Our Story
We’re Mart and Rob, two brothers who are lucky enough to call the Isle of Wight our home. It’s the kind of place where island living means exploring the Solent and surrounding coastline, forever seeking the next adventure. A tiny island with a special kind of magic, where you can switch off, break away from the everyday and embrace a spirit of escapism.
Like everyone here, we feel connected to the natural world. For us, it puts things into perspective and makes us realise what truly matters – the importance of protecting all we love. And while our island home had always felt a world away from the mass-producing clothing industries that harm our environment, the dangers were lapping at our shores.
It got us thinking: how could we find a better way of doing things that puts people – and the planet – first? Imagine if we could craft quality clothes for our fellow adventurers, but without leaving a footprint.
Instead of bulk production, we could make products one by one, with organic materials that don’t cost the earth. We could even welcome them back for recycling when they’ve been worn out from years of roaming, exploring and time well spent. By now, we were inspired to make change happen. And so the adventure began in 2008, when Rapanui was born.
Fast forward to today and we’re still right here on the island, but now in our own factory, powered by renewables. Our resources may be finite but our innovation knows no bounds, and we’ve since built Teemill, the tech side of Rapanui with a mission to achieve a world without waste.
We’ve even freely shared the secrets of our technology to pave the path for other companies seeking a more conscious way of life.
A lot has changed since those early days of making our own simple clothes for outdoor adventures, but our mission remains the same: to create quality, timeless products for natural living, designed innovatively and with purpose for the environment.
The best part? Our small island community has become part of something much bigger, and we’ve connected with like-minded people all around the world. Together, we can inspire change in the clothing industry and our world.
