In 2010, a woman named Lucy ran a sewing centre in Gulu, Uganda, with no work coming through the door. The Global Orphan Project, a Kansas City non-profit, created that work, and GOEX Apparel grew out of it. GOEX is still wholly owned by that non-profit today.

GOEX is a Fair Trade Federation member and a certified B Corp, based in Kansas City. They cut and sew tees and fleece at a living-wage factory in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, using USA-sourced fabric. One employee’s wage there supports six family or community members on average. The supply chain is short, the code of conduct is published, and the fabrics are OEKO-TEX certified. For a client who wants ethically made apparel and wants to check every claim behind it, GOEX is a supplier where that checking is actually possible.

Where Topiku fits

GOEX makes apparel. We make headwear. When a US client comes to GOEX for a full merch kit, tees, sweatshirts, and hats, GOEX refers the hat component to us.

The arrangement is simple, and the simplicity is the point – we are aligned on values. Our hats are made by the same artisan team in Desa Rahayu, Bandung, Indonesia, that we have worked with since 2015, from upcycled cotton twill, recycled metal buttons, and other low-impact material inputs. We pay our supplier above the regional standard and settle invoices before the end of the month. We hold B Corp, The Climate Label, and 1% for the Planet, and our policy is to give at least 2% of revenue, met every year since 2022. A client who chooses GOEX for their apparel tends to be the same client who asks where their hats come from.

The GOEX × Topiku hat

The next step in a partnership like this is usually making something together. The co-branded GOEX × Topiku hat was that: one product carrying both companies’ values since 2020. Every item in the kit can be traced to where and how it was made.

Most co-branded merchandise exists because two companies decided it would help their marketing. This one exists because both companies already made things the same way.

Why this model works

The GOEX referral is an example of a sustainable brand partnership built on alignment rather than reach. We work together because it makes the offer to the end client more complete, and because the sourcing standards match on both sides.

For a US brand kitting out a team with ethically made merchandise, apparel from GOEX and headwear from Topiku covers both halves. Verifiable on the apparel side, and made by a named supplier we have paid on the same terms since 2015 on the headwear side.

Works Cited

1 GOEX Apparel. Feel Good. Do Good. https://goexapparel.com/

2 Fair Trade Federation. GOEX Apparel member profile. https://fairtradefederation.org/members/goex/

3 GOEX Apparel. About GOEX. https://goexapparel.com/pages/about

4 GOEX Apparel. Impact. https://goexapparel.com/blogs/impact

5 The Global Orphan Project. https://goproject.org/

Ethical Headwear and Ethical Apparel: Why We Partner with GOEX

Making the LYFER Hat: Inside the Collaboration and How It Comes Together

Slow Fashion: Ethically Made Hats and The Women Who Make Them in Rahayu