How to create a sustainable brand?
Discover how to create a truly sustainable brand. Be part of the change, choose plastic free and sustainable fashion. Find the best ideas
CARLOTTA ORLANDO
Contributor
Green tips for creating a more sustainable brand
I have always considered sustainability at the core of my personal fashion choices. When purchasing, I always strive to put quality over quantity, try to avoid fast fashion retailers and support small independent brands. I made these choices to become a conscious consumer. This philosophy helped me a lot while working on the creation of Giglio Tigrato, my sustainable clothing brand, which puts recycling and respect for the environment as its foundation.
Our impact on the world around us, as individuals and as a brand, is a priority for us. Fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world, and even though we are a small brand, it is our responsibility to take care of our impact on the planet in every detail. In 2018, we embarked on this journey of ours to become a more environmentally conscious brand and we've loved every step of the way, which has now led us to actually being a sustainable brand
Our sustainable tips
I hope that being sustainable becomes a new normal for everyone. The planet asks us this. In my own small way, my goal is to spread awareness among those around me of the importance of having a real impact on our environment, with targeted and conscious choices and actions.
I always try to share real information based on facts and figures from the latest research, as well as produce products in the most ecological and ethical way possible. At Giglio Tigrato, we have applied numerous solutions to ensure that we have minimal impact on our natural environment and provide maximum value to society. All choices seek to combine aesthetic style and ethics. Below you can find our tips for making a more sustainable fashion brand.
Evaluate Upcycling
Upcycling means reusing objects to create a product of higher quality, real or perceived. It differs substantially from recycling, whose goal is to return an object to the same original function, often with a loss of value. There are many environmental benefits to adopting upcycling solutions: less use of raw materials and water, less harmful waste, fewer chemicals, and less carbon emissions.
In addition, upcycling can give great insights into creativity. It's great to combine very different fabrics and objects in new solutions. When it comes to fabric selection, we prefer quality old vintage garments or high-fashion discarded materials. In our experience, we have worked with major fashion houses to use beautiful pieces of fabric that would have been thrown away.
Choose a Green Packaging
Packaging is an essential and fundamental part of a brand's identity. Our advice is to make it durable, aesthetically pleasing, and most importantly, sustainable.
Using recycled materials is a great way to avoid using disposable paper or plastic. In addition, even on an aesthetic level, recycled materials allow for broad customization and excellent flexibility. Unique, eco-friendly packaging can improve customer loyalty and give your brand a unique image. One of the materials we recommend you to look at is recycled cotton, which provides excellent resistance and great capacity to preserve clothes.
Buy and produce in small quantities
We have decided to fully espouse the mantra: 'less is more'. We produce all of our garments by hand and collaborate with small workshops. Our collections are made in small quantities to minimize any waste. Our mission is to express beauty and creativity in each creation, keeping our production limited and exclusive. Even when it comes to collections, we try to limit them as much as possible. My advice is to never be in a hurry with new collections and to try not to follow seasonal fashion calendars.
For small brands it's impossible to keep those rhythms: better then to focus on the slow fashion production mode. The goal must be to limit the collections by trying to make timeless pieces as much as possible. We at Giglio Tigrato strive to create only garments that fully win us over, and we always try to make our style homogeneous and recognizable. If you want to know more about a sustainable clothing manufacturing company, visit Italian Artisan.
Do the necessary research
The last and most important piece of advice I would like to give to brands is to try to stay up to date with the latest news and advances in fashion sustainability. It is essential to stay informed and learn about new production techniques that are increasingly efficient and sustainable. It's a responsibility we also have for future generations.
It can start with small steps, for example opting for packaging made from eco-friendly materials or remaining completely transparent with customers about the entire supply and production chain. Being sustainable involves more effort in production and results that may be evident in the medium to long term. But if you work with dedication and passion, consumers will appreciate your efforts.
Use Sustainable Fabrics
The fashion industry has made significant strides in recent years when it comes to developing sustainable materials. These can be natural, such as organic linen or certified organic cotton, or man-made, such as recycled polyester. Try to use them: in addition to being sustainable, your brand could acquire a unique and distinguishable character. For example, I love Fili Pari, a brand that creates jackets from marble, a definitely new idea.
To date, these materials are still not very widespread, because they are more expensive than the most common materials. However, in a competitive world like fashion this is a great opportunity, you can anticipate the times and be a precursor of what will be a next trend
Have a transparent supply chain
Produce locally and in sunlight. Today, the most important brands have almost all outsourced production, becoming unethical and losing their identity. These brands decide to produce in remote places where the cost of labor is very low and where standards for the health of workers are not required.
If you decide to start your own small brand, go against this trend: inform your consumers about all the production processes and tell them why your garments are of superior quality. An informed consumer will be able to better understand what differentiates you, and will more easily buy your sustainable clothes.
An example that is very interesting for me is Nisolo, an American shoe brand. Nisolo has created a real digital passport for its products, similar to the ingredient list of a food product. A very interesting idea, which shows how to make excellent green marketing ideas.
Create a sustainable online shop
Ecommerce is considered more sustainable than a traditional physical store. It can be said that this is broadly true, but it is necessary to take some precautions. We have said how green packaging helps the development of a sustainable clothing brand.
A sustainable practice you can do is to make your e-commerce site carbon neutral, reducing the carbon emissions that your site produces to zero. If you want to know how to do it you can click here.
Another trick is to offset the negative emissions of shipments with sustainable activities that lead to a positive balance of your business, from a sustainability point of view.
Respect your employees
Respect your workers and encourage healthy development of your company. To be sustainable, it is not enough to use sustainable materials or techniques that have little impact on our environment. It is also essential to guarantee optimal working conditions for all its employees.
First of all, adequate salaries must be guaranteed that respect the dignity of workers. Therefore, creativity and ingenuity must be valued. Finally, safety must always be guaranteed, it is not acceptable that there is a risk of having accidents in the workplace. to be sustainable you need to be both ethical and eco-friendly, two fundamental conditions that must go hand in hand.
Conclusion
I hope this guide can help you develop your sustainable brand. sustainability is not a trend but a real necessity. for years we have neglected this aspect, but today it is our environment that requires a strong and drastic change, which cannot wait any longer. If you're building a brand from scratch, take the opportunity to be sustainable from day one. If, on the other hand, you are an established brand, review what is not compliant today from an ethical and environmental point of view.
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