SEE Activity Centre is part of the Sentidos Beach Retreat on the Mozambique coast. The centre offers a wide variety of unique experiences for guests; including diving, quad biking, snorkelling and SEABOB reef tours, as well as cultural trips to the nearby city of Inhambane, one of the oldest settlements along the east coast of Mozambique.
MOZAMBICAN PARADISE
The Project
The manager of SEE Activity Centre, Joanne Jeffery, was struggling to find sustainably made uniforms for staff, and eco-friendly guest accessories including towels, hats and reusable water bottles. She wanted an eco-focused partner who would take ownership of everything – from sustainable fabric sourcing to design, sampling, manufacture and delivery – with zero plastic packaging and an ethical approach to manufacturing, which would comply with the green initiatives of the centre. She also wanted to create a consistent brand identity across their apparel – a truly unique, custom design that was exclusive to SEE, and would be instantly recognisable as so.
Solution
We worked closely with the SEE team to design a colourful, eye-catching range of branded t-shirts, rash vests, polos, board shorts, leggings and towels, all made from a combination of sustainably sourced organic cotton, recycled polyester and eco-friendly trims derived from ocean and post-consumer waste. We wanted to make sure the design captured the essence of the SEE brand, so we worked with vibrant colours in shades of blue, orange and turquoise and incorporated some of the local aquatic life into the designs, including manta rays and whale sharks, as well as the SEE mascot. We offer a low minimum order quantity (MOQ) which was particularly appealing to Joanne, due to the fact that there were fewer female than male employees and she didn’t want to have budget tied up in holding unnecessary excess stock.
Result
Being part of an exclusive beach retreat, it was important to SEE Activity Centre to mirror the luxury quality guests had come to expect from a visit to Sentidos. Having an exclusively designed clothing range which was sustainably made was hugely appealing to the SEE team who wanted to protect their natural reserve, but also to guests who were passionate about eco-tourism practices and made buying decisions based on this. This meant that SEE could appeal to the eco-conscious tourist. The rash vests and towels supplied during a stay were so popular with guests that the gift shop started selling specially designed versions of these items. We also supplied a certificate to show how much waste SEE had diverted from landfill and the ocean. We continue to support SEE’s sustainability efforts, and are currently exploring an expansion of the original range of apparel and accessories.
“When looking for uniforms for my team and guest accessories I was searching high and low with no success. No single company could give me the quality and environmentally sustainable items I was looking for. Then on my search I came across OceanЯ and I never looked back.”
JOANNE JEFFERY
