Contact Us
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any question via email at cdkaustralia@gmail.com
Founder
CDK aspires to a slower, more thoughtful way of life. Originally founded by the self taught designer Chandrika Tamang in 2016 out of passion who left her regular job from a bank and started designing from her home. She began with her first clothing brand CDK targeting local Bhutanese to promote Bhutanese contemporary clothing and supporting home based weavers. With learning and experimenting, the brand is a reflection of her self. She would like focus more on sense of ease and a slower, thoughtful way of life. Then the idea to incorporate zero waste designs, hand stitched details and using cutoffs to create accessories and to focus more on today’s life by creating and curating simple, functional, meaningful clothing and home textiles, which has vast social and cultural impact. Her motto "LESS IS MORE" has become more relevant to her personality
Community
We are deeply committed to nurturing creative communities, fostering thought and enriching others. We work with home-based artisans, weavers and seamstress from across the country. We prioritize single mothers to work with us. Respecting their livelihood and their daily schedule, we distribute work and express them to focus more on quality.
Since we plan to have limited collections, it would be easy for the community to understand more about the brand style, especially the weavers who would work on our fabric for a year or two.
Contribute through collaboration
We believe that everyone within our communities should be treated with fairness and thoughtfulness and we strive to work collaboratively to achieve fair wages, equality and a supportive culture.
TODAY
• We have long-standing relationships with our makers, suppliers and artisans - we have been working with our artisans for the past 7 lasting years.
• We ensure our suppliers follow our ethical policy and we work in collaboration with each and every one, addressing any issues that arise by finding suitable long-term solutions.
• We support emerging artists and makers, providing a platform to share their work and, where possible, commissioning them for future projects.
TOMORROW
• By 2024, we will ensure that all suppliers pay employee wages that not only meet national legal standards or industry benchmark standards (whichever is higher), but are also high enough to meet all necessary living costs and provide some discretionary income.
• We will support one child education program for each artisan.
Work with us
At CDK we encourage a mindful approach in everything we say and do. We purposefully invest in the development of a talented high performing team of passionate individuals. We nurture talent and encourage growth within each role. When we recruit, we look for intelligence, imaginative thinking and a some one who is supportive and collaborative. We are looking for creativity and always welcome new ideas.
We offer equal opportunities to all.
Cruelty-free—no fur or leather, uses ethically sourced wool, organic cotton & recycled textiles
Collaborates with environmental conservation initiatives, supports artisans, and empowers women!
Longevity
Everything we do, from choosing a particular yarn to our campaign photography, conveys a different pace to the bustle of everyday life. It’s no more evident than in our garments. Our design team create timeless pieces in modern, easy silhouettes and quality fabrics to ensure they last long with good memories.
We try to use natural colors of the yarns and if necessary, we dye our yarns and fabrics with natural dyes or Azo free dyes making sure of the color fastness, resistance to abrasion, odors and stains.
Cherish material and make
We have honored the importance of timeless design and quality, enduring garments. Our circular principles continue to guide our approach to product design, materials and manufacture, and our initiatives will help you to play a part in conscious consumption.
TODAY
• We aim to use natural fires that are biodegradable. Whatever raw materials we choose, we aim to use the resources as carefully as possible and it is 100% natural fiber.
• We use 80% of natural color of the fiber and we consistently collaborate with our dyers to make sure that the dye process are 100% natural and eco-friendly creating a fully responsible business.
• When selecting yarns we consider all aspects from origin, durability, look, feel and texture, then choose the right materials for the right garment.
• 100% of our products use purely natural fires (Cotton, Peace silk, Hemp, Wool, Nettle)
• Our packaging is made from recycled paper and is fully recyclable. We are continually striving to keep our carbon footprint low.
• We resell/remake/reuse all non-faulty items that have been returned by our customers ensuring our garments end up in landfill.
TOMORROW
• We will ensure 100% of our products continue to use natural fires and natural color and we will increase our use of certified materials in our collections.
• We will collaborate with our mills to ensure we have visibility on the provenance of all our fires, enabling us to make educated decisions when selecting the highest quality yarn.
• We will increase our use of waste yarns and reduce our dependence on finite resources - with recycled alternatives to polyamide used in accessories like earrings, bangles, necklace and gifts items.
Minimise waste
We have always believed in the importance of timeless design. Our garments are made to last, becoming more beautiful as they age. Together with our customers, we treat pre-loved garments as a resource to recycle, rather than waste. We have developed new construction methods and sourced alternatives to plastics that allow us to minimize waste. Our aim is to foster longevity and support you to do the same. We will continue to introduce new production and repurposing initiatives to further reduce our waste.
TODAY
• All our deliveries are climate neutral, by offsetting through a range of climate protection projects that promote the economy in less developed countries and improve the lives of local people.
• Having well planned measurement of the product can lead us to weave only required size of the fabric and use a zero waste technique.
• We make gifts and accessories if the little fabric that are cut off.
• We will make only limited quantities of each design and rest will be 'made to order products' to reduce waste materials and surplus stock.
TOMORROW
• We will continue to produce leaner, more focused collections to reduce our levels of surplus store
• We will offer a free repair service where customers can bring back torn or worn garments and have them repaired by our in-house technician
• We will repurpose surplus materials in future collections. We will reuse older garments returned to CDK by upcycling to create unique designs.
• our in-shop clothes swapping initiative, extends a garment’s life beyond its first wearer. Customers can exchange an item they’ve worn and loved for another cherished item from our collection provided it meets our EXCHANGE POLICIES
We have always believed in the importance of timeless design. Our garments are made to last, becoming more beautiful as they age. Together with our customers, we treat pre-loved garments as a resource to recycle, rather than waste. We have developed new construction methods and sourced alternatives to plastics that allow us to minimize waste. Our aim is to foster longevity and support you to do the same. We will continue to introduce new production and repurposing initiatives to further reduce our waste.
Social Conscience
We are keenly aware of our impact on people and the planet. We create clothes and home products that are durable and ethical – both in their life cycle and in their style - making it possible to use them for many years, if not decades to come. We carefully consider the suppliers(yarns) we work with and our choice of materials, sourcing quality natural fiber's that are biodegradable and ethically produced.
We are committed to continuing this journey with a multifaceted approach, implementing new initiatives across the business - from materials and product development to artisan collaborations and product life cycle.
It’s no longer enough to reduce our impact on the planet; at CDK we strive to go a step further, leaving the environment and communities we touch improved upon by our conscious actions. By looking at our impact areas, we have set out a roadmap to enrich and educate, contribute through collaboration, cherish our materials, minimize our waste by weaving only the needed amount of fabric and adopting the zero-waste design and circular economy concept. Handspun, handwoven and hand stitched products not only reduces the consumption electricity and greenhouse gasses but also gives the touch of each artisan love and affection to the product.
Community is at the heart of every facet of our business and we believe our best path forward isn’t as a singular voice but a collaborative one, working closely with our customers, suppliers and makers. Together, we hope to create long-lasting and low-impact products to be cherished both today and tomorrow keeping in mind that no one is harmed during the process.
From next year on, we intend to publish our social report biannually, offering detailed updates into our sustainable actions and how we are progressing.