Sustainability

a note on sustainability.

Before we speak about Emporium and sustainability, we feel that it is first important to understand what we mean when we speak about sustainability in fashion.

The term ‘sustainable’ has become attached to the fashion industry at large in recent years, it is considered a ‘megatrend’ and is used by many major brands in their marketing campaigns. Consider the example of H&M, the Swedish fast fashion retailer who in recent years launched H&M concious, their sustainable fashion line. Consider also that there is a powerplant in Sweden that functions largely by burning leftover H&M clothing. Despite having a sustainable line, and wanting you to associate them with sustainability, are they a sustainable garment producer? No. So who is really a sustainable garment producer? And what does the term mean when it’s used?

In reality, almost no one is truly sustainable, even your local vintage store likely had to ship their vintage pieces in from abroad, but if you’d like to minimize your environmental impact, vintage stores, second hand shops and small locally produced brands are a great place to start.

Sustainability as a term is quite vague, with regards to garment production it can refer to the environmental impact of the garment production, it can refer to the impacts those garments will have on the world during their lifespan, the length of a garments life span and even to the conditions under which the garments are produced. When looking to purchase something ‘sustainable’, look into what that company or retailer is about and see for yourself how this particular item has come to be termed as sustainable.

At Emporium, we feel that true sustainability is a hard thing to come by. Everything that is made, shipped, washed and dried has an impact on the environment in one way or another. The only true way to be more sustainable is to make less, something which most companies don’t want to do, and to consume less, which most people don’t want to do!

With the above in mind, it is our aim to produce quality garments, ones which have a longer life cycle, spend more time in use and have a minimal environmental impact when washed and dried (why we stay away from polyester and synthetic fabrics). We produce small runs of our garments (less is more where the environment is concerned), printing and finishing them locally in Dublin and we hope that you wear them for years upon years. Lastly, each of our collections features upcycled vintage items, making something new out of a garment which already exists is about as sustainable as it gets.

Buy less, buy well and take care of your clothes. Wash them on cold, dry them in the air and consider where and how your clothes came to be yours.

We’ll do our best, and we hope you do yours

Emporium