Look for a definition of sustainable fashion and you will find numerous. Most are incredibly vague and all of them seem to ignore the giant elephant in the room… fashion isn’t sustainable.

A true definition of ‘sustainable’ is-

 “Conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources.”

No matter what type of fashion brand you run, there will always, at some point along the way be a depletion of natural resources.

Therefore, as a young brand, we aim to move fashion-forward in a more sustainable way.  For us, this means remaining sustainably focussed and eco-conscious across production, processes, and delivery. At this stage in our journey, we are testing, learning, and improving constantly. We are always open to important conversations around this topic and welcome your comments and suggestions.

Sustainability is deeply complex. One key thing to remember is that everything is not always as it seems…

For example, you could be a brand that only uses recycled fabrics but still drops thousands of new designs every week. Or, you could create upcycled designs from second-hand clothes but still fly 6 models across the world for an extravagant photoshoot.

To tackle sustainability at FACE, it’s important for us to examine all areas of our business.

SLOW FASHION

FACE has always and will continue to operate on a slow-fashion model. What does this mean?

Small Collections- we keep collections small, so we do not over-produce unnecessary items/styles.

No mass production- we offer extremely limited re-stocks regardless of demand

No commitment to seasonal drops- we do not work to traditional seasonal fashion drops. We drop collections when they are ready not when trends dictate what/when to drop.

Pre-order model- pre-orders allow us to know the demand for items before they head into production. We generate a single sample first and only submit orders when we know quantities. This prevents any unnecessary production, deadstock and waste.

Quality garments- FACE clothes are built to last. We want you to love them, treat them well and get plenty of wear out of them.

We strongly advocate for buy less, buy better, wear more and encourage our customers to evaluate their fashion habits.

THE CLOTHES

Manufactures- we are committed to ethically manufactured clothes with fair working conditions. We consult with our manufactures to ensure fair standards are met. When possible, we would like to visit manufacturing sites ourselves, something that we have currently been unable to do.

Upcycling- in our first collection we explored upcycling. We loved being able to bring new life to second-hand garments and creating one-off pieces. However with this comes a huge time commitment for the artists and craftspeople involved. This is reflected in a higher cost per item which can make this a less accessible option for people and something we are considerate of. We would love to delve deeper into upcycling and re-generation methods for future collections.

Recycled Materials- we are always looking for innovative fabrics and recycled options are included as part of this. A few insights on this… right now, much of the recycled options are polyester (plastic). Whilst it’s great to close the loop, polyester isn’t a fabric we love from a quality and environmental standpoint. In addition to this, the recycling process can generate large amounts of waste and often requires greater chemical treatment meaning it’s not always the more environmentally friendly choice.

Organic/natural fabrics- Most of our current collection is made from organic cotton. It’s a natural, high-quality fabric that is made to last. The largest issue with cotton is the huge amount of water this crop requires. Moving forward we would love to explore natural fabrics that have a lower water requirement such as hemp and bamboo.