BACKSTAGE: Fashion
100,000,000,000
About 100 billion pieces of clothing are produced each year, which is equivalent to 14 pieces for every human being on our planet. The fashion industry is the third largest polluter of the environment after the automotive industry and technology companies.
POLY
The most widespread material in the world for the production of clothing is polyester. About 60% of the clothes you see in a regular store are made from it. This synthetic fiber made from petroleum has minimal breathability and zero antibacterial capabilities. However, it is very cheap. So when you see a beautiful satin dress by design from the Milan catwalk at a great price, look at the tag and the material composition.
1%
Only 1% of clothing is recycled back into textile fibers. Only about 20% of clothing is actually recycled, while so-called downcycling is common, i.e. product devaluing and its use in an inferior role (clothing becomes, for example, cleaning rags or filling materials).
AFRICA
More than 80% of all clothing ends up in landfills, mostly in Africa. See what such a landfill looks like in Ghana https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-12/fast-fashion-turning-parts-ghana-into-toxic-landfill/100358702
Cheap!!!
Why are clothes so cheap? Because human capital is not included in their price. If, for example, Bangladeshi women wore clothes for large multinational companies, but citizens of the European Union, then the cost of their work would at least quadruple (the minimum wage in Bangladesh is 2,500 CZK per month, the lowest minimum wage in the EU is in Bulgaria - less than 9 000CZK, the highest is in Luxembourg - 57,000CZK) Watch the documentary True Cost (link), which will open your eyes.
365,000
Do you know the biggest producer of mass fashion today? It's not H&M or Zara, it's Shein. Shein is a Chinese giant with a turnover of 10 billion dollars, which is almost 260 billion crowns, which sends its products to 220 countries around the world. And do you know how many new clothing styles he adds to his website every day? 1000! that's 7,000 a week, 30,000 a month and a respectable 365,000 a year.
100%
Recycling is especially difficult for mixed materials. If you have a 98% cotton 2% elastane cotton t-shirt, it is more difficult to recycle than a 100% cotton t-shirt. Buttons, zippers or any plastic, metal or other clothing components that must be manually separated from the textile fibers before the recycling process are also an obstacle.
nothing is 100%
If the clothing says that it is 100% recycled material, it is not entirely true. E.g. 100% recycled polyester means that the fabric contains an unspecified amount of recycled polyester, which is supplemented with newly produced so-called virgin polyester. By recycling, synthetic fiber significantly reduces its quality and must be replenished with fresh material.
Nose pineapple
But let's not be so negative. There are a number of innovative materials that are gradually replacing the classic ones. For example, a substance similar to leather can be grown from mycelium, pressed from pineapple leaves or skins from apples or grapes. Textile fibers can also be made from oranges or lotus flowers. And that's not all! Check out more incredible options here: https://www.sustainably-chic.com/blog/innovative-fabrics-in-sustainable-fashion
APP
In addition to the fantastic new materials, there are a number of other initiatives that are trying to change the fashion industry for the better. Innovative software is able to design clothes in such a way that only minimal waste is generated during their production. Smart apps can tell you where a piece of clothing came from and how far it traveled to get to you. As part of circularity, platforms are created on which it is possible to breathe life into pieces of clothing that you no longer love by selling or exchanging them (swapping) or donating them to charity. It's just good!
1. We are not sustainable, we are responsible
Like you, we are tired of how sustainable everyone is these days. What does sustainability really mean? How is it measured? 100% love? Yes. 100% sustainability? Illusion. For us, sustainability is a term without content. For us, responsibility is a term we understand and follow. Every part of our production and sales chain is a reason for us to improve. For us, every customer is a responsibility that we fulfill with love and joy.
2. We believe in natural materials
We believe that our bodies deserve the best and so does the planet. Organic cotton, silk and cashmere are the 3 basic materials we work with. We try to gradually add more innovative biomaterials to our assortment that are gentle on nature and the human body.
3. We use 100% materials
Nothing is 100%, but 100% materials are much easier to recycle than a combination of different materials. An ordinary cotton t-shirt, which is made of low-quality cotton and improved with additives such as elastane, is much more difficult to recycle than a 100% cotton t-shirt. We use 100% high quality materials, to which there is no need to add other synthetic elements. These materials are ideal for recycling.
4. If we use synthetic materials, then always recycled ones.
We already know that nothing is 100%, so sometimes it is necessary to use a synthetic material, otherwise we would create a product with such properties that no one would wear it. And such a product is a waste of resources. But if we use synthetic material, then always recycled to minimize the need to produce new artificial fibers.
5. We produce locally
We don't want to contribute to pointless global transport routes where one t-shirt travels three different continents before reaching its owner. For us, local does not necessarily mean production in the country where we are based. Cotton fiber doesn't grow in the Highlands, and cashmere goats don't run around the yard on the Little Side. By manufacturing in Ulaanbaatar, we support local business and fight against the export of raw cashmere by Chinese traffickers who then mix it with wool and pass it off as 100% cashmere. Production in Portugal gives us the opportunity to use modern technologies in factories whose production is based on responsible principles and experience with biomaterials. Production in the Czech Republic is ideal for our limited collections, which require direct supervision.
6. We are building a circular economy
It is absolutely essential for us to destroy the linear principle of mass production: make - use - throw away. Instead, we want everything we make to last as long as possible. We support second-hand sales, we want to participate in swap events and we are thinking about creating a JUSTLOVE rental company. We send all the clothes we make to be recycled into textile fibers. We want natural wealth to be treated with respect and dignity, we want to change linearity to circularity and establish the principle: produce - use - recycle.
7. We innovate through technology
Just because you love nature doesn't mean you can't love technology. For us, technology is a fascinating world that allows us to make the real world of the fashion industry better. For the design of our limited silk collection, we used 3D visualizations for the first time. These will allow cutting errors to be removed before it is physically cut into the fabric. This eliminates the need to create sets of prototypes and consume a lot of materials and energy. Other areas in which we invest are recycling, the creation of innovative materials and the development of AI technologies, which are used, for example, to create so-called virtual cabins. These simulate how the given piece of clothing would look directly on your figure.