ECO-RESPONSIBLE capsule collection of clothes, that we are proud of! It’s made entirely from materials that are EARTH and HUMAN friendly. These are:
- GOTS certified ORGANIC COTTON (or simply saying the best organic cotton on earth);
- FABRIC LEFTOVERS (these are deadstock that was left in the warehouse of the manufacturer to collect dust and to end its life in landfill).
We believe that it’s time to move from an egosystem to an ecosystem, to start imagining new ways of caring for both people and the world around us. We champion a new mindset. We invite you to WEAR YOUR VALUES: care and respect for other, protect our planet, seek for better tomorrow.
We believe that progress isn’t about being faster, but being more conscious.
We leave you with the promise to keep going and strengthening our responsible business practices. We have an inner belief that every small step leads to big changes. We seek for better fashion, that creates better feeling and leads to better tomorrow.
THANK YOU DEEP FROM OUR HEARTS, THAT YOU ALLOW US TO GROW BY YOUR SIDE.
principle #1
EARTH and HUMAN FRIENDLY MATERIAL MIX
We seek that from now on and in the future our products are made either from organic cotton, eco cotton, tencel, recycled materials or other sustainable materials, such as deadstock that would overwise collect dust in the warehouse of the giant manufacturer and would wait for the deadend in landfill.
All suppliers that we work with have OEKO-TEX certificates for the fabrics, ensuring that no harmful substances are found on these materials, and they are safe for humans and our planet earth. Before ordering - we do ask for the certificate upfront.
We prefer organic cotton, GOTS certified, grown in organic farming, ensuring fare wages for the farmers and the workers, and where no toxic chemicals are used in production of the fabric - no formaldehyde, no chlorine, no heavy metals.
All the fabric suppliers we currently work with are European suppliers – we aim to shorten the way the material is travelling from supplier to our manufacturing.
principle #2
WE KNOW WHO MADE YOUR CLOTHES
Fair trade and responsible fashion is very important to us. All our clothes are cut and stitched locally in Lithuania by small garment factories. They provide good working conditions, there is no child labour, employees earn decent wages. We regularly go to the manufacturing facilities to check the conditions there. So we can assure you that your clothes are made in responsible and fair way.
Furthermore, as we produce our clothes locally in Lithuania our products don’t travel long way from China or elsewhere in Asia to our warehouse. This helps us to contribute towards lower CO2 emission.
principle #3
NO SAMPLE IS A TRASH
When working on new garments and creating samples – we never throw any sample item away. We either sell them, or redesign them so that it would end up being a suitable clothing item for wearing.
Furthermore, as manufacturing of clothes is a process where humans are present, there is always a possibility of human mistake in the process. Meaning that sometimes certain items turn out not as expected. We never destroy such items, but always redesign, recut and resew them - so that they would become fully wearable.
We gather fabric leftovers after the sewing and keep them in our warehouse. Last year we donated a bunch of materials for fashion design student to work on her study project.
We never destroy any unsold items – we work with the retailer that specializes in selling the items from previous collections. Furthermore, our clothes are timeless, so there is no way they are “out of fashion” after a season or two.
principle #4
SLOW FASHION
When designing Dear Freedom clothing we carefully consider each and every item: where and when our clothes could be worn, we seek our items to be so versatile that they could be worn anytime (no matter the season) and everywhere (no matter the occasion). Our aim is to design clothes that are functional, timeless, never boring and forever wearable.
Furthermore, we have established an initiative called #samebutdifferent where we aim to inspire women to be brave in experimenting with their style, and to be creative in combining the same garment with different styles.
Thus, we are asking our favourite stylists, bloggers, influencers and women, who are seeking for more sustainable lifestyle - to create different looks with the same Dear Freedom garment. We share these looks as an inspirational content on our social media. We accompany those looks with the personal story of each woman towards sustainability, conscious consumption, or changes towards more socially responsible lifestyle.
Look for the inspiration here: https://www.dearfreedom.com/blog
principle #5
WEAR YOUR CLOTHES LONGER
Our purpose is to create clothes that you could enjoy wearing everywhere and anytime. The ones that would be worn with as many outfts as possible, would transcendent the season, the ones that you would love and that could be worn longer due to high quality materials and stitching.
We promise to take care of it!
And we invite you to take care of the clothes you already own.
First, we offer FREE repair service. If your Dear Freedom garment is torn – bring it to us, we will do everything we can to have it fixed and to prolong it’s life in your closet.
Second, every Dear Freedom item has a paper hangtag saying: „Good care = Long life” with some advice on washing, drying, ironing. By taking these advices you contribute towards reduction of energy used and also prolong the time you may enjoy your clothes. The better you treat them, the longer they serve you!
principle #6
#REUSE, #RESELL, #RECYCLE
Are you familiar with the feeling, that you don’t want to wear part of your clothes anymore, because you find them boring, or you can’t find the matching pieces? We have a request – please don't end their lifetime in a landfill. We have several suggestions for you what to do with the clothes that you don't don't want to wear anymore.
- REUSE. Gift your clothes to a friend, colleague or your cousin for it’s second life;
- RESELL on second hand market – there is always a person who will love your clothing piece;
- RECYCLE your worn out clothes yourself. Or you may bring your DF clothes to us – we will take care of recycling them.
There is a small reminder about it on every hangtag of Dear Freedom garment.
In regards of recycling - we make sure that every fabric we order to be produced for us is mono-fiber, meaning it may be recycled after it was totally worn out.
Only for the dead-stock we allow it to be multi-fiber, because we save this material from total destruction, and still believe that it‘s better to use it in economic cycle instead of being destroyed upfront.
Furthermore we love natural fabrics and avoid using polyester and synthetic garments in our production, because when they are washed, micro plastics are released into our water system. This is a huge issue, polluting our seas and severely harming the wildlife.
principle #7
PACKAGING
Recently we have abandoned the use of plastic for packing items after manufacturing – we use either compostable bags or paper bags.
When our Dear Freedom pieces are travelling to you, we pack them to eco-friendly tissue paper, which is FSC certified, acid free and soy based inks are used. And finally your purchase is packed to either Kraft recycled paper boxes or compostable mailers for sending.
Furthermore, we are happy that our partner company for local parcel delivery DPD has chosen to move to green energy. They started using electric cars for the local deliveries and calculate significant reduction in CO2 emission.
what's next?
WHAT WE WORK ON
We are constantly exploring new generation sustainable materials to improve our material mix.
We have joined SEAQUAL INITIATIVE with a mission to keep our oceans free from plastic pollution by up-cycling plastic marine waste into a wide range of high-quality materials. We have the aim to use this fabric made from SEAQUAL® YARN, that contains Upcycled Marine Plastic for the outer wear of our next collection. This fiber is fully traceable and certified. We have become a licensee of SEAQUAL INITIATIVE, because we want to help to raise awareness of the problem of marine litter and give visibility to the many people and organizations working hard to clean our oceans.
One more of our goals is to start working with Lithuanian Fabric Producers to shorten the journey of the material even more.
EARTH AND HUMAN FRIENDLY MATERIALS
100% ORGANIC COTTON (GOTS certified)
WHY WE LOVE IT?
Not harmful for the planet, nor for your health.
No GMO seeds, no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers are used in growing of the cotton.
No toxic chemicals are used in production of the fabric - no formaldehyde, no chlorine, no heavy metals.
The farmers and workers are treated fairly - safe, healthy, non-abusive working environment and fair wages.
100% ECO COTTON (OEKO-TEX certified)
WHY WE LOVE IT?
The fabric is tested for harmful substances. No toxic chemicals are used in production - no chlorine, no heavy metals.
Better for your health and safer for the planet.
UPCYCLED YARN FABRICS FROM PET BOTTLES (will be used in AW22)
WHY WE LOVE IT?
PET bottles are transformed into a polyester yarn through a mechanical process that makes no use of chemicals.
Reduces the environmental impact on human activity.
Has the same performance and quality as virgin polyester for outdoor clothing: breathability, thermal insulation, sturdiness, but is eco-friendly.
Certified by Global Recycled Standard.
FABRIC MADE WITH SEAQUAL YARN CONTAINING UPCYCLED MARINE PLASTIC (will be used in AW22)
WHY WE LOVE IT?
SEAQUAL® YARN contains approximately 10% Upcycled Marine Plastic and 90% post-consumer plastic from land sources. Upcycled Marine Plastic is made from marine litter retrieved from our oceans, beaches, rivers and estuaries.
We love the idea of choosing SEAQUAL® YARN fabrics for Dear Freedom garments because in this way we part of the global community helping to clean our oceans and bring value to the waste that is recovered.
FABRIC DEADSTOCK
WHY WE LOVE IT?
This fabric was produced as a surplus, not sold by the manufacturer and left in the warehouse waiting for the dead-end in landfill.
We saved it and made this nice piece of clothing.