selected products
In addition to our whitelist designer list, we have also carefully handpicked specific products from your favorite high fashion brands that meet some or all of our sustainability criteria to ensure that you look great and feel great wearing them.
selected products
In addition to our whitelist designer list, we have also carefully handpicked specific products from your favorite high fashion brands that meet some or all of our sustainability criteria to ensure that you look great and feel great wearing them.
selected products
In addition to our whitelist designer list, we have also carefully handpicked specific products from your favorite high fashion brands that meet some or all of our sustainability criteria to ensure that you look great and feel great wearing them.
selected products
In addition to our whitelist designer list, we have also carefully handpicked specific products from your favorite high fashion brands that meet some or all of our sustainability criteria to ensure that you look great and feel great wearing them.
selected products
In addition to our whitelist designer list, we have also carefully handpicked specific products from your favorite high fashion brands that meet some or all of our sustainability criteria to ensure that you look great and feel great wearing them.
selected products
SUSTAINABILITY is our mission
From the onset of Avanterre, we have made it our mission to exclusively promote sustainable high fashion & fine jewelry designers, hoping to contribute in the reduction of the side-effects of the fashion industry, which is one of the biggest polluters globally.
For us, being sustainable is not a choice; it is a way of life. For the clothing and beauty industries to be sustainable it is up to designers and consumers to be responsible for our actions. With this always in mind, we strive to find, curate & include in our platform designers that meet our five sustainability criteria set out below.
1. materials
We strive to ensure that all Avanterre designers work with materials fundamental to honouring sustainability values. Every material is responsibly selected, focusing on ethically considered options with the lowest environmental impact. Most brands included in our boutique carry optimal certifications and the ones that are not there yet work are in the process of continuously developing their product lines to meet all sustainability criteria with strict project timelines.
Materials used across our designer list include:
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Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) or certified recycled cotton - This means fiber that is either from a 100% recycled source or grown on certified organic farms, monitored against toxic chemicals, water contamination, and hazards to human and planetary health as well as worker welfare abuses.
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Sheeps Wool - Animal welfare is of paramount importance to our brands who work very closely with suppliers to ensure that all of the wool fibre used is verified (ZQ Merino or GOTS certified). This means it comes from farms with the highest possible animal welfare standards.
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EcoVero™ and Tencel™ - Both EcoVero and Tencel are derived from renewable, sustainably harvested wood pulp. These fibres are processed in a closed loop system that reclaims and re-uses the chemicals required, reducing the toxicity of effluent to almost zero. They are long-lasting and certified as compostable and biodegradable.
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Natural Linen & Hemp - Natural linen and hemp are very low impact, as it doesn’t normally require any pesticides or fertilizers to grow. We value it for its natural longevity and versatile qualities. We also consider it a healthy fibre because it won’t be causing contamination at the end of its life as a material.
2. production practices
Production practices form the greatest component in ensuring limited environmental impact. All Avanterre brands have exhibited a strong interest in becoming climate positive, by changing the way their products are made. About 70% of a garment's climate impact happens in manufacturing. Making fibers, processing materials, dyeing and fabricating requires a lot of energy. Our brands integrate sustainable production practices throughout their supply chains and operations with an eye on using resources responsibly and maintaining healthy, vibrant communities. Designing and operating efficient buildings and spaces, using resources responsibly, eliminating waste and minimizing their greenhouse gas footprint are some of the many initiatives our brands take.
The implementation of such initiatives is ensured through putting policies in place and setting goals that help guide progress. Main production targets in most cases include:
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Reducing greenhouse emissions - We prefer brands which disclose their carbon emissions each year through work toward lessening their impact through more energy-efficient store design, lighting technologies and use of renewable energy.
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Reducing water consumption - As one of the areas of greatest impact, we take great care in selecting designers that do more with less water and aim for net-positive water quality outcomes in priority watersheds for people and nature. Improving water efficiency in textile dyeing and finishing factories, utilizing water saving design principles form common principles and targets amongst our brands.
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Reducing waste - Recycling and disposal practices for waste, merchandise and materials used in the supply chain. Improvement in packaging designs using fewer components, minimizing the volume of trash produced and reused, recycling more materials.
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Efficient transportation - Focus on adoption of cleaner and more fuel-efficient transportation practices. Working with carriers, vendors and other partners that support putting more efficient processes in place.
3. community
Improving the lives of those around us is an imperative for all designers in our catalogue. We always strive to include designers that go out of their way to ensure the wellbeing and fair & ethical treatment of all people involved in their supply chain, i.e. the farmers who grow the crops, the people who make the clothes, fashion industry employees up to the end consumers who buy the garments.
We ensure all our designers respect and treat with dignity & fairness all people and communities involved along the production cycle from farmers growing materials and tending to animals cruelty-free, supply chain personnel, production workers, corporate employees, store employees to the end consumer. Our designers demonstrate a strong commitment to give back to their communities and have either reached their goals through acquiring various certifications or are in the process of getting there.
The creation and maintenance of positive supply chains that provide desirable jobs, foster communities and advocate for vulnerable groups is a moral imperative. We look for designers that go beyond the rules & regulations imposed by governments and demonstrate their commitment to the environment, people and communities involved in the production of their beautiful, sustainable clothing lines.
Apart from taking active action to ensure the sustainability of their supply chains, sustainable designers also demonstrate a strong interest in giving back to society through investing in charities and through supporting artisan minorities, championing their work and helping preserve their skills, traditions and craftmanship. The significance of craftspeople is strong as they protect and respect their environment and are mindful of waste.
4. FAIR TRADE
We ensure all our designers respect and adhere to fair trade practices by carrying the Fair trade certification, or by demonstrating with their actions that they are in the process of acquiring it. Such actions involve tracing the end product from field to final, demonstrating respect to all people involved along the way, as well as supporting female entrepreneurship and female community leadership.
In order to eliminate poverty, it is imperative that farmers be paid a fair price for their produce and workers a fair wage for their labour. Our designers place increased importance on fair prices, first and foremost because all farmers and workers involved in their supply chain deserve decent income and decent work.
"As a leader in the global movement to make trade fair, Fairtrade supports and challenges businesses and governments while connecting farmers and workers with the people who buy their products. By choosing Fairtrade, people can create change through their everyday actions. Fairtrade changes the way trade works through better prices, decent working conditions and a fairer deal for farmers and workers in developing countries." (Source: FT online)
"Fairtrade works with 1.7 million farmers and workers, as well as a global grassroots supporter base of more than 2000 Fair Trade Towns in 28 countries, and countless schools, universities and faith groups providing an essential safety net for producers by setting minimum prices for all major commodities, while the unique Fairtrade Premium provides additional funds for farmers and workers to invest as they see fit. Since 2014, Fairtrade producers and farmers have received over €791 million in premium money." (Source: FT online)
FOLLOW
5. CRUELTY FREE
Animal welfare is of paramount importance to all designers on our list who exhibit a commitment to performing necessary due diligence to ensure animal welfare within their supply chains, as well as to the protection of wild & endangered animals and their habitats.
Starting by using natural and organic fibers (rather than synthetic ones), designers help to protect the environment. Pesticides used in non-organic farming contaminate water supply and the surrounding land, endangering animals and their natural habitats. When polyester and synthetic garments are washed, micro plastics are released into our water system which in turn pollutes the seas severely harming wildlife.
In order to ensure animal welfare designers work closely with suppliers to make sure that all animal materials used (wool, leather) have the necessary certifications meaning they comes from farms with the highest possible animal welfare standards, including the “Five Freedoms” as an absolute minimum.
Our designers take care in not using any wool products where the sheep have been mulesed. Mulesing is a cruel and painful way of removing a sheep’s skin that has been infested with flies, without using any pain relief or anesthetic. We believe there are much more humane ways of doing this.
Leather used is well sourced as a bi-product of the meat industry, which otherwise would go to waste. We are firm believers that a sustainable future means a huge reduction in the meat - designers we include are constantly looking into the possibility of innovations with newly created materials and demonstrate a strong interest in finding new alternatives.