This festive season we spoke to inspiring people who all help others wrap with care - be it giving beautifully, ethically or in this case quite literally - in a cosy (Colsie) Tartan Blanket. 

First I need to say that every single person I have dealt with within the company is noticeably positive, generous and kind. Their care and ethos is tangible at every level. Thanks team Tartan Blanket Co! 

The Tartan Blanket Co. was started by Emma & Fergus, who took a big leap of faith and their considerable commercial and styling skills to create a brand with soul. A brand that brought warmth into people's lives and also had a positive impact on the planet. Following a global search for ethical and environmentally positive makers they now make their blankets and scarves in partnership with family and community based businesses in India and Inner Mongolia. They also give 1% of revenue to the planet, 1% to people within their Positive Impact Company Pledge.

Here's Emma's answers to our questions...

Emma with husband Fergus, joint founders of The Tartan Blanket Co.

Tell us about a moment where you received or gave a beautifully thoughtful gift. 

One of our favourite things to gift are our Baby Blankets, and even more special if they're in one of our Gift Boxes and embroidered with the little one's name and date of birth! It's a gift that can be treasured forever.

How do you wrap with care (more love, less waste) for your customers, friends and family? 

All of our TBCo. packaging is fully recyclable! This was a huge project in 2019 to remove plastic from our delivery packaging. We continue to work with the rest of our supply chain to remove non-recyclable plastics.

We have not yet experimented with wrapping our gifts in woolly blankets and scarves, but we do love using fabrics to wrap gifts up. It's almost like receiving a second gift! It might not be covered in a dusting of glitter and sparkle, but it is equally as special and magical.

You make stunning and ethical products. Tell us how it came about and what's exciting you right now about what you are working on.

Thank you so much! The Tartan Blanket Co. was born out of a desire to create a company with real passion and real soul. We wanted to create beautiful, natural products which would bring warmth to people's hearts and homes, as well as having a truly positive impact on the world around us. However, it didn’t happen overnight and the wonderful brand we have managed to create is the result of many evenings dreaming, a crazy amount of hard work, a constant juggle of family and business, an amazing team behind the scenes and a huge leap of faith.

With Fergus’s background in business and experience in the highland-wear industry and my background in fashion buying and merchandising, we saw an opportunity to bring a modern approach to one of our favourite Scottish products: the tartan blanket. Traditional Scottish tartan blankets are made of wool or cashmere which means they are all natural and fully sustainable, which felt really important to focus on, especially in today's world of fast fashion and disposable products. We wanted to take this sustainability element even further and travelled the world looking for mills in line with our ethics to join us in our vision of traditional Scottish goods with a contemporary edge. 

We soon realised that Scottish mills were not always the most sustainable, transparent and dynamic option, so we began to look further afield. This led to a big adventure around the world learning a huge amount about the process of wool production, dying, spinning, weaving and finishing. After exploring many different production options, we settled on two main partnerships in India and Inner Mongolia.

Our Pledge is an exciting project we have been working on. At the beginning of 2020, we asked what more we could do to prioritise TBCo.'s positive impact. As well as several eco-friendly changes made in our operations and supply chain, we wanted to further our efforts in the protection and survival of the world around us, and this is where Our Pledge comes in. Our Positive Impact Pledge donates 1% for people + 1% for the planet. It means that with every order, every new product, every hour spent growing TBCo., we will be having a bigger, more positive impact on the world and using our business to be a force for good. Already, we have partnered with NAACP, Cool Earth and Changing Faces UK, and The Trussel Trust, and look forward to sharing this journey with many other meaningful organisations.

During this crazy year we still managed to launch our Origins Collection and our exclusive Zeena X TBCo. design collaboration.

Thanks Emma, the other lovely Emma, Fi and Jade. It was ace learning more about you all and the work you do.