Mane Project is the home of New Zealand’s leading ethical street/fashion brands, Arc & Bow and Bare Bones. Mane (an acronym for Made At No Expense) Project is New Zealand’s only multi-branded company dedicated to transparent ethical manufacturing and using only organic textiles. All design happens in Mount Maunganui, while all manufacturing takes place in India across multiple ethical factories whom we have spent time building vital relationships with. We are dedicated to working with only organic cotton for each item. Where there is printing involved, we choose to support local communities in India by using traditional print methods like hand screen-printing and block-printing. The Journey Arc & Bow, being the older sister of the two, was birthed in September 2013. Bare Bones was later developed in September 2014. Originally being manufactured in China, we worked with a family-owned factory where we had built, what we thought to be a trustful relationship. When our manufacturers wouldn’t let our team visit the factory any longer with no acceptable explanation, it was apparent some drastic changes needed to be made to ensure something like this wouldn’t happen again. That’s when the journey to manufacturing in India began. In India, manufacturers can obtain certifications that are regularly audited. Given the situation with the previous manufacturers, it was really important to us at the Mane Project to have this level of transparency and trust with a manufacturer. For Mane Project, it is essential to be manufacturing responsibly in an age where basic human rights are often violated within the fashion industry. All of the Mane Project manufacturers have an open door policy that they are committed to. The team can visit at any time. More importantly, the manufacturers that we work with, care deeply about their environment, community and culture. Through this experience, we've learnt the benefits of working with organic cotton and the major impacts non-organic cotton have on the environment and the cotton farmers. This is something we feel really passionate about. Mane Project is committed to developing relationships with organic farmers to support their industry.