the belief that many steps in the manufacture and sale of clothing were outdated or unnecessary and that better clothes could be designed and made in a more environmentally friendly, fairer and more direct way. They started their work with cotton fibre and moved to India to become consultants to Agrocel, a farmers' service centre, located in the cotton fields of Kutch in western India.
Their starting point was that the cotton farmer should get a fair price and together with Agrocel they developed a formula for growing and trading in cotton that put the needs of the farmer first, ensuring his long term environmental and economic health. The resulting product from two years of work is Agrocel's pure and fair cotton fibre - a very high quality fibre, which is both organic and fairly traded.
They felt that a key issue within the textile processing industry was that the spinning, fabric and garment production should not be carried out in a country far away from where the cotton was grown. As well as lowering the costs of production and transportation, an added benefit of local processing and manufacturing is the benefit to the environment.
In 2000, Thomas and Abi felt that it was time to open the market from the European side and opened an office in Lewes, Sussex, creating clothing brand Gossypium, the name meaning ‘cotton’ in Latin.
In the beginning, Gossypium was sold via a market stall on Brighton beach and staff soon learned what people were looking for in organic cotton - and also what they weren't. It has been this interactive customer connection that has enabled Gossypium to grow as a brand and develop products that make the best of Agrocel's high quality, organic cotton fibre.
Today, Gossypium is a leading brand in what is often called Fairtrade fashion.
Gossypium's full collection of cotton products is available from the Gossypium shop in Lewes, near Brighton. Gossypium is also available by mail order and customers can order 24 hours a day through the website. Gossypium clothing is also available through selected retailers in the UK.
The company's objective for the next few years is to create a strong collection of classic products which respect Gossypium's ethical and environmental values, as well as ensuring that products are readily available all year round and at the right price for the consumer.
To find out more about Gossypium visit www.gossypium.co.uk |
