How It Is Made

We would rather show you our supply chain than describe it with adjectives. This page sets out how we choose the people who make our clothes, what we require of them, and what we have not solved yet.

Specifics Over Adjectives

Words like sustainable, conscious, responsible, and eco friendly have been used so loosely across this industry that they no longer carry information. A shopper cannot tell the difference between a brand that means it and a brand that bought the word.

So we do not use them. What follows is specific. Where we cannot yet be specific, we say that instead of reaching for a softer word.

How We Choose Who Makes Our Clothes

We place orders only with facilities that will answer questions. That sounds modest. In practice it rules out most of the supply chain, because the ability to answer a direct question about wages, hours, and subcontracting requires a factory to actually know the answer.

Before we work with a facility, we require the following:

Documentation of its labor practices, including wages and working hours.

Disclosure of any subcontractors used for any part of the order.

The ability to trace fabric back to the mill that produced it.

A willingness to be named publicly as one of our suppliers.

If a facility will not provide these, we do not place the order. There is no version of this where we make an exception for a better price.

What We Do Not Do

We do not produce in large speculative volumes. Runs are small and we restock what sells rather than manufacturing against a guess. Overproduction is the largest waste problem in this industry and it is a planning decision, not an unavoidable one.

We do not destroy unsold stock. Anything that does not sell is discounted, given away, or donated. It is never landfilled or incinerated to protect a price point.

We do not use mystery fabric. If we cannot tell you what a garment is made from and where that material came from, we do not sell it.

Traceability

For every piece we sell, we can tell you the fiber composition, the country of manufacture, and the facility that produced it.

If you want that information, email info@aphrodisiacnewyork.com with the name of the piece and we will send it to you. There is no form to fill in and no reason we would decline.

Where We Are Not There Yet

We are a young brand, and we would rather write this section than pretend it does not apply to us.

Our leverage is limited. A small order does not give us the influence over a mill's practices that a large one would. We can choose partners carefully, and we do, but we cannot yet dictate terms further up the chain.

We have not commissioned independent lifecycle assessments of our garments. Doing that properly is expensive, and we would rather say so than publish a number we cannot defend.

Shipping a garment across the world has an environmental cost. Offering free worldwide delivery does not make that cost disappear, and we are not going to claim otherwise while we work out how to address it honestly.

This section will change as we do. It will not quietly disappear.

What You Can Ask

Any question about a material, a factory, a certification, or a process can be sent to info@aphrodisiacnewyork.com. If we know the answer, you will get it. If we do not, we will tell you that we do not, and then we will go and find out.

The Aim

The aim is a supply chain we can describe in plain sentences without reaching for a single vague word. We are not there yet. This page is how you hold us to getting there.