But few would suspect it of being home to what is probably the world's first fully recycled t-shirt, which comes courtesy of leading stateside clothing producer, Anvil.

As the sole distributor of the brand, west London based firm PAG is certainly optimistic about the new t's.  Having traded in the UK for the last 40 years, the company has built a strong reputation on supplying a select number of quality brands and its latest offering from the US looks set to follow that trend.

According to PAG's Michael Hanreck, there has been a good deal of interest in Anvil's new eco-friendly product, which ticks all the right boxes with its green credentials.

They are made of pre-consumer leftovers including new apparel cuttings, yarn waste and industrial fibres. These are then sorted by colour and made into a lint material known as shoddy. This is then spun into a yarn used to produce the recycled shirts.

In terms of their design they are pretty standard, with a slightly coarser feel than your average cotton t, which many would no doubt be willing to accept given its sustainable production.

"I think it's great that they are taking stuff that would normally go to land-fill and making it into shirts. They have a very natural feel and they are something that you can be proud to wear as they are great for the environment," says Michael of the shirts that have a natural variation of colour and shading due to the nature of the material.

He said that there was a good deal of anticipation that environmentally conscious companies would pick up upon the promotional value of such shirts. PAG also has an organic cotton range of t-shirts which has proved popular with clients. These are also available in traditionally styled polo t's in both men's and women's fits.

Its sustainable Anvil range has a part organic/recycled polyester based products including a crewneck sweatshirt, hooded sweatshirt and zip hooded sweat jacket.  It seems the firm's ethos is very much based around quality rather than quantity.

 We are quite confident as a company at the moment, we've been doing a lot of work to improve things for our customers and have been doing a lot more marketing.

Being one of the few distributors left in London, we don't have the space for stadium sized warehouses (ours is around 5,000 square foot) and stock many dozens of brands - but we have instead focused on provided a limited number of quality products.

If we don't have something in stock we will be able to get it quickly as we receive deliveries sometimes as much as four times a day, explains Michael of the small team of 3 who operate the company which was set up by his father Richard, whose still very much at the centre of its operations.

"The biggest changes that I've seen in the business have been in terms of style and colours. It was just black and white t-shirts and navy sweat shirts from America, but now there's so much choice, explains the founder of PAG.

While trading conditions have changed considerably since his son Michael joined the company in the 1970's, Hanreck junior says that PAG has stood by its commitment to quality.

"There are a lot more brands about than even 10 years ago, with people stocking some pretty obscure items. But we on the other hand like to stick with what we are good at- supplying solid products at the right price."

For more information on PAG Leisurewear contact or see the website www.pag-leisurewear.co.uk

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---