Elizabeth Tamkin | O BOY

Last fall, Nikki and Natalia traveled to Portugal for five days. There, they met with some of our current production partners, explored new opportunities, and learned more about ways our production can be more sustainable. Below is a quick recap of their factory visits, where they saw how the products are made and the exciting new developments for future seasons .

nikki kule in rox trench — Nikki wearing the Rox trench, which came quite in handy while in Portugal… it rained every day .

nikki kule uniform while in portugal — Because of the rain, Nikki’s daily uniform consisted of comfortable pants, sneakers + KULE tee or sweater + KULE Nelson blazer, all under her trench which, coincidentally, Natalia wore too .

For those who may not know, 100% of our tees and sweats are made in Portugal. There, we have the most incredible partners that Nikki visits every year. Nikki and Natalia’s daily schedule consisted of driving a rental car to the surrounding cities of Barcelos, Braga, and Guimarães using GPS and speaking no Portuguese whatsoever . At the factories, they went over current production (Spring 2023), worked on future developments (Fall/Winter 2023), and reviewed our overall sustainability practices. Throughout the trip, they visited dye houses, wash houses, and embroidery houses, as well as knitting facilities, with a few cheese plates in between .

Stacks of rolls of KULE striped fabric for Fall 2022 and current Spring 2023 production.

We use leftover fabric from past seasons to make our patch rugbies, a version of which Nikki put together as a stick figure as seen here .

At the end of every season, Nikki reviews our fabric inventory. She creatively repurposes this fabric into our fun patchwork rugbies, reducing KULE’s fabric waste by giving this leftover fabric a new life.

The Women's Patch Rugby

The Men's Patch Rugby

The Modern

The Archie

Modern Long

The Rufus

Spring waffle knits seen here on the cutting room floor.

Later in the day, they reviewed our current production’s cutting, sewing and lab dips. We are so excited to show you what the factories are making right now . Stay tuned for Spring 2023!

They go over the color lab dips to make sure the colors all match up to our standards. We take this shade of our KULE “poppy” color very seriously!

We love our tabs! You’ll always know it’s KULE. The factory got this machine special for us to make production more efficient

One of the highlights was visiting the knitting factory to check out the production of our Malibu featherweight tee to restock for Oprah’s Favorite Things . Our featherweight tees are truly special, made from a custom fabric by our mill partner for KULE. They are made of the lightest-weight fabric that can be knit into yarn-dyed stripes. Therefore, the fabric is very delicate and must be carefully managed to avoid snags and twists in production. Due to its fine nature, the pattern pieces must be cut by hand so the stripes perfectly match up on your tees.

The machine knitting up the fabric for the Malibu tee.

Oprah KULE malibu tee being cut by hand in Portugal factory — The Malibu tee must be cut by hand. Do you recognize it? .

Oprah wearing KULE Malibu t-shirt from Oprah's Favorite Things 2022 — As seen on Oprah! We were so excited when Oprah chose our Malibu tee for Oprah’s Favorite Things 2022 and absolutely thrilled when we saw her wearing it!

The Malibu (back in stock soon!)

The Malibu

The Tissue Turtleneck

The Baja

The Tissue Turtlenecck

The Baja

The Malibu

They also visited the dye house where all of the products are washed and put through an intense process of fabric quality testing. Nikki and Natalia went on a tour to learn about the ZDHC certification process. To be certified, the factory must reuse at least 10% of the water and is always trying to reuse more. ZDHC factories limit hazardous waste from their practices. They work with their local community to clean the water so that the water they’re sending back out is safe. Very few factories are ZDHC certified. This dye house is also partially solar-paneled for as low-impact electricity as possible.

Nikki in front of the dye machines. Each one of those columns has a different color in it.

Our KULE fabric being washed and rinsed. Excess water goes into the drains in the floor of the factory where it is then released into the pools and treated to be cleaned and reused.

kule portugal factory water cleaning pools — One of the cleaning pools at the factory. The water goes through the cleaning process multiple times until it meets ZDHC standards.

A lot of the surrounding factories are on farms that grow vegetables and herbs for themselves, the workers, and to sell. It’s a great use of the beautiful land.

Plants grown in the garden of KULE's Factory in Portugal

Vegetables grown in the garden of KULE's Factory in Portugal

As for new developments… KULE has some really exciting things in the works which you’ll have to wait and see, but here’s a sneak peek…

And it wasn’t all business. Nikki and Natalia made room for lots and lots of great food and sights, too. Portugal is so beautiful.

cheese from Miss'Opo Portugal — Nikki and Natalia loved Miss’Opo a great restaurant that changes its menu daily .

portugal tile on building — **Azulejos** **(glazed blue ceramic tiles**) are everywhere in Portugal. Here is the side of a building in Porto.

portugal singer on street — Carolina Ferro, a very talented singer, performed right outside of Nikki and Natalia’s hotel each night. Nikki took so many videos (she really was amazing).

Overall this trip was very successful. They loved looking at the new developments and all the endless possibilities. Stay tuned for the exciting new product they had the pleasure to see made for our upcoming collections . Until next year, Portugal! Obrigada!