Gossypium - fashion and ethical gymwear

Workout, yoga and gym wear have come a long since the days of Lycra and legwarmers or wearing big baggy t-shirts and Adidas popper tracksuit bottoms.

Gossypium offers ethical clothing made by hand in Newhaven.

“We are affordable sport tailors,” reveals Thomas Petit, CEO and master cutter at the brand.

“All the clothes you see on our website are handmade in our Newhaven workshop.

“We get our fabric knitted in the UK and turn it into garments when our customers order it.

“It takes less than 15 days to get a garment made.

“Today we make hundreds of products every month from our small workshop, all made individually for our customers.”

The brand was started by Abigail and Thomas Petit, who have championed the use of ethical textiles in the UK since 1998.

“Gossypium was one of the first brands to offer ethical clothing in the UK,” explains Thomas.

“We pioneered it along with a few other companies and demonstrated how it was possible to make clothing ethically and environmentally.

“It has been an inspiring journey, one that has brought positive change to a lot of people.”

With a focus predominantly on yogawear it designs items that allow ease of movement to naturally fit the body.

Thomas’s passion for fabrics seems to be in his blood as his family have been in the textile industry since 1850.

“Because of my heritage I have always been interested in textiles and especially manufacturing,” he adds.

“Textile is a very contrasting industry even more so today both in terms of the type of products that are made and also how and by whom they are made.

“I set up Gossypium to offer a positive and simple solution.