Sourcing

At MESHKI, our sourcing approach is grounded in our commitment to female empowerment, ethical responsibility, and respect for the people behind our products. We recognise that building a responsible supply chain begins long before production starts. 

We partner with suppliers who share our values, with several of our key suppliers having worked with MESHKI for many years. These established, long-term partnerships enable deeper collaboration, stronger transparency, and continuous improvement, helping to foster working environments that are safe, fair, and empowering, particularly for the women who make our products.

From Fibre to Factory: Tiers in our Supply Chain 

Tier 1: Finished Product Manufacturing

This is where our final products come to life. Facilities at this stage handle assembly and manufacturing, including washing, laundering, dyeing, printing, and embellishing. The result is finished MESHKI pieces — apparel, accessories, and footwear.

Tier 2: Material Manufacturing

Here, the materials that go directly into our products are made and finished. Through processes like knitting, weaving, fabric dyeing, and printing, this stage produces the fabrics and trims that bring our products together.

Tier 3: Yarn Production

At this stage, raw materials are transformed into yarn, primarily through spinning. It also includes yarn dyeing.

Tier 4: Raw Material Production & Primary Processing

This is where it all begins, in two parts:

  • Sourcing raw materials: farming natural materials like cotton and wool, producing synthetic materials, and collecting materials such as plastic bottles for upcycling into trims or yarn.
  • Primary processing: preparing these raw materials so they're ready to use, for example ginning cotton or scouring wool.

The People and Partners in our Supply Chain

MESHKI is committed to driving positive change across our global supply chain. We believe that regardless of where the people behind MESHKI work and live, they all have the right to be treated with respect, provided with safe and fair work environments and given opportunities for empowerment. Through our process for sourcing, onboarding and oversight of ongoing operations, we guide suppliers to make sure they meet our ethical, environmental, and compliance standards. This process begins before production commences and continues throughout our partnership. We believe that the high quality that our community has come to expect from MESHKI designs is the direct result of working with Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers who meet and exceed expectations around taking care of their workers.

1. Screening Before Sourcing

Responsible sourcing starts before a single order is placed. Potential suppliers go through due diligence checks before onboarding, including screening via Kharon ClearView, a tool we use to uncover and assess possible links to high-risk or restricted sourcing regions, including those associated with forced labour risks.

This isn't a box-ticking exercise. Kharon's screening has, on occasion, surfaced areas of concern while vetting prospective suppliers. These insights have allowed us to act early, redirecting or reshaping our supply chain, to avoid establishing business relationships with suppliers whose practices don't align with our social and ethical expectations. We continue our use of Kharon while working with our suppliers to identify risks and taking action to remediate any potential issues.

2. Ethical Audits 

As MESHKI does not own the manufacturing facilities where our designs are produced, we require our suppliers to undergo recognised third-party ethical audits, such as SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) or BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative), as part of our onboarding and ongoing monitoring process. 

These audits are conducted by independent, accredited auditors through site visits, with worker interviews, document reviews, and facility inspections providing a high level of assurance on actual working conditions. As they also require the development and implementation of Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) to address non-compliance issues, they support continuous improvement. This helps us build trusted, ongoing relationships with our manufacturing partners and supports safer and fairer conditions for the workers who bring MESHKI designs to life. 

Key areas for auditing include:

  • Labour standards 
  • Health and safety conditions 
  • Working hours and wage practices 
  • Freedom of association and worker voice
  • Management systems and corrective action processes


Through these audits MESHKI tracks vulnerable worker groups at the final stage of production, capturing data such as the percentage of female workers, migrant workers, and temporary/contract workers, giving us insights that help us improve conditions for the many pairs of hands behind the seams.

On Average 63.38% of our Tier 1 workforce are females.

On Average 51.89% of our Tier 1 workforce are migrant workers.

3. Alignment with our Codes and Policies

Once suppliers have passed initial checks, the final step for onboarding is formal alignment with our code of conduct, policies and standards, including our Code of Conduct and Chemical Management Policy.

The MESHKI Code of Conduct is aligned with international standards such as ILO (International Labour Organization) conventions and recognised human rights principles. It outlines our expectations for our supply partners across safe and healthy working conditions, fair wages and working hours, freedom from forced and child labour, non-discrimination and fair treatment, and ethical business practices.

MESHKI’s Chemical Management Policy is designed to reduce harmful chemical exposure for workers, consumers, and the environment. It outlines what we expect from the suppliers we partner with. At its core is our Restricted Substances List (RSL), which sets clear limits on chemicals permitted in our finished products and incorporates regulatory requirements such as REACH — the European Union's regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals — and California's Proposition 65. We equally expect suppliers to meet our Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL), aligned with the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) program, which addresses the chemicals used in manufacturing processes. Together, these limits help protect workers, consumers, and the environment from harmful chemical exposure. 

4. Collaborating for Continuous Improvement

Following onboarding, MESHKI continues to work closely with suppliers including annual auditing conducted by an independent, accredited third-party auditor to a recognised industry standard such as SMETA or BSCI.

MESHKI reviews audit outcomes as part of its ongoing monitoring process and works collaboratively with suppliers to track progress, support remediation, and drive continuous improvement in labour standards, health and safety, and ethical practices. Our teams may also undertake on-site visits.

5. Partnering for Progress

MESHKI RISE Partnership

We are  proud to partner with RISE (Reimagining Industry to Support Equality) to bring labour rights and life skills training programs to a selection of our top Tier 1 suppliers.

The RISE Foundations Program is a 12-month program delivered on the factory floor.

It trains 3–5% of the workforce (prioritising women) to become Peer Educators who pass on their knowledge across the entire workforce through structured peer-to-peer sessions. 

We love this model because it builds knowledge and ownership from within the factory itself. Peer education is a recognised approach for driving lasting change and through this model, RISE has been shown to reach beyond the workplace, into families and communities, helping to advance equality for women more broadly.

RISE Foundations program impact: 31% increase in workers understanding their basic workplace rights.

MESHKI Modern Slavery Statement

In our continuous commitment to identifying and mitigating modern slavery risks across our supply chain, MESHKI has made significant investments in expanding sustainability and ethical sourcing capabilities within our teams. Our robust onboarding and due diligence process plays a pivotal role in the early identification and mitigation of risks before suppliers are approved for production.

As a result of these processes and increased visibility across our supply chain, MESHKI has not identified any instances of child labour or forced labour within our supply chain to date. We recognise that this is an ongoing responsibility and remain committed to continuously improving our systems, monitoring, and engagement to ensure risks are effectively managed across our entire supply chain.

MESHKI Grievance Mechanism

While we strive to create world-class standards throughout our supply chain, we recognise that there is always room for improvement. To provide workers in our supply chain with a direct line to MESHKI, we’ve implemented a grievance mechanism across our Tier 1 and direct Tier 2 suppliers. It’s a safe and accessible way for workers to raise concerns related to labour rights, working conditions, health and safety, or ethical practices confidentially and, where preferred, anonymously.

Designed to strengthen worker voice beyond traditional audit processes such as worker interviews, the grievance mechanism provides an ongoing and independent avenue for concerns to be raised. Through this approach, we work to support worker rights, promote safe and fair working conditions, and strengthen transparency across our supply chain.

Furthering Traceability with Fairly Made

Gaining visibility across the supply chain is a key priority for MESHKI. In addition to our internal due diligence processes, we partner with Fairly Made, a traceability solution that helps us map and better understand our supply chain. By centralising supplier data, we can collect information at scale, better anticipate social and environmental risks, and support compliance with evolving regulations. Fairly Made also helps us to calculate product impact and strengthen traceability throughout our global supply chain as we work toward creating a Digital Product Passport Program.

Supply Chain Oversight

MESHKI is committed to embedding human rights and environmental sustainability at the highest level of our organisation. MESHKI's Head of Sustainability holds designated responsibility for implementing our supply chain policies across human rights and environmental sustainability. Sitting within the Senior Leadership Team, the role ensures these commitments are integrated into business decision-making, with oversight laddering up to our most senior executive leadership.

What the Future Holds

We acknowledge that Corporate Social Responsibility is an ever-evolving journey. Our leaders across all aspects of the business are ever-conscious of their role in minimising our company’s environmental impact and increasing our positive impact on people. We do this by working closely with our internal Sustainability and CSR team, with external partners and by adopting innovative and emerging technologies and processes to bring about a more transparent MESHKI in the coming years.