The KEPT design team digs deep for the best products and makers for the goods we offer. And when we were looking for a great hamper, we found the beautiful and durable Mavis & Osborn Laundry Hamper. Lead by designer Tamzin Hawkins, Mavis & Osborn is a New Zealand firm with has a focus on ethical manufacturing. She (and we) prefer to use local makers and empower local economies whenever possible.

This hamper, though, is pretty much everything. Our #1 pick in this year’s hamper draft.

But they’re made in New Zealand, quite a voyage already, and they don’t stack. So, if we brought them up, we’d be shipping a ton of air, which is like criminally wasteful. Neither one of us wanted that. What if we could make the same frame locally, here in the US? Tamzin was open to the idea as long as we could find a supplier who practiced sustainable manufacturing processes like using recycled steel.

Enter Pentwater Wire Products in Pentwater, Michigan. A 4-hour drive from Chicago, Pentwater sits on the state’s west coast along Lake Michigan. It’s idyllic downtown has a marina, House of Flavors Ice Cream, and the beloved Antler Bar. Our family has been going to Pentwater every year since we were kids.

We were thrilled when Pentwater Wire Products agreed to collaborate with Tamzin on a locally-made version of their hamper. A family owned business in operation since 1956, they share Tamzin’s views on local manufacturing and sustainability.

KEPT couldn’t be more pleased to offer this hamper that benefits the people of Tamzin’s native New Zealand and our friends in Pentwater!

PENTWATER, MI. PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN KAINULAINEN