Our Story
OUR STORY
The beginning – 1999
Dr. R. Sri Ram, our founder and chairman, relocated to London in 1983 to take a position as a director for the biggest industrial company in India.
He established the Supreme Group in 1999 with a strong and unambiguous goal of excellence and elevated standards.
Three tiers make up his values, which the corporation adopted:
- Professional = a team of professionals overseeing a sizable manufacturing capacity. use of the world’s greatest machinery and technology, taught by the world’s greatest specialists.
- Ethical = treating employees and the entire supply chain fairly, including farmers who comprise our supply chain, and implementing a deliberate female empowerment and employment strategy to assist them in becoming key breadwinners in their families.
- Green = environmentally friendly materials and practices, from sourcing to delivery.
Establishing a high standard and values within the industry is part of this vision.
Our offices worldwide
With its global group headquarters located in London, its manufacturing base situated in Pondicherry, South India, and sales offices situated in France, Italy, Germany, and Spain, Supreme Creations has grown over the course of more than two decades.
We work with some of the world’s best brands, including Dior, Nike, Google, London Fashion Week, Selfridges, Harrods, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and others.
Our team
90% of the 800 employees are women, many of whom come from low-income families. We are proud that many of the young women who joined the company as factory workers are now married with grown-up children who are engineers and doctors.
Employees appreciate job security, training, competitive pay, a clean and safe working environment, and respect. We have one of the lowest worker turnover rates in the industry, and many of our women are in positions of leadership.
How the company benefited from the plastic bag ban and climate change - 2005
The Courtauld Commitment is a voluntary agreement that was introduced in the UK in 2005 with the goal of encouraging businesses to reduce waste, particularly waste that is single-use plastic.
Supreme Creations made an investment in high-tech printing and stitching machines from some of the top manufacturers in the world, anticipating the decline of plastic bags in retail settings and the rise of reusable, environmentally friendly bags. Additionally, a state-of-the-art design studio was established to support intricate art projects.
Supreme Creations was prepared to start producing large quantities of reusable bags in less than six months.
After Tesco launched its “Bags for Life” campaign and successfully produced over a million bags in a single month, the Co-Op group challenged Supreme Creations to make the first Fairtrade environmentally friendly bag.
The Supreme Creations team used this as an opportunity to find new cotton farmers who not only used no pesticides or herbicides to grow their crops but were also ethical employers who treated their employees fairly and with respect.
Supreme Creations assisted some farmers in achieving Fairtrade certification and going greener.
Additionally, His Royal Highness King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla tied the knot in 2005. Supreme Creations was given the honor of creating commemorative tea towels, and only ethical businesses were asked to provide eco-friendly mementos, in keeping with the then HRH Prince Charles’ strong interest in sustainability and the environment.
The 2009 BITC National Example of Excellence for HRH Prince of Wales
Supreme Creations, a British company dedicated to reducing its impact on the environment and society, won the National Award for Most Ethical Supply Chain from His Royal Highness King Charles ten years after the company was founded, during the height of the 2008–2009 financial crisis.
In addition, Supreme Creations entered the fashion and beauty industries in 2009 when it signed deals with Nike, Zara, Adidas, and Topshop. These deals later led to agreements with London Fashion Week, Dior, Chanel, Harrods, Sephora, Charlotte Tilbury, Printemps, Fashion Trust Arabia, and other stores.
At London’s Clarence House, Dr. R Sri Ram accepts an award from HRH King Charles III.
Bags of Ethics: Creating an Excellence Label - 2009
Bags of Ethics is a positive brand that promotes the people and the environment behind reusable products.
Supreme Creations wants to share its own standards of respect for people, in supply chains, and products and processes that impact our planet with others through Bags of Ethics, in an effort to reduce single-use plastic consumption.
To find out more, go here.
2016: Great Business: A National Model of Excellence
Supreme Creations was chosen to be an ambassador business for the UK Government’s Business is GREAT initiative in 2016. As defenders of British export, we ran national online advertisements, billboards, buses, and embassies throughout the United Kingdom, all showcasing our work.
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic: a pivotal moment
Following the arrival of Covid-19, which brought economies and nations to a complete halt, governments began searching for ways to manufacture the protective gear required to contain the pandemic, particularly face masks.
The Supreme Creations team assembled a task force of industrial engineers, microbiologists, and our technicians with the knowledge and supply chain devoted to reusable products to develop a reusable face covering that would effectively reduce particle transmission, be washable, and be able to be adjusted to fit a variety of face shapes.
Because of its close ties to the British Fashion Council, Supreme Creations was able to bring a variety of well-known British fashion designers, such as Mulberry, RAEBURN, and Julien Macdonald, on board to create stunning artworks that would appeal to customers looking for reusable masks.
Within two weeks, a first prototype had been approved and was ready to be produced and sold under the label Bags of Ethics at Waitrose, Boots, Sainsbury’s, John Lewis, and other retailers. The British Fashion Council Foundation Fund (over 53 businesses received grants), NHS Charities Together, and Wings of Hope received a portion of the project’s proceeds.
The masks also received a Which? Recommendation Best Buy and were covered by national media outlets such as ITV, BBC, The Guardian, The Telegraph, and others.
More information about Bags of Ethics and the Great British Designer campaign can be found HERE
The National Ambassador for COP-26
Supreme Creations was selected to serve as a sustainable business ambassador for the COP26 conference, which took place in Glasgow in 2021. The UK government used our work as an example of a sustainable business on social media.
The Queen’s Green Canopy – 2022
To commemorate HM Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, HRH King Charles created The Queen’s Green Canopy. The program promoted tree planting and preservation throughout the Commonwealth and the nation.
In addition to providing t-shirts and hoodies for a group of volunteers, the charity successfully created and produced a collection of memorabilia by working with Bags of Ethics and Supreme Creations. 3.75 million trees have been planted throughout the UK thanks to our collaboration and assistance with other businesses, many of which have been granted royal warrants. Go HERE to find out more.
Edward Enninful, the chief editor of British Vogue and Condé Nast’s European editorial director, Dr. Sri Ram, the creator of Supreme Creations and Bags of Ethics; and Alok Sharma, the United Kingdom’s member of parliament and president of COP26
Encouragement of Fashion Trust Arabia
Our efforts to assist designers worldwide also included helping up-and-coming designers in the Middle East and North Africa.
Through our collaboration with renowned couture designer Zuhair Murad on charity bags, we have raised over $1 million to support Fashion Trust Arabia’s amazing work.
Green Tree Badge
Together with the Royal Forestry Society, the founding charity partner, Supreme Creations/Bags of Ethics launched an ambitious campaign in September 2023 to encourage one million children in the UK to actively learn more about trees. A formal Activity Passbook was co-authored by world-renowned experts in conservation and medicine, Dr. R. Sri Ram and Smruti Sriram. Prominent figures such as Sir David Jason, Millie, and Mackintosh have endorsed the project.
Dr. Sri Ram at the Green Tree Badge launch event at Kew Gardens
Tony Kirkham, a past head of the arboretum at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, is an MBE, VMH, FICFor (Hon). CEO of Bags of Ethics, Supreme Creations, Smruti Sri Ram Chief Executive of The Royal Forestry Society: Christopher Williams.
TEACHING AND GIVING BACK
Dr. R. Sri Ram and Smruti Sriram frequently lecture at London Business School, The Grossman School of Business: Vermont, University of Oxford, and University of Westminster to graduate and undergraduate business school and sustainability students. In addition, they are spearheading discussions on women in business and sustainable family businesses in sustainability events and forums around the globe. Their work has also been included in books and case studies.