New UK label Bedstraw + Madder links with Raddis on eco cotton

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jun 6, 2022

UK eco underwear start-up Bedstraw + Madder has formed an alliance with environmental company Raddis Cotton. Their mission is to “create transparent, chemical-free clothing that restores our ecosystems, biodiversity and climate whilst empowering communities”.

Bedstraw + Madder was co-founded by Primrose Matheson and Vanessa Barker “to do less harm and actively revive our planet by creating a regenerative fashion label using 100% natural plant dyes with zero chemicals made with 100% organic unbleached organic cotton”.
 
Their goal is to help the fashion and textile industries achieve a 45% reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions that come from producing fibres and raw materials by 2030.

The pair said in a statement: “This is a story of revival, we make chemical free, regenerative clothing to highlight a new model for best practise ”
 
The Raddis System is based on a farm impact subscription model which links cotton demand in yarn, fabric and finished products to the assigned acres of farmland with organic ‘in-conversion’ cotton cultivation. 
 
Over the next five years, they’re working to convert 25,000 acres of cotton from degenerative to regenerative production systems; increase water retention capacity by 20-30%; increase farm biodiversity (species and genetic) by 100%; remove 12,125 kgs of toxic pesticides; remove 2.7 million kgs of synthetic fertilisers; eliminate GMOs from 25,000 acres; double the income of 12,500 farmers by increasing premiums and reducing the cost of cultivation; and sequester 16,175 tonnes of carbon in the soil, to remove 60,000 tonnes of CO2 from atmosphere.
 
Raddis founder Aneel Kumar Ambavaram added: “This is not just about environmental impact. Women do 80% of the work done in the fields. Raddis takes a holistic approach, focusing on empowering women, and regenerating communities alongside the land. Through our farmers, we return to the soil much more than we take from it.”