Sustainable love for fashion – IVALO.COM supports the sustainable development of the fashion industry by offering a better alternative to single-use fast fashion, and by encouraging people to make responsible choices. Get familiar with our tips that will help you enjoy fashion more sustainably!
5 Tips for sustainable fashion consumption
1. Quality over quantity
This is the key towards more sustainable fashion consumption. Prefer high-quality and versatile items that fit your style and can be worn for a long time. Consider your purchases carefully and buy only the items you fall in love with. Thinking about the current minimalistic trend, this should be pretty easy!
The products of the Finnish brand Nomen Nescio are stylish, minimalist, everyday pieces to form a perfect wardrobe. The items are all gender-neutral and their colour is black, making them suitable for multiple occasions. The comfortable materials and designs ensure that they stay in use for years to come.
2. Get familiar with the brand
We, the fashion lovers, have the opportunity to affect the future of fashion and its sustainability, together. This can be done by favouring fashion brands that communicate transparently about their production and with whom we have shared values. Sustainability in fashion production can be approached in many different ways. From an ecological point of view, it is important to prefer using materials that are less harmful for the environment and to focus on creating timeless and high-quality items. From the ethical perspective, more sustainable options are producing locally, this way making the monitoring of production easier, or offering work in lower-income countries according to the fair trade principles.
IVALO.COM makes it easier to explore the backgrounds by assessing each of its brand partners with the Sustainability Validation. The minimum requirements include supply chain transparency, fair working conditions, safe materials, long-lasting design, energy efficiency and responsible e-commerce.
3. Check the material
Clothes are being manufactured from a number of natural and synthetic materials and ranking them in order by their environmental impact isn’t that simple. However, recycled materials, a regenerated cellulose fibre lyocell (better known as TENCEL™), and fast-growing hemp that requires only a little water to grow, are examples of more environmentally friendly material alternatives. Organic cotton is a better alternative to conventional cotton as no harmful chemicals are used in the production. New, innovative materials are also emerging on the market at a steady pace.
Well-known certificates, such as the Fair Trade Certificate and the GOTS certificate, also guarantee fair working conditions in the material production.
A recycled nylon called ECONYL® is included in the material selection of many of the activewear brands at IVALO.COM such as Pressio and Revoel. The material is made from plastic waste, mostly from fishing nets collected from the ocean.
4. Care with love
Our beloved clothes also need care. Get familiar with the care instructions of your clothes and follow them carefully to maintain your clothes in good condition for as long as possible. A significant part of the carbon footprint of a garment’s life cycle is created in the use phase, meaning that you can affect the climate impact of your clothes yourself. Avoid excessive washing and favour airing or stain removal locally. Let your laundry air dry instead of using a tumble-dryer and iron only the clothes that really need it.
And do not abandon your loved ones when they need you the most – sewing a button and mending a hole are pretty easily done. We also recommend utilizing the repair services offered by brands or your local repair shops.
The Finnish clothing care specialist Arkivé Atelier curates a selection of care products to extend the life cycle of clothes, shoes and accessories. In addition to clothing combs and brushes, their selection includes a book gathering all their care instructions to make your wardrobe shine.
5. Complete with second-hand finds
This is simple – the most sustainable piece of clothing is the one that already exists. So fall in love with the treasures hanging in your closet over and over again and enjoy the blooming second-hand culture. By combining modern and vintage, you can create unique outfits that no one else will have. Also get familiar with the trend concept called clothing swap with the idea of exchanging the unused gems of closets with friends for example – while possibly enjoying bubbly drinks.
Globe Hope, a veteran of sustainable fashion in Finland, uses already existing, repurposed materials to create new bags, clothes and jewellery. These materials come with different stories and include for example old seat belts and leftover fabrics.
