Handmade menswear that measures up to sustainability

Responsible luxury

When founding Benjamin Siggers, Matthew and James had a clear ambition: to tackle the hidden environmental cost of fashion with a thoughtful, sustainable and stylish alternative.  

It can take more than 20,000 litres of water to produce a kilogram of cotton, enough for just one bespoke suit. On top of that, 11% of the world’s fertilisers and a quarter of its pesticides are used to farm cotton, heightening the risk of pollution and disease as they leak into the surrounding water supply.

Since cotton is predominantly farmed in developing countries, these issues can be easy for the luxury fashion industry to forget. But the founders of Benjamin Siggers believe there’s a better way.

The company is investing in organic cottons, with the goal of phasing out conventional cotton altogether by 2021. In addition, both founders personally invest 2% of annual sales into clean water projects in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

“Our ambition is to make people look good, feel good, and do good at the same time”, says co-founder Matthew Benjamin. 

Artisanal producers

As a business, Benjamin Siggers aims to preserve more than the environment. It also looks to sustain independent, artisanal tailoring by using manufacturers and suppliers that keep deeply-held traditions alive.

Matthew and James chose to source all their tailoring in Italy, knowing that Italian cutters can’t be matched for the quality and construction of their suits. Both founders travelled the length and breadth of the country to find the very best partners, meeting the artisans that make each of the suits by hand as well as the proud company owners. 

This attention to detail and focus on craftsmanship can be seen in everything Benjamin Siggers produces – right down to its wooden hangers, which are handmade by an Italian woodworker, and designed to last a lifetime.

Managing international payments

Benjamin Siggers works for international clients in London and Dubai, taking payments in both sterling and the Emirati dirham. Since the company’s suppliers are all based in Italy and paid in euros, it’s crucial that international payments are fast, easy and reliable.

Before working with OFX, Matthew and James struggled to make payments to Italy. Their payments provider would not recognise the company’s newly-registered business account, so every payment had to be transferred manually, to and from the founders’ personal bank accounts. This meant making multiple transactions for every single payment to an Italian supplier, and cost the founders precious time in the early days of their business. Not to mention the additional fees for additional steps in the process.  

“Our clients are paying for a quality, bespoke product, and expect premium service. When international payments are delayed, it can slow down deliveries from our Italian suppliers – and if that means we can’t fulfill orders on time, that means we aren’t delivering against our client commitments and it’s just not good enough”, explains Matthew Benjamin. 

“This problem was resolved on the very first day that we started working with OFX. Since then, we’ve saved ourselves a whole lot of time and aggravation – and with international payments taken care of, we now have more time to focus on building our business.”