hyphen – sun protection pioneer

Being a pioneer is not always easy, but it has the great advantage of not being forced into any already driven tracks. One can incorporate the latest findings and developments into his concept and define “where to go” without legacy issues. ‘hyphen’ means connection. When we gave our brand this name, it was already clear that this was supposed to be our program at all levels. Whether it is specifically a matter of combining a wide range of social needs with the right technical solutions and then combining both with comfort and appealing feel and appearance, or whether it is the combination of needs at levels such as production and environment, social responsibility, communication or sales policy trades – it is always the perfect, fair interaction that ultimately determines the real quality of the finished product.

In terms of the reliability of UV protective clothing, this has a particularly important significance: ultra violet radiation eludes our sensual perception. The unpleasant consequences can be felt and seen only when it’s already too late. The truly (life-threatening) dangerous consequences only become apparent years or decades later. If a product claims to be protective, there is no way to check if it is true, because the sun protection is neither visible nor noticeable as well. Buying then becomes a matter of trust. This puts us in a very responsible position as a manufacturer. It is our responsibility to provide our customers with comprehensive information about the characteristics and limitations of the products and to deliver an authentic quality.

Many work steps and a lot of (hand) work lie between the idea of a garment and the finished product. Our hyphen clothing is made in northeastern Croatia in Mursko Sredisce. The decision for this location was a conscious one: we value the self-confidence and skills of our employees there as much as the good conditions that make it possible for us to meet our demands for the quality of our products and for a sustainable production.

We have been producing in Croatia since 2001 in wage confection, partly because the comparatively short route from Munich to the factory in Croatia allows us a high degree of flexibility and maximum influence on the quality of the products. After many years of experience with productions in Asia, we learned to appreciate the advantages of “regional” production. Back then we were unable to fully implement and control our social, environmental and labour law ideas in those too distant foreign countries, where other prerequisites and the consciousness is quite different. In 2008, the social aspects in terms of employees and the environmental sustainability of the entire manufacturing and sales process were important reasons for us to prefer the European location for our own production.

September 2015: Sports retailers and journalists took the opportunity to visit our work to see for themselves how we implement our claim to produce fairly, sustainably and transparently.