The company was founded in 2011 through a joint effort between father and son: Roger and Cameron Saul – the former being the founder of Mulberry. Cameron was teaching sexual health in Uganda during a gap year when he came across a bag made up of recycled hanger wire and bottle tops. Inspired by what he saw, the Mulberry Bottletop campaign was created to raise funds for educational projects for African craftsmen.

The fashion company has an ethical and supportive approach within their production stages of their collections. Majority of the staff are from Brazil, supporting primnarily women. Their working spaces are clean, safe, they are paid a fair wage, gain life insurance, a pension for when they retire and support important health systems within the community. Furthermore, they also provide access to a small loan if workers need to access it for aid with urgent personal affairs. The loan is interest free, and can be paid back by simply working at the factories.

The Bottletop Foundation aims to educate young people in being proactive at protecting themselves against the infection of HIV/AIDS. Their presence and reach is international. Donations can be on a corporate or personal level.

Bottletop has been praised heavily by celebrities and politicians alike. Bill Clinton and Kofi Annan have applauded Bottletop’s efforts in combating the spread of HIV/AIDS. The foundation is cost-effective, and the majority of profits from all innovative ventures are used to help Bottletop’s endeavours.

Bottletop has been nominated for the Observer Ethical Awards 2012, sponsored by Vogue.com.

For more details please visit http://bottletop.org/.