Woods and Fields
Mission Statement

We are inspired by the work of Vandana Shiva, David Suzuki, William McDonough & Michael Braungart’s Cradle to Cradle concept and the human development ethics of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum and we recommend them for further reading on the ideas we value.

Woods and Fields
Our name is an ode to the natural spaces in the world. Woods and fields are the things of storybooks and imagination for most urban dwellers. Sadly the less that such folk think of them the more rapidly these spaces get engulfed and obliterated by nothingness and excess. Believe in fairies? Vampires? Spirit animals? Well we believe in woods and fields and the natural magics they contain. So we are doing what we can to help them stick around.

Clothes you will love for keeps
We want to provide you with clothes that you will love; clothes with such quality of design that you will be able to have long, exciting and enduring relationship with them. We are sensitive to the idea that things should last as long as consumers want them to – we hope for a fashion system one day where a classic jacket will become a durable hand me down and a trend driven party top will be reintegrated as materials once it is tired of. Until that day comes we will stock less trend driven clothing, a slower pace of fashion. A great romance not a one-night-stand. Importantly we also try to stock all of the building blocks for a daily wardrobe from under wear to outwear so you can feel good through and through.

Flourishing within the ecosystem
We are a small part of a much bigger system of life. For this reason we endeavour to work the way that system does: by flourishing in balance with the organisms that surround us with awareness of natural cycles. By making sure our wastes become useful again. We believe in the inherent value of diversity. It is for this reason that we try not to support a monoculture of cotton but instead always stock garments made from a wide range of alternative fibres: bamboo, hemp; more technologically advanced fibres such as viscose from pine and ‘silk’ from soy; as well as recycled materials from second hand garments. With a few special exceptions we do not stock clothing from animal sources as we find the environmental impact to be too great and the respect for the creatures to be lacking in modern industry. We search far and wide for the best products to meet these ideals but we also seek to encourage local development in the field.

High Human worth: towards a creative economy
There is a growing awareness of the waste of non-renewable resources and the all to rapid over-consumption of those that take time to renew. The solution we hope for is this: economy where the most valuable commodity is human creativity: inspiringly good design, innovative solutions to problems, new systems of thought. It is for this reason that we actively support creativity and that we expect all people connected to our business and the brands we stock to be paid fairly their labour. Everyone should be encouraged to reach towards the limits of their skills and thoughts and beyond. They can only be expected to do so if they can afford to meet their basic needs and those of their families. That will be the real growth economy of our time.