Thunderpants may have started out with a couple of design students looking to develop “the ultimate comfy undie that wouldn’t go up your bum” but it’s grown to produce nearly 50,000 garments a year, ranging from kids’ clothes, swimwear, yoga-wear and of course gruds.

Looking at their website, aside from the colourful designs, and the apparent success of the business, what I admire is the way the values of the company come through and support and drive so much (everything?) of what the business does and stands for. To me it seems the top 5 could be: People. Planet. Quality.  Fun. Local. Not necessarily in that order, and ‘Dogs’ might be in the top 5 actually. Or family.  It feels like the Slow Food of underwear.

I get the impression that it’s not so much as a sustainable underwear business, but a quality underwear business that is conducted authentically in line with the values and principles of its founders/owners.

The information on their website about their supply chain, accreditations, and philosophies is hardly written as a marketer’s dream, but it’s honest, and it’s detailed. The lengths the business goes to (I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a recycled zip) more than makes up for what the business might like to do but can’t – relying on suppliers’ certifications rather than auditing them themselves, for example.  As well as using certified fair trade, certified organic cotton, the business is a living wage accredited employer among many other initiatives that look after the planet, their suppliers, staff and customers – including sponsorship of a very well dressed roller-derby team.

If you have a bum that needs covering, feet that need socks, or a bed that needs bedding, you really should check them out.

And if you have a business that could do more to look after the planet and people, you could do worse than follow a few of their examples.

By the way, usage notes in the definition of gruds: ” Like pants term is used in the plural pair sense, but there cannot be a singular grud.”  Glad we’ve got that sorted.