Global Affairs

Global Affairs is an international, creative Dutch Design B2B company based in Amsterdam. With our small team, we develop, create, produce and import our own sustainable collection. We also develop customised products for private label customers (i.e. museums, educational partners, and zoo's). All of our designs are original, colourful and of high quality.

We supply retailers all over the world. In the UK we work with resellers such as the Tate Galleries, the Royal Academy and the National Gallery. Interantionally we can be found at the Musee d'Orsay, The Louvre and the Picasso Museum.

BESPOKE

Next to producing our own collection, we design, customise a

We love to collaborate with our partners. We enjoy designing our own products but we enjoy creating special items for other parties just as much. This can be done by using our designs, and adding your own packaging or we can design a product according your specifications.

If you have anything in particular you want to have designed/developed, please let us know, and we will create something specially for you!

Some of our partners are:

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam / Artis Royal Zoo / London Transport Museum / Mercis BV (Miffy) / TTS group United Kingdom / St Pauls / TATE Britain / Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam / Naturalis Biodiversity Centre Leiden

Our selected suppliers

Our suppliers are based in China and Peru. Most of our products are handmade. We only work with small scale producers. We work on a fair trade principle. We visit our producers on a regular basis in order to build and maintain a strong working relationship, based on dialogue, transparency and mutual respect.

As a result, we have established long-term relationships with our most valuable suppliers (i.e. 10 years). Many of the companies we work with are led by women and most of the employees are also women. This leads to independence, which is essential in all countries, but especially in developing countries. Our suppliers are based in rural areas, which means the workers do not have to migrate to big cities for employment. They can care for their families and they do not have to work unfairly long hours or travel long distances. Many of the employees are farmers who work on the farm during the harvest season and work for our suppliers for the rest of the year. This provides them with a year-round income to support themselves and their families.

All of our suppliers meet the standards for a safe working environment. Some have passed the BSCI audits, and others are in the progress of obtaining this certificate. We fully respect the norms and culture of our suppliers and their workers.

China

All our crochet items are handmade of 100% organic cotton yarn. They are handmade by women in the Jiangsu provence of China. They can do this work at home – or close to home – so they don’t have to move to the city to find a job between the harvesting seasons. This way they can stay close to their family all year round.

Peru

In Peru we work with a cooperative in the Andes mountains, where our accessories are handmade by Inca women.