Girlfriend Collective — sustainable brand research
“Don’t make waste, wear it”
So, according to the brand Girlfriend collective, trash looks better on you than it does polluting the planet. The brand turns old plastic bottles, fishing nets and other waste into bras, leggings and shorts you’ll never want to throw away.
The brand is very transparent about its practices and procedures and has published all the important information on their site along with the required certifications as the proof. The factory is SA8000 certified, which promises that the operation adheres to super strict regulations that keep the employees well-paid, safe, and living healthy lives. For the authenticity of the recycled fabric, the certification is standard 100 by Oeko-Tex, the worlds leader in testing fabrics to regulate harmful substances. They make sure every fabric’s origin and contents are totally upfront.
Is everything eco friendly?
Here’s a breakdown of some of the products:
Packaging: The packaging is 100% recycled and recyclable, so don’t throw it away!
Compressive leggings + Bras: Made from 79% recycled polyester and 21% spandex.
LITE Leggings: made from recycled fishing nets, 83% recycled nylon and 17% spandex.
How do they turn old water bottles into clothes?
After sourcing all of the post consumer water bottles from Taiwan, all the labels are removed, then bottles are crushed into billions of miniscule chips, and then washed until they’re sparkling clean. After this you get soft, recycled yarn that eliminates the need of petroleum and diverts water bottles from landfills at the same time.
What about the microfibers?
All synthetic fabrics shed tiny pieces of plastic called microfibers in the wash. The brand recommends washing all your synthetics in a ash bag or filter. They also make and sell them that attaches to your home washing machine and captures those fibers before they can enter water streams, keeping microfibers out of the ocean.
What about the water waste?
After the yarn is made into fabric, it is dyed with eco-friendly dyes and the wastewater is carefully cleaned and cooled before it is released. Every single drop of water used gets sent to water waste treatment plant. There the water gets treated to separate out safe dyes and stray fibers. When everything is separated, the water is measured to make sure it’s safe to release. They even donate the dry mud to local pavement facility where it’s recycled into sidewalks and roads.
They also take old girlfriend collective clothes and recycle them into new clothes, under the title ReGirlfriend.
Note: ALL the information is taken from the official site of girlfriend collective and is subject to change and update.
