Flexible fashion designs
Fashion, though vital for a life actually worth enjoying, does impact our environment. A contradiction clearly obvious in megalopolis such as Shanghai where Effy By Design is based. With over 20 millions people, fashion is a mark of expression in the crowd; however voluminous consumption results in pollution and piling waste…
To limit volume, without compromising on style and diversity, we design flexible clothing lines, in which items can be reversed, folded, wrapped, rolled-in, buttoned, and so on… so more choices -> longer lifespan -> lower volumes; and always great versatile styles.
Targeting a zero waste policy
Waste reduction has been a driving force behind Effy By Design’s concept since day one (thanks to G.M. influence). Designing flexible clothing aside:
– We optimize our pattern designs to limit fabric cut waste <5%.
– We work in small batches, and retire a design once our supply is done. We know that sometimes what you’re looking for is no longer available, but that’s a small price to pay to ensure limited stock and 0 waste results.
– We never commission new fabrics, and work with running supplies to limit sampling and testing waste. It means foraging fabrics but that is one fun part of our creative process.
– Our clothe hospital services provides tailoring, mending and redesigning services to revamp and bring new life to dusty clothes, and limit waste.
– We use all our fabric and accessories waste to produce ragged dolls to local charity.
Other sustainability & environment goals
– Material sourcing: We source all fabrics and accessories from a selected pool of certified and reliable partners located within the Shanghai/Zhejiang/Jiangsu area. – Transportation: We source everything locally, however, we do ship our products worldwide, and we could not survive otherwise.
– Animal welfare: As of today, we work with silk and leather. We’re slowly considering new fabric suppliers to operate fabric switch.
Social responsibility
We are a small team designing and producing everything in house in downtown Shanghai. We ensure engaging and safe working relations with competitive living wages to nurture and retain our talents in the competitive Shanghai talent market.