TAG - organic T-shirts
Tashon Andrew Gallagher is a manchester, UK designer who originally trained as a nurse. He has just launched a brand new online store that is dedicated to the design and sale of high quality organic T-shirts, Hoodies and vests that are manufactured in an organically accredited factory. We have conducted an interview with him.
What inspired you to design and sell organic T-shirts, Hoodies and Vests?
Well I originally trained as a nurse and I wanted something to occupy my time when I wasn’t working in my day job. I came across www.teemill.co.uk who offers start up brands the chance to open their own online store and I don’t know why but it just grabbed my attention, so I signed up. Within hours I became obsessed with it and found it quite therapeutic to come in from a 12 hour shift and start designing my T-Shirts.
I’d say the inspiration came from the fact that these T-Shirts are 100% organic and Ethical, so there is no forced labour or world polluting chemicals in the manufacturing process.
What are the key benefits of using an organically accredited factory?
Having all of our products manufactured in an Organically Accredited wind-powered factory is amazing because not only are we doing our bit for the environment but so is every one that purchases a T-Shirt through www.tag.teemill.co.uk. In addition to that we also offer traceability so people can trace our products from seed to shop, giving them a true picture of the company and reassuring them that or products are both Organic and Ethical.
How do you encourage everyone to “do their bit”?
At TAG T-Shirts we try and do our best to inform everyone that just by purchasing from our store is giving us the chance to use our wind-powered factory, which in turn is good for the environment and creates jobs. In addition to this, we are currently in the process of designing a T-shirt for each of the two main charities that we support, customers will be able to purchase these T-shirts and have 100% of the profit shared between the two Charites. This is allowing the customer to do their bit without being guilt tripped into it or asked to sign up for a monthly Direct Debit, which can sometimes be a huge deterrent.
Why donate 100% of your profits to your chosen charities?
We decided to donate 100% of the profits made from the charity T-shirts because we realised that our chosen charities do an absolutely amazing job and what they do is not for profit and they inspired us to do the same with our Do Your Bit charity T-shirt line. If we were going to take a profit, then we may as well stop marketing ourselves as an ethical company because using charity to make a profit is not ethical in the slightest.
And who are your chosen charities?
Our chosen charities are the NSPCC, who work tirelessly to help stop and prevent cruelty to children and Cancer Research UK who are working just as hard researching ways to beat cancer. We chose these charities because our founder and designer has had personal experiences with both of them, he has utilised the services of the NSPCC when he was going through hard times as a child and most recently he currently has a relative that is in treatment for cancer and has been for some time.
So what’s new for TAG T-Shirts?
Well I have just been offered the chance to collaborate with one of my favourite designers, Design&Beyond. Anyone who has seen his work at www.designandbeyond.tumblr.com will understand why I was so excited to receive an email from him agreeing to collaboration.
We are currently in the early stages of set up but we hope to start designing by the end of the month and I can’t wait to see what comes of it…it’s going to be a very exciting time indeed.
More info at:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tagtshirtsukInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/tag_tshirts
