The Citizenry Review
About The Citizenry
The Citizenry was founded in 2014 by Carly Nance and Rachel Bentley with the idea that beautiful home goods and ethical sourcing should not be mutually exclusive. The brand sources from artisan makers globally, committing to direct relationships with production partners and above-market pricing rather than squeezing costs at each point of the supply chain.
The home textile line, which includes Turkish cotton towels, bedding, and decorative textiles, reflects this founding commitment. The products are not anonymous supply chain outputs. They are documented and traceable.
The Supply Chain Story
Most home textile brands are cagey about where things are made. The Citizenry is the opposite. The brand names its artisan partners. Towels come from specific workshops in Turkey, with information about the weavers and the regional textile traditions they work within. This is verifiable in a way that broad Egyptian cotton claims simply are not.
Turkish cotton from the Aegean region, where The Citizenry’s manufacturing partners are located, has a centuries-old reputation. The long staple fibres and the weaving traditions of that region produce a specific type of towel: dense, fluffy, absorbent, and notably good at improving through repeated washing. The brand’s towels embody this.
Fair Trade in Practice
The Citizenry’s Fair Trade commitment operates differently from certified Fair Trade organizations like FLOCERT. Rather than third-party audit certification, the brand publishes its pricing practices and partner compensation structures. This is transparent but self-reported.
The distinction matters. FLOCERT certification is audited by an independent body. The Citizenry’s model is disclosed but not independently verified in the same way. This is a limitation worth noting. The disclosure is more substantial than most competitors manage, but it falls short of the audit standard.
Product Quality
The towels are very good. A 600 GSM Turkish cotton towel with tight loop construction is a premium product. The Citizenry’s core bath towel collection hits the right weight for daily use without being so heavy that drying time becomes inconvenient.
The improvement-with-washing characteristic of Turkish cotton is especially noticeable in these products. Several customer reviews describe the towels as barely adequate on first use, and genuinely excellent after five or six washes. That is the correct experience for high-quality long-staple Turkish cotton. If you wash them and find them stiff at first, give it time.
Pricing
The Citizenry is premium DTC pricing. A bath towel runs $42 to $58. Sets are $120 to $180. The brand’s position that fair manufacturing requires fair pricing is honest, and the prices do reflect actual production costs rather than primarily brand equity.
For buyers comparing against fashion brand towels at similar price points, The Citizenry delivers meaningfully better provenance transparency and, in most cases, meaningfully better product quality.
Who Should Buy The Citizenry
These towels are right for buyers who want documented supply chains, care about fair manufacturing conditions, appreciate the artisan tradition behind Turkish cotton, and are willing to pay premium prices for verified ethical production.
They are not right for buyers who need GOTS or OEKO-TEX certification, want Egyptian cotton specifically, or are primarily driven by cost. Within the premium DTC space, The Citizenry is among the most honest brands available.
Is The Citizenry Legit?
LegitThe Citizenry earns a Legit rating on the basis of supply chain transparency and Fair Trade pricing commitments. The brand documents its artisan partners and their locations, which is verifiable. Turkish cotton is accurately described as Turkish cotton. No Egyptian cotton claims are made. The absence of OEKO-TEX or GOTS certification is a gap in the otherwise strong transparency story, but the documented artisan sourcing and Fair Trade model are independently meaningful markers of legitimacy.
- Founded
- 2014
- Certifications
- Fair Trade pricing commitments (brand-level, not FLOCERT certified)
What We Liked
- Artisan-made Turkish cotton with documented manufacturing partners
- Fair Trade pricing commitments to production partners
- Transparent about exactly where and how products are made
- High construction quality that improves with washing
What We Didn't Like
- Premium pricing reflects fair manufacturing costs but may not suit all budgets
- Not Egyptian cotton, for buyers who specifically need that
- Smaller product range than multi-line brands
- No GOTS or OEKO-TEX certification prominently featured
Frequently Asked Questions
Where are The Citizenry towels made?
The Citizenry's Turkish cotton towels are made by artisan workshop partners in Turkey. The brand documents its production partners by name and location, which is verifiable. Turkey has a long and well-regarded tradition of cotton textile production, and many of the most respected Turkish cotton products in the world come from the same artisan workshop tradition.
What is The Citizenry's Fair Trade commitment?
The Citizenry commits to paying above-market rates to its artisan partners, ensuring fair compensation throughout the supply chain. This is a brand-level commitment rather than FLOCERT Fair Trade certification, but the brand publishes its pricing practices and partner relationships in enough detail to evaluate. This distinguishes it from brands that use fair trade language as marketing without substance.
Is Turkish cotton as good as Egyptian cotton?
Turkish cotton and Egyptian cotton are both long-staple cotton varieties and are among the best cotton types in the world. They have different characteristics: Egyptian cotton tends toward a silkier, finer feel. Turkish cotton tends toward a soft, fluffy texture that improves with washing and has good moisture absorption. Neither is objectively superior. For towels specifically, many specialists prefer Turkish cotton's durability and improvement-with-use characteristics.
How does The Citizenry compare to Coyuchi?
Both are transparent, values-aligned DTC brands with documented supply chains. Coyuchi's strength is its full certification stack (GOTS, B-Corp, Fair Trade). The Citizenry's strength is its artisan partner model and supply chain documentation. Coyuchi uses organic cotton; The Citizenry uses conventional Turkish cotton. Both are more honest than most competitors.
Related Reading
Background on the claims this review references.