There is pretty much only one brand I turn to when I think of sustainable and ethical basics that are also affordable and look amazing.  Ask any girl in Phnom Penh and they’ll have one, two or perhaps even an entire wardrobe filled with these black, grey, striped tees, tanks, T-shirts, shirt dresses.  The whole kit and kaboodle.  And did I mention that the entire biz is packed with amazing ladies committed to upcycling all that remnant fabric waste that gets chucked out of Cambodia’s garment factories on a regular basis?  So yeah, that.

I’ve admired Dorsu from afar for ages.  And with this blog handy, Cait and I quickly became pals with co-founder Hanna Guy.  She’s a freaking awesome lady who hails from gorgeous Australia and, together with co-founder Kunthear Mov, is committed to producing clothing that you’ll actually wear everyday and everywhere, in a workshop that pays everyone ethically, and is constantly pushing the edge of what can be done in sustainable and ethical fashion.  They’re the kind of pieces that you’ll tell your friends that the very jersey or French terry you’re wearing was once considered waste (you can read more about that here).   There’s so much of it that Hanna and her team can produce entire collections that you can purchase both in Cambodia at their store in Kampot or at retailers in Phnom Penh, or online, where they’ll ship basically anywhere.

This year Hanna got together a Dorsu crew to add some ideas to the collection.  This means the classics are still around, but there are some amazing new pieces added in their Core Collection and Classic Capsule wardrobe.  More items that you can transition from office to night to weekend  She’s been teasing about this for ages.  And this past Friday, these new pieces were released, and the interwebs is going nuts.

In August, I got a sneak peak at the line (and colours! check out that millennial pink), when Hanna invited me to shoot some behind the scenes photos.  This also meant I got to shadow the uber talented Rita McNeill, Hanna’s pal and awesome lady behind the lens for all the official Dorsu shots, and watch the styling feats of Dorsu’s sales and marketing guru, Ellen Tirant.  Creeping on their creative process was exactly what I was doing.  I walked away with a bunch of shots and my eye on some periwinkle items. 

I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a weekend.  And I’ve been trying (and failing) to plan a trip to Kampot for ages.  I just want to hang out with these amazing ladies again and learn all the things from them (yes this means a future interview of course).

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All photos by Tiffany Tsang. Please request permission for use.  Cait+Tiff are not liable for that spending spree.