Sobre nosotros

Abstract

Who would have thought that one touches so many moral and philosophical concepts when running a webshop? This is both fascinating and challenging. Over the last 6 years we have come to the following conclusions regarding the most frequent or most important feedback from our followers and customers. The only thing that makes sense as a company of our size is to provide full transparency about our products, about ourselves and about our marketing activities. But even if we had the resources, we wouldn't have a PR department that would do the "beautiful shine" thing. We believe that certain information must be freely available and accesable without any considerable hurdles.

 

Who comes up with such a thing?

This site and its social media channels are run by two people - a philosopher and a graphic designer. No agency is hired to provide customer service or content creation. If you get in touch with us, then always directly with one of us.

Markus studied philosophy, psychology and ancient history in Bamberg (Germany) for 6 years and graduated as Magister Artium. After several years as an employee in several online marketing agencies, he went into business for himself in 2018 and since then has run his own websites, social media sites and webshops. Alex has been working as a freelance graphic designer since 2013 and takes over the necessary additional half of the business, i.e. the implementation of the graphic work. The two met in 2018 to work together on this project.

Why are we doing this?

We've always had a basic need not to starve. In addition, the urge for freedom - understood as the availability of one's own time - seems to be important. The fact that this very freedom is accompanied by an enormous degree of responsibility is not meant to mean liberal gossip, but to point to an existential condition.

 

Damos la bienvenida al cambio

Nuestro objetivo es ofrecer siempre el producto más sostenible y justo. Nuestra selección de productos se medirá por esto y -según las circunstancias empresariales y sociales- cambiará constantemente. Las directrices de nuestros proveedores ya cumplen los requisitos de la Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) y la Fair Labor Association (FLA).

 

Declaración de sostenibilidad

Sustainable fashion is the future! That's why The Philosopher's Shirt is taking steps to make sure we're part of the movement. We only produce items we get an order for, avoiding textile waste from overproduction. Our printing partner's state-of-the-art printing tech creates almost no wastewaters and uses less energy. Each product you see in our webshop is made on-demand – once you place an order, we produce it specifically for you. This allows us to avoid overproduction and textile waste. So forget about mass-produced clothing and buy your unique one-off from us! In traditional made-to-sell retail stores, products are made in large quantities and often exceed market demand. Around 85% of all textiles produced by the fashion industry end up in landfills, making it a major contributor to environmental damage.

Nuestra ropa se imprime con el método de impresión directo a prenda (DTG). La tecnología de impresión que utilizamos está hecha pensando en la sostenibilidad, y nuestras impresoras DTG utilizan casi cero aguas residuales y menos energía, lo que reduce nuestra huella de carbono. Las tintas que utilizamos para imprimir son al agua y no contienen sustancias químicas nocivas. Nos aseguramos de eliminar cualquier resto de tinta según las directrices del proveedor de tinta, para no dañar el medio ambiente.

 

Is philosophy finally dead if it is printed on T-shirts?

No, on the contrary, we also get feedback from professors and lecturers around the globe who like our designs. If you don't have a sense of humour, you don't have a philosophy. In a superordinate sense, our products can also be understood as advertising for philosophy as such.

 

Are you politically oriented?

Yes, like every thinking person we are politically oriented. The human being, understood as a zoon politicon (ζῷον πολιτικόν) - i.e. as a social, community-building being - has a duty towards the community to fulfil. Here, however, we distinguish between ourselves as private individuals and the business entity we represent. We would therefore like to emphasize that no funds or product services flow into political parties, foundations, associations or the like. We act independently and are therefore not bound to any investor or third party.

 

¿Algo sobre los precios?

Nuestros precios pueden ser más altos que los de nuestros competidores, que ofrecen diseños y productos diferentes. Podemos asegurarte que a partir del cuarto trimestre de 2019 -tras un cambio de socio de producción- garantizaremos una calidad impecable. Esto se aplica tanto a la impresión como a la calidad de los tejidos utilizados. Por supuesto, también puedes comprar una camiseta en una tienda de descuento a un precio mucho más bajo, pero ahí radica exactamente la diferencia. No producimos nuestros productos por adelantado y, por tanto, no tenemos existencias de artículos impresos acabados. Por un lado, esto tiene sentido desde el punto de vista ecológico, porque no producimos cosas que al final no se vendan y tengan que ser destruidas. Por otro lado, también tiene sentido desde el punto de vista económico, porque no hay costes de almacenamiento. La diferencia con el comercio mayorista es, sin embargo, que con este planteamiento no obtenemos descuentos por cantidad en la compra. Además, nos gustaría señalar que el precio incluye algo más que una camiseta o los demás productos ofrecidos, sino también el valor de la idea, el rendimiento del trabajo de impresión, embalaje y envío y el servicio de atención al cliente por nuestra parte. Si encuentras nuestros diseños más baratos en otros mercados y plataformas, no podemos garantizar la calidad entregada.

 

Where's the money going?

We are currently reinvesting profit in the growth of our brand. Also to be considered are the taxes to be paid as well as the costs for a website and other digital services. Otherwise, the unavoidable private expenses such as rents and living expenses of the owners will be paid. No company cars or other luxury goods are financed with it or cross-financed by tax advantages.

   

Can I join you?

We are basically interested in cooperation and are very grateful for any feedback from our customers and followers. For criticism, wishes, suggestions and special productions please contact us via [email protected]

 

What are you planning next?

As more and more news arrives asking for an introduction to philosophy or a book recommendation, a blog will be set up starting in 2021. It will include explanations of philosophical memes as well as reviews and book recommendations.

  

Hang on, there's more to discover!

Click here to see more footage from the print shop.