Just in time for a super-hot, sunny week away in Kraków, and as I finally try to introduce some more colour and print into my wardrobe, a bold and bright playsuit arrived from ethical fashion brand Mayamiko! Here, find out more about the label and their collections, plus how to change your 'all black everything' mentality this summer.

Mayamiko is a contemporary ethical womenswear brand who pride themselves on having ethics and sustainability at its core. All garments are inspired by African fashion and made from locally sourced African printed cotton, produced on site in a solar-powered workshop by a small team of trained tailors and pattern cutters, located just outside of Lilongwe, Malawi.

Mayamiko uses 100% organic cotton, incorporating GOTS certified cotton and Cotonea, who works with cotton farmers in Gulu, Northern Uganda to produce beautiful ethical organic cotton. The brand is also taking multiple steps to reduce their carbon footprint, including, but not limited to:

A zero-waste policy which ensures that all scrap fabric gets turned into something new. From headbands and protective parcel bags, to doormats and reusable sanitary pads for young girls in the community, plus a zero-waste pattern cutting technique, which means that the garments are designed to utilise the fabric to the maximum, and minimise any waste at the point of cutting.
One thing Malawi can count on is sun, which is why Mayamiko has converted their workshop to run from solar energy! it's clean, efficient and good for the planet.
All of the materials are locally sourced from the nearby fabric market in Lilongwe, just a few minutes from the garment workshop. This helps to reduce our carbon footprint and bring good trade opportunities to the local community.
All packaging is made from recyclable materials, that's the postal bag, labels and tissue paper too!
The brand is a partner of One Tree Planted, so every time you place an order with Mayamiko you will have the option to plant a tree.
Mayamiko is a member of the Iprefer30 campaign, encouraging customers to wash their purchases at the lowest possible temperature helps you to cut CO2 emissions, save energy and help the environment.
The fabrics used are all 100% PETA approved vegan, so completely cruelty-free!

In terms of striving to improve human rights in the fashion industry, Mayamiko has not only joined The World Fair Trade Organisation and follow it's strict principles, but also developed its own ethical promise, which includes the following doctrines:

No forced labour
Freedom of association
FInancial education
No discrimination
Professional development and training
No excessive hours
Safe and hygienic working conditions
No child labour
A living wage

On top of being so eco, animal and people friendly, above all Mayamiko has a great range of designs in their collection; being beautiful, cool and aesthetically desirable must be the priority for any ethical fashion brand to financially succeed and grow a loyal customer base- it is fashion after all! The prints are bold, bright and brilliant, which automatically makes you stand out from the crowd, but also these African-inspired prints are combined with contemporary Western-inspired silhouettes like jumpsuits, all with interesting twists like tie detaiilng, patchwork, cutaways and more.

So, now you know where to buy some colourful new pieces for your summer wardrobe (www.mayamiko.com of course!), how do you go about incorporating them into your everyday style? If you, like me, are a little afraid of colour, it can feel really odd to wear something like this. I feel self-conscious at first, getting out of my black/grey/navy/khaki comfort zone. But I decided that if I'm going to wear this out for the first time, why not while I'm on holiday, where it feels more normal to experiment with fashion and lifestyle choices, so I even paired them with bright red shoes to really push the boat out! Thus, my top tip is to use your holidays, whether an exotic culture shock or a local staycation, and the summer season in general to experiment with which colours work for you!