RECYCLED CASHMERE

We love recycled materials. Not only do they use significantly less water, electricity, chemicals, and carbon, but they also use waste, rather than creating it.

Naturally, cashmere is a beautiful, biodegradable, organic fiber, cherished over centuries for its softness, warmth and rarity. However, over the past two decades, with the dominance of fast fashion, we have commoditized a once luxury item. Rather than buying one high quality, cashmere sweater and wearing it repeatedly, we now find ourselves with many versions, brands, weights and colors at a range of price points.

This increased demand has led cashmere goats over-grazing pastures in China and Mongolia, creating deserts out of former natural grasslands. There is not only an environmental impact to over- grazing, but also a human impact. Cashmere herders can no longer rely on fertile pastures to raise their goats and so their livelihoods are now severely at risk.

Our recycled cashmere is made in Italy. Our factory gathers used cashmere sweaters from all over the world giving them a second life. After the cashmere garments are collected, they are checked by hand to confirm the fibers are in fact cashmere and then divided into color lots. The cashmere lots are then broken down into smaller pieces, combed several times and re-spun to create new luxurious yarns.

In order to create a more sustainable sourcing strategy around cashmere production, we need to embrace recycling, regenerating the vast amounts of cashmere we have already created over the past 20 years.

Our yarns are certified by the Global Recycled Standard ensuring that all steps of the production process are traceable, and are made to the highest standard, while protecting workers’ rights.

We believe using recycled cashmere, in tandem with supporting regenerative farming practices (controlling animal grazing and increasing biodiversity) will allow the deserts we have created in Asia to renew and become pastures again. In fact, regenerative farming not only has the potential to protect our supply of clothing materials, but can also protect our food supply, increase the nutritional value of our food and possibly reduce the amount of carbon in our environment.

With everything we create, our goal is to make beautiful garments with the least environmental impact; clothing our customers will cherish and wear repeatedly.

ORGANIC COTTON

GOTS is the Global Organic Textile Standard and the world’s leading textile processing standard for organic fibers.

This means that all cotton yarns certified by GOTS must contain a minimum of 95% organic cotton and cannot be treated with chlorine bleach, formaldehyde or other toxic chemicals and metals. Additionally, strict social standards must also be adhered to, ensuring that working conditions are safe & hygienic, and that fair living wages are paid to employees.

Cotton is an incredible material to work with; natural, breathable, soft, not derived from fossil fuels (like polyester and nylon), doesn’t shed micro plastics into waterways and is biodegradable. However, 99% of the world’s cotton is conventional cotton, meaning it relies heavily on the use of chemicals including pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and synthetic fertilizers, alongside genetically modified seeds and huge amounts of water.

We require that all cottons we use are certified by GOTS. GOTS is not perfect. It is prohibitively expensive for small farmers, fabric mills and designers and contributes in making organic cotton as much as 20% more expensive to purchase than conventional cotton. However, in our minds the cost is worth it to know our cotton uses less chemicals and water than conventional cotton and that people involved in creating organic cotton are treated more fairly.

COROZO BUTTONS

Making clothing is difficult, with many components from all over the world, several of which have a very negative impact on our planet. We are trying to be as responsible as possible in the materials we choose to make our clothing. In terms of our buttons, Corozo has been the most sustainable material we have been able to source to date.

Our ethos: buy less harmful, well considered pieces and wear them more often.

Corozo Buttons are plant-based, derived from the seed or nut of the tagua palm tree in Central America. They are often called “vegetable ivory” since they are extrmely hard and durable and mimic the appearance of animal ivory with a beautiful texture and natural looking finish. In addition, purchasing Corozo based products also helps prevent deforestation by protecting and regenerating forests where corozo nuts grow wild, while also supporting the communities that gather these nuts.

Most buttons in the market are made from plastic, so Corozo buttons are not only plastic-free, but also biodegradable

RECYCLED NYLON

Our planet is dealing with a plethora of issues, excessive material waste being just one of many.

In order to create a more sustainable sourcing strategy around material production, the fashion industry needs to embrace recycling, regenerating and reusing the vast amounts of materials we create everyday.

That is why we like working with recycled materials. Not only do they use significantly less water, electricity, chemicals, and carbon, but they also use waste, rather than creating it.

Our recycled nylon, made from pre-consumer waste, is a particularly amazing fabric to work with as it is extremely compact and body forming. We use the same yarns Azzedine Alaïa’ used to create his incredible form fitting dresses, with the added benefit that our yarn is recycled.

The nylon fabrics used in our leggings, tops, skirts and dresses are all certified by the Global Recycled Standard ensuring that all steps of the production process are traceable, and are made to the highest standard, while protecting workers’ rights.

The objectives of the Global Recycled Standard are to:

Verify that the materials used in products are in fact recycled
Provide consumers with a reliable resource to help them make informed purchasing decisions
Reduce the harmful impact of material production on both people and the environment
Provide assurance to customers that products are processed more sustainably
Push to drive higher percentages of recycled content in products

Materials