"Green Love" en Français; Amour Vert is a women's and men's clothing company with a sustainable focus. First thing that hits you when you dive into their About Page is that every purchase of a tee from Amour Vert will be matched with a tree being planted in North America.
Most of Amour Vert's products are also manufactured in North America, California to be precise. You can read about each of the factories they work with as well as the different fabrics they use in their clothes. I was intrigued by the OEKO-TEX® Mulberry Silk they use. At first I thought it was a faux silk making it vegan, but it is traditional silk. Mulberry silk, upon further research is the highest quality of silk that can be bought and is pure white in color. This uniformity is due to mulberries being the silk worm's only source of food. Amour Vert does use non-toxic dyes for their clothes which is a plus plus plus. Amour Vert also has a Home section online! The Home section ranges from $3,000+ paintings to $45+ vases. The Gift section is also exciting to scroll through. They are also currently selling a cook book in their Home section. Based on my earlier comparison of tee prices I would put Amour Vert between Everlane and Eileen Fisher (closer to Everlane) as their tees run $28+. I could not find any info about a recycling or buy back program from Amour Vert. So, if you no longer want your Amour Vert shirt or pants you will have to donate, sell, or take to shops such as H&M for recycling. *As always I was not paid to write this blog about Amour Vert. I was intrigued by the company and wanted to add them to my slow fashion blogs.
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After exploring Slow Fashion Brand-Eileen Fisher I thought I'd look into another slow fashion brand that may cost a tad less. A new Eileen Fisher t shirt runs $78+ while a new Everlane t shirt runs $18+. Both prices may seem high, but with slow fashion, you are paying for sustainable practices. Unlike fast fashion, these companies aren't focused on pushing quickly made clothes out their doors for their next shipment of the most recent fashion trend. And the cycle goes on and on and on.
On Everlane's "About" page they state the importance of knowing where their clothing is made. Following a link I was taken to a page displaying a world map with Everlane factories noted across the map. I clicked on a pin on the southern tip of India and was taken to an information page on MAS Holdings. What I loved about this page was the information Everlane shared about their shared history with each factory; why they worked with them. Everlane states often on their site how they wish to be as transparent as possible. This can be seen through the above mentioned map and info, but in also their cost breakdown info graphics. For those of you who like to/can wear wool, Everlane has a new cashmere line called ReCashmere. These sweaters are made of 60% recycled cashmere and 40% merino wool. The wool is collected through recycling programs. The vintage crew ReCashmere is so cute. I wish I wasn't allergic to wool. Other items are also made of recycled items including their quilted coats, underwear (regenerated nylon), bags and backpacks. *I was not paid or contracted to write this post on Everlane. I am interested in learning about and sharing information about slow fashion brands and how they are working to change fashion's negative impact on our world. While working in the television and film industry I come across many different fashion brands. Many, because of the fashion culture, are fast fashion. Fast Fashion (n.) clothing created rapidly, often of poor (or lesser) quality, that is cheap for the consumer to purchase. I wanted to learn a little bit about fashion brands known as slow fashion. Slow Fashion (n.) clothing created with a social and economical consciousness; usually of higher quality and often more expensive than their fast fashion counterparts. One brand I have been working with recently has been Eileen Fisher. I enjoy their items, color choices, and often choice of fabrics, so I wanted to delve a little more into their company information. I started with their website which has a tab titled "behind the label". Subcategories include: organic fibers, undyed and natural dyes, human rights, fair trade, waste no more, etc. These sub categories are promising! (I had already researched a little into some supposed slow fashion brands so I knew Eileen Fisher was on the list) My first visit was the "waste no more" section. I learned that Eileen Fisher takes back your Eileen Fisher brand clothes in any condition. Lightly worn pieces are resold on their website Eileen Fisher Renew. This is an amazing way to get their classic pieces at a discounted price. It's like thrifting online! I can buy used clothes in my pjs! (I would like to take this moment to mention this is not a sponsored post nor and ad. I was genuinely curious about Eileen Fisher's practices and equally excited about their Renew program) Clothing that is not able to be resold is turned into art pieces, accessories, and pillows. In my research I could not find any way to purchase any of the artwork (which I would happily display in my apartment), but you can see some of the works at different exhibitions around the world. In addition to recycling and renewing their old lines, Eileen Fisher has pledged to use only organic cotton and linen by 2020. They are also hoping to only use recycled polyester in their clothes. In 2020 they also want to have roughly under half of their dyed clothing dyed with responsible usage of chemicals and water. Hopefully they can get all the way to 100%! I was impressed with the fact they map their entire supply chains, which is sadly not the norm in today's fashion industry. I wanted to know more about what happens to Eileen Fisher clothing that is already in stores but doesn't sell well so I found a contact on their website and sent in my inquiry. Within a week I had an in-depth answer to my inquiry. A lovely woman named Joan sent me an email explaining Eileen Fisher's dedication to sustainability in their design and construction process. Here are a few excerpts from that email: "For in-store inventory that remains unsold at the end of a season, these items are consolidated from our stores (and from our department store partners such as Nordstrom, Neiman's, etc.) into a 'pack and hold' inventory which is then shipped to our EILEEN FISHER Company Stores (sometimes also know as our 'outlet' stores). The items our Company stores receive are held in inventory for a designated time period and then made available again (as past-seasons' merchandise) for another sale iteration at significantly discounted prices." "We do not 'job out' clothing, burn clothing or, in any other way, of 'get rid' of clothing other than to sell it. We will lower the prices as necessary until the product sells through." I am so pleased with this response from Joan. The fact that this brand can trace their clothing items from raw materials to its final sale, gives me hope in the viability of fashion.
I know Eileen Fisher can be rather expensive for some people, so I hope if that is you, you check out their Renew section. But, I am also planning to find more slow fashion companies (maybe some less expensive options) and highlight them. It makes me happy that although I work in an industry that can be wasteful, there are some making deliberate steps to become sustainable. *Wanted to note again: I was not paid or asked to highlight Eileen Fisher or any other slow fashion company. I am genuinely interested in researching slow fashion and anything else in our industry that is better for our planet. |
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