The German Ecodesign Award is Germany's top national award for sustainable design, organized since 2012 by The Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Federal Environment Agency in collaboration with the International Design Center Berlin. With the award, Germany recognizes design as a changemaker and driving force in altering processes.
The award's jury* consists of several renowned experts, including product and communication designers, architects, and environmental specialists. The evaluation focuses on the degree of innovation, design quality, and environmental characteristics. Impacts on everyday culture and consumer behavior are also considered. The entire product life cycle, from pre-production stages, through manufacturing, distribution, and use, to the "end of life," is considered.
This year, 360 entries were submitted to the competition, and Reet Aus UPMADE® Collection was highlighted as an innovative solution in the Product category, contributing to the transformation of the global industry.
Jury member & Head of the Circular Economy and Global Value Chains Group in the Product and Material Flows Division at the Öko-Institut in Freiburg, Siddharth Prakash emphasized:"Reet Aus project turns the spotlight on the less well-known issue of pre-consumer waste in textile production. It’s a superb illustration of how crucial the design phase is for resource-efficient recycling of textile waste. And it’s an important practical guide to minimum ecodesign requirements for textile products in the EU."
In mass production, an average of 25-40% of new fabrics are considered pre-consumer waste and end up in landfills. Reet Aus uses a science-based production model UPMADE that uses only pre-consumer leftover fabrics, meaning no virgin materials are produced for production.
Industrial upcycling reduces the fashion industry’s impact on the environment by circulating fabrics leftover from mass production back into production using the design. This ables to save on average 75% water and 88% energy and emit 80% less CO2 in comparison to traditional production.
Read more about the Reet Aus winning project from German Ecodesign Award page.
*Jury members from left to right: Siddharth Prakash | Anja Hanslik on behalf of Dr. Bettina Hoffmann MdB | Werner Aisslinger | Dr. Bettina Rechenberg | Prof. Dr. Claudia Perren | Prof. Matthias Held | Prof. em. Anna Berkenbusch | Prof. em. Günter Horntrich | Prof. Friederike von Wedel-Parlow
]]>This year, Reet Aus had the immense pleasure of teaming up with PÖFF to produce their iconic festival t-shirts, introducing an additional layer of green elegance to this cinematic celebration. PÖFF's Marketing Manager, Maria Plees, offers insights into the festival's evolution toward sustainability and provides the backstory behind the collaboration with Reet Aus.
The paw print (footprint) is important to PÖFF. We are aware that organizing a big and glamorous film festival consumes resources, which has made us think more and more about how we can still organize a big film festival as economically and environmentally friendly as possible.
Products inevitably go along with the festival, and over the years we have made them more and more environmentally friendly. Starting with reducing quantities and ending with materials. It is also important for us to include plenty of Estonian producers and brands in the festival, and we are really happy that Reet Aus is also among them this year.
It's really important to us. We're moving more and more towards a greener festival! We dream big, and significant steps towards a sustainable festival have already been taken. Our goal is not to create small changes, but to be the change itself! We invest not only in the present but also in the future.
At the PÖFF office with the green energy label, we keep an eye on small things that ultimately create a big impact - we educate ourselves on environmental issues, switch from paper to smart solutions, and for every film nominated for the festival, we donate one euro to plant trees. We are proud to announce that since 2019, PÖFF has reduced the number of printed catalogues by 50% and moved the catalogue to the online environment, and all other printed materials will also be recyclable from 2021.
To make the joy of giving even greater, the gifts and souvenirs we distribute are environmentally friendly. In addition, the festival uses reusable tableware, and participants enjoy drinking water from a planet-friendly drinking bottle.
While paper tickets are part of the thrill, we're finding more and more ways to download online tickets because the environment matters!
We cannot overlook the fact that PÖFF brings a lot of guests to the city and Estonia, so we have made it a point to use the appropriate public transport option for transporting them, Toyota hybrid and electric cars have been our irreplaceable companions for many years.
We also invite guests to use Tallinn Public Transport, which can be done completely free of charge.
We are moving more and more towards a greener festival.
Reet Aus has caught our eye with her flying and bold ideas. Her strong brand and world views are a direction indicator and an example for us as a festival as well, and we are honoured to cooperate with her at the 27th PÖFF, creating significant value and personal and future-oriented cooperation, which also invites PÖFF visitors to a greener way of thinking.
As already mentioned, a sustainable and forward-looking vision is also important for PÖFF. We are not only a film festival, but fun revolves around us, and various fields affect our success and progress. Reet's beautiful and immediate worldview and contribution to the fashion industry also support the essence of our film festival, creating an opportunity to consume wisely and consciously.
* If you are also interested in unique custom made up-shirts, feel free to contact us!
]]>The German Ecodesign Award is the highest state award for ecological design in Germany. Since 2012, the competition has been annually organized by the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Federal Environment Agency in cooperation with the International Design Center Berlin. The Jury of the Federal Ecodesign Award 2023 includes several recognized experts, including product designers, communication designers, architects and environmental experts.
This year's competition was exceptionally tight, reflecting environmental friendliness and innovation. Among the 360 submitted projects, Reet Aus UPMADE® collection reached the final selection, where 26 innovative projects compete for the German Ecodesign Award 2023 title. The Reet Aus UPMADE® collection is nominated in the Product category, while other nominated projects cover a variety of areas, including Concept, Service, and Young Talent. The prizes will be presented on December 4th by Federal Minister for the Environment, Steffi Lemke.
Dr. Bettina Hoffmann MdB, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV) and jury member, said, "The submissions for the Federal Ecodesign Award 2023 are impressive. Many companies and research institutions are taking the lead and shaping the transformation towards greater sustainability through concrete projects. The innovations are here, and the Federal Ecodesign Award is bringing them from the niche into the mainstream."
Dr. Bettina Rechenberg, Head of Department III "Sustainable Products and Production, Circular Economy" at the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and jury member, commented, "Ecological design of products and services plays a crucial role in the necessary transformation of our society. The numerous submissions from established companies, design firms, startups, and universities have impressed me greatly. The german ecodesign award serves as a catalyst for promoting innovative and forward-looking ideas."
All the nominees are featured in an online gallery.
]]>Trash to Trend is a studio dedicated to extending the lifespan of clothing and footwear and promoting sustainable consumption. The studio offers the opportunity to bring clothes and footwear for repair and upcycling, and to learn simple repair techniques under the guidance of skilled professionals.
In addition to repair services, Trash to Trend regularly organizes workshops with experts in the field such as Reet Aus, Anu Rieberg, designers from the Estonian Academy of Arts, Cleanstep, and more, who share their knowledge on clothing and footwear repair, maintenance, and upcycling.
"We aim to show with our new studio that a quality product can remain in circulation for a long time through proper care and appreciation, thereby serving its owner for decades. As Vivienne Westwood said: Buy less, choose well, make it last!" explained Reet Aus.
The studio will open today, on May 9th at Müürivahe 17 and the first workshops will take place on May 20th and 27th.
More information available on the trashtotrend.art website.
We hope this initiative inspires more people to consider the impact of their clothing choices and take steps towards a more sustainable future!
The project's partners include Tallinn European Green Capital 2023, Reet Aus, Anu Rieberg, the Estonian Academy of Arts' Sustainable Design and Material Laboratory, and Cleanstep.
]]>However, we must address an important topic: price adjustments. Inflation has impacted the manufacturing, labour, transport, administration, and other service providers we work with. While we have tried to delay price adjustments, we need to increase the prices of some of our basic items to maintain quality and service.
To ensure transparency, we want to provide a better understanding of how we calculate our retail prices and share the cost breakdowns with you.
Traditional retailers mark up their products by more than 6x. At Reet Aus, we focus on direct sales and mark up 2.5-3.5x, making the wholesale price our final price. Every product in the Reet Aus collection follows the same pricing principle and here's an example of our product cost breakdown.
While we understand that price adjustments are not ideal, we want to reassure you that the increases will remain between 5-10 €. We are doing our best to keep the prices of our other items stable, but cost prices are not stable, and we are seeing continued increases. Despite this, we remain committed to stabilizing the retail prices and keeping them as consumer-friendly as possible.
Our mission is to solve problems in the textile industry, and we know we cannot do it alone. We appreciate every one of you who believes in us and wants to create a better future with us. We appreciate your continued support and understanding as we navigate these challenging times together.
Thank you for your continuing support and understanding.
]]>We sat down with Reet to talk about Zalando and expanding to European markets.
Reet, when I think about Zalando, I imagine endless warehouses from which thousands (if not tens of thousands) of plastic-wrapped packages are dispatched every day. Packages containing clothes, a significant part of which was bought not out of necessity, but rather out of momentum: "I’m in the mood, I want to buy something".
How do the sustainable ideals of REET AUS and Zalando, a fast and convenient shopping platform, fit together? Or do they even fit together?
REET: We are one of the few industrial upcycling brands in Zalando, all our products are made from textile industry leftovers. But this question lands into the same category as asking why we work with factories in Bangladesh. This question’s undertone indicates that if we also produce in Bangladesh like everyone else, we are not one gram better than others. Without delving into the matter, it is easy to fall into that deception. But we are in those factories for a reason. And the reason is that by producing T-shirts in our Telliskivi studio, we would never be able to have an impact on global production supply chains.
Yes, we could make art here in the studio, make costumes for a production, or make clothes for a truly eco-conscious niche consumer, but none of that will help us solve the problems that plague the world's fashion and textile industries.
The Upmade system, of which our collection is a good example, is based on a lot of scientific research, and from this research, it is clear that the most useful thing is to go where the problem is most extensive. This means: going to large manufacturers or, in this case, large sales platforms, and helping them notice the problem and solve problems together with them. To introduce and help to implement upcycling and circular design.
If we look at percentages, 20-40% of materials remain in factories as waste. It is immensely difficult to make big brands aware of the problem, but for manufacturers - those same factories in Bangladesh or Poland or Turkey - it is a daily problem. They send the products out, but the waste stays there and accumulates. Millions of tons of textile are being left in factories and often its journey ends in nature - at the bottom of a river or in a rice field, or this toxic waste is set on fire.
The most difficult part of implementing Upmade has been the involvement of big brands. Upmade does not require any additional investment. It's a matter of design thinking. You simply have to map out your leftovers and then you are able to produce more. The problem lies in changing the mindset, not the money.
And the very reason we joined Zalando is to show that the Upmade system can be implemented in production, that it is scalable and that it can be done industrially. At Zalando, we are side by side with brands whose leftovers we make our products from. And this position - being next to them - gives us the opportunity to show them that it is not only possible, but also beneficial for both the entrepreneur and the environment.
What does selling on Zalando mean for you? What are the biggest challenges?
REET: It certainly tests us in terms of quantities, but even there the factories we work with have assured us that they are impatiently waiting for our orders to grow large enough to transfer our upcycling production to larger production lines.
They have no shortage of leftovers, so we have almost endless room for growth. If it should happen that we reach the maximum potential with one manufacturer, we have more than ten factories on the list that could be Upmade certified. We have not approached them so far precisely because the market is too small.
The important part of REET AUS story is also that you don't go along with massive seasonal sales and discounts. Will this principle also remain at Zalando? Is there a situation where a person can get, for example, Calvin Klein products at a 50% discount on Black Friday, but not REET AUS?
REET: Our products are not seasonal, and this also means in the Zalando channel that our products do not have automatic seasonal discounts.
We are still a slow fashion brand and our core principle is that once we have developed a product, we sell it for as long as we can. It often happens with t-shirts, for example, that a certain colour combination is available in a very limited quantity because there is simply no more of such material among the leftovers from which the product is made of.
How difficult was it to get into Zalando? Were you welcomed with open arms or did it take a certain amount of proving your brand’s value beforehand?
REET: It's been a lot of hustle for such a small company as we are. We are one of the first upcycling brands out there that have sustainability written so deep into the concept. In addition, we were the first Estonian brand to dive head-first into the Zalando universe. Navigating the German bureaucracy has taken a lot of time and energy.
But the important thing is that in this environment even a person who may not know anything about us can come across not only our clothes but also our understanding of the future of the clothing industry. This means that we also raise the awareness of customers. We are slowly seeping into people's consciousness.
The REET AUS upcycled collection is now also available in Zalando in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden. This means that, in addition to you, who is reading this post and is familiar with both Reet's design and philosophy, a person who usually walks past the Telliskivi with a big arch can now also meet with sustainable fashion. Chance has tremendous power, but only if you create opportunities where a person and chance can meet.
]]>The four seasons are not divided by which ones you need a jumper and which ones you don't, but by which sweaters you need in summer, which ones you need in winter, which ones you wear in spring and which ones you wear in autumn.
Of course, that doesn't mean you don't need a winter sweater in summer! Certainly not! During those hours of the summer solstice, when you're scurrying around in search of the mystical fern flowers, there's generally nothing better than a warm sweater.
Reet Aus is a quintessentially Nordic brand, so it's time to talk about our new recycled knits, designed in Estonia and knitted in Latvia, by people who know exactly what a proper sweater should be.
We have created a true 21st century knitwear, where centuries of experience meet today's challenges and technologies.
Every sweater starts with yarn. Naturally, we use stock leftovers here, and we end up with a recycled yarn with the name Denimwool, which speaks of the fact that it's made from post-consumer denim. The yarn is made up of 55% post-consumer recycled cotton denim and 30% recycled wool. This way, the old denim is not wasted but reused in a new production cycle - zips and buttons are removed, the denim is cut and the pieces are given a new life in the form of yarn.
The yarn is Recycled Claim Standard certified and has not been dyed, but the original denim is previously sorted by colour. Our knitting yarn is produced by Pinori Filati SPA in Italy.
Denimwool is knitted into sweaters in the Latvian factory SIA Viola-Stils, using an innovative 3D printing technique, which means that the sweater has no stitches and there is no waste in the knitting process. Seamless sweaters adapt perfectly to the wearer's body shape, so you can almost forget you're wearing it!
Next to the earthy wool sweaters of childhood memories, REET AUS' new knits are soft and comfortable, as if they were made for your body.
]]>
What do we do? We discussed this thoroughly within our team. The choice was between two options. From this day forward, Reet Aus® is an apolitical brand that collaborates with:
Decision? We’ll collaborate with ALL parties represented in the parliament of democratic countries. We maintain the freedom of choice for deciding whether or not we cooperate with political movements, that are not in democratic countries or are not represented in the parliament. Our assessments will be made according to the EIU democracy index.
Political T-shirts emerged in the 1940s. It began with Thomas E. Dewey running for the US president with his T-shirt Dew it with Dewey. Now, it’s a billion-dollar industry. Our protest against the production of political merchandise does not make the world better, because in that case – a larger amount of political T-shirts would be made from raw fabrics.
We all expect political figures to reach ethical decisions. So we want to nudge them towards sustainability. As we produce from leftovers, then the more political customers we serve, the better. We do not compromise on printing either – we use embroideries instead of heat transfer. You will see the first batch of political merchandise designed by us soon. Stay tuned.
]]>This new line of upcycled T-shirts is indeed about the light that never goes out. Does it sound a bit too poetic? Tacky, even? Well, to be honest, it is quite difficult to talk about light without becoming overly poetic or unbearably scientific. But even more difficult than talking about it is depicting light on something as robust as cotton fabric. We've all seen luminous models draped in silk and tulle walking down high fashion catwalks. But how do you capture light in something as mundane as a T-shirt?
Reet decided on a graphic approach. Images of light are sewn into the dark main fabric. The images themselves - just like light - are at once recognizable and abstract. Simplification and abstraction are inevitable because, as we know, light itself is invisible and yet has the power to make visible everything it touches. Reet's shirts refer to the cosmic primal sources of light, the ones that shine despite us and our (energy) crises.
So perhaps these T-shirts may serve as a simple reminder that even in the darkest of times, the sun rises.
Or as a Poet once wrote...
Listen!
If stars are lit
It means there is someone who needs it,
It means someone wants them to be,
That someone deems those specks of spit Magnificent!
So that’s why we think that it’s high time to take a look at the future of the textile industry through the EU’s Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles – a strategy document that was presented by the EU Commission in March.
You’ve probably heard a lot about the Green Deal?
And quite a bit about the future of the energy sector?
Sure. But did you know that in the EU, the consumption of textiles now accounts on average for the 4th highest negative impact on the environment and on climate change? And even worse from the perspective of water and land use? Yes, there, the textile industry ranks 3rd.
Since 1996, the amount of clothes bought in the EU per person has increased by 40% following a sharp fall in prices. That in turn has reduced the lifespan of clothing. Europeans use nearly 26 kilos of textiles and discard about 11 kilos of them each year, and 87% of it is incinerated or landfilled.
That’s the harsh reality. The reality we live in. And it’s time to act.
Even though it has its shortcomings, we welcome the EU’s strategy and believe it’s a good start on its path forwards.
So, let’s have a look at the most prominent points and measures presented in the strategy:
In conclusion, perhaps one of the biggest takeaways is that the EU is going to hold fast fashion brands accountable. Greenwashing will not be tolerated and the focus shifts on brands to create long-lasting quality garments. Also, all services that add quality are favored. That includes recycling and repairing, and, of course, upcycling - i.e. everything that is following the circularity principles.
It’s a decision we’ve been waiting for and aligns with our core beliefs. It’s what our brand has been about from the beginning and we can’t wait for more to come. We got a little glimpse into that when Reet visited Brussels for the EU Green Week. If you’re interested, feel free to listen to the recording of the circular economy panel “Designed to last: sustainable and connected products”, where Reet was one of the participants.
]]>Reet Aus' first underwear collection is the first of its kind in the entire world. It is made from the leftovers of the clothing industry. And our goal was to create underwear that is truthful and honest. But what makes underwear personal?
]]>And rightly so. You don't really have to answer me, because indeed - underwear is a personal business. At least it seems so, because there are generally far fewer people who see it than there are those who praise you for a new coat or dress. And that's exactly what we're talking about today - personal underwear. Or what makes underwear personal.
Reet Aus' first underwear collection is the first of its kind in the entire world. Why? Because Reet Aus’ underwear is made from the leftovers of the clothing industry. Let's repeat: the raw material is industrial fabric that would otherwise go to waste. The underwear itself is still brand new.
To our knowledge, this has never been done before, but based on the upcycling philosophy that is in the heart of our brand, and considering that in producing underwear, we can make good use of smaller pieces of fabric that would otherwise just be left over and discarded, we decided it was high time we started.
Our goal was to create underwear that is indeed truthful and honest. (By the way – when you translate Reet’s last name – Aus – then you’ll find out that it means “honest” in Estonian!) Truthful to you and to your world. - Underwear that would leave as little footprint on our planet as possible and at the same time, would support your body exactly as needed.
Reet Aus' first underwear collection is soft. Yes, soft. A bra or bralette, to be more precise, just as well as all the other products like men’s and women’s underpants and undershirts, are designed to adapt to the shape of your body. They don’t resemble mediaeval armour in any way, and they don’t try to push your body into unnatural shapes.
There is a connection between the two. We perceive the world through our bodies. It's natural. But if we do not feel well in our body, of course, it is difficult to feel well in the world and to treat it with the same naturalness. And so, we keep trying to push ourselves and our world into unnatural forms.
Yes, when you look at Reet Aus' underwear collection, you see something completely different than the models dipped in feathers and diamonds that walk the catwalks of Victoria's Secrets. And that's exactly how it should be, because underwear is no secret to us. Honestly, it's a matter of convenience and being true to one’s own body, not secrecy.
And based on these thoughts, we decided that the photos introducing our first underwear collection should be created by a London-based creative duo, named (2006), of Gretchen Lawrence (formerly Regret) from Tallinn and Coumba Samba, an artist with Senegalese roots from New York. The world's first upcycled underwear collection met young talented artists of a new generation.
And when you look at these pictures, you see that they were made at the same place where this blog post started - in the bedroom, next to the underwear drawer. In a place where you can always be honest. True to yourself. Where there is no need to hide or show anything. Where you can be yourself. With or without underwear. But truthfully. It’s a personal collection. Personal for everyone.
Where it began…
Kenya is one of Africa’s biggest importers of secondhand clothing with some 185,000 tonnes being imported solely in 2019. The post-consumer waste exported mainly from the EU, US, China and Canada — called Mitumba - forms the main bulk of Kenyans’ fashion choices: an estimated 91.5 percent of households buy secondhand clothing priced at Ksh1000 and below. There is so much overshadowing from the Mitumba, creating a negative impact on not only the environment, but also on the people of Kenya and the local fashion and textile industry which has nearly collapsed.
The textile markets in Kenya are overflowing with enormous piles of used clothing; the streets of Nairobi have become an outdoor shopping mall for secondhand clothes and the rivers of Kenya are polluted with textile waste. A charity done in a good faith has turned into a hazard that is threatening the whole world. Too generous, perhaps?
Completely Out of Fashion (director Jaak Kilmi) is a sequel to the documentary titled “Out of Fashion” which first premiered in 2015. While the first edition took the audience on a journey from the fashion stages of Europe and the cotton plantations of South America right into the epicentre of mass production in Bangladesh, the follow-up focuses on the trails of post-consumer textile waste and its potential for reuse and upcycling.
One of the main storylines of the documentary is an upcycling fashion design incubator programme in Kenya, instructed by Reet Aus and funded by the Estonian Centre for International Development. The project's main goal was to inspire local Kenyan designers creatively and direct them towards an ambitious adventure in turning textile waste into sustainable fashion. Consequently, a huge amount of used clothes from the markets of Gikomba found their way into a more meaningful fashion, making a statement on their own.
The circular concept is very familiar to Africans as they always look to reuse something. The local young designers use their endless creativity in making the best out of the worst- by upcycling the textile waste from the West, they continue to embark on an ambitious adventure in turning it into new, sustainable fashion.
This is what our campaign is all about - showing how creativity can create wonderful upcycled designs from what would otherwise end up destroying our environment. But the question remains - should the UK, the US, Europe, China, Canada and others send their rubbish to Africa? We think not. And it lies in the hands of us all to raise awareness of the post-consumer textile waste. Find out more by following the journey of the documentary filming and the final collections of the incubator programme Completely Out of Fashion.
The final showcase of the new upcycled designs made by 12 Kenyan designers, who are graduating from the 6-month fashion incubator, will take on 3rd of April 2022, in Alchemist Nairobi.
We can’t continue to close our eyes to the fact that the fashion and textile industries hurt the planet tremendously. Our consumption of 400% more textiles than was the case 20 years ago comes at an environmental cost – we pollute oceans with microplastics, the production and burning of textiles increase carbon emissions, and clothing production and washing uses enormous amounts of water and energy.
It’s really simple – if we don’t act now, we will eventually sink in our own textile waste.
That’s also why we’ve teamed up with the European Commission Representative in Estonia and the Ministry of the Environment, because it’s time to talk about the waste caused by the textile industry, what we can do, and what you can do. Working on a local level, we’re on a mission to change Estonians’ textile consumption habits for the better.
In 2018, the European Union adopted a circular economy package that will ensure that all member states will collect textile waste separately from other waste by 2025. So, now that we’re about to begin collecting textile waste separately, what will happen to the mountains of it? That’s what we’re on a mission to solve – we want to make textiles circular.
In August, during the Opinion Festival (Arvamusfestival), we gathered in Paide, Estonia, where we set up a station together with Uuskasutuskeskus for upcycling textiles. People had the chance to bring their old textiles, whether they were a bit broken, stained, or just in need of an uplift, to give them a new life. Together we fixed small holes in jeans, added colorful patches onto t-shirts, upcycled clothing which people had donated to Uuskasutuskeskus, and attendees learned how to properly sort textiles.
To keep the materials within consumption and and the production loop as long as possible, we partnered with the European Commission Representative in Estonia, the Ministry of the Environment, Uuskasutuskeskus, Hoolekandeteenused AS, Hea Hoog Foundation, and the Department of Prisons, to encourage people to upcycle more themselves. We wanted to showcase that jeans, the manufacturing of which has a very high environmental impact, can in fact be upcycled to something entirely different. We designed six home textile products which were to be produced out of jeans and home textiles which had been donated to Uuskasutuskeskus.
The new products are produced all over Estonia – female detainees at Tallinn Prison produce quilts, while the Hea Hoog Foundation produces aprons, oven cloths, textile bags, decorative pillows, and small rugs, in work centers in Tallinn, Rakvere, Rapla, Uuemõisa, and Võisiku. As you may realize, this project is as much about recycling and sustainability as it is also about the social aspect of giving a voice to those who are often left unheard and forgotten by our society.
This project was showcased as part of an exhibition at the 15th Tallinn Design Festival this year, and the final products will furnish the new AS Hoolekandeteenused homes which are due to be opened this year.
]]>The end-of-the-year sales occur around the same time each year, retailers offering discounts on items associated with the season or turning unsold or off-season stock into cash to make room for new. The end-of the year sales will then turn into New Year sales, then Valentine’s Day sales, Easter sales and so on.
For retailers, it is an easy way to make money via impulse or unplanned buying. That said, sales shopping comes with several costs to the consumers but more importantly, to our environment and planet
It is pretty obvious that the more we buy, the more we throw away.
Fast fashion has led to a big increase in the quantity of clothes produced and thrown away. According to the studies of European Parliament (2020), the amount of clothes bought in the EU per person since 1996 has increased by 40% following a sharp fall in prices and increase in new styles, which has reduced the life span of clothing. Europeans use nearly 26 kilos of textiles and discard about 11 kilos of them every year. Used clothes can be exported outside the EU, but are mostly (87%) incinerated or landfilled.
It’s known that less than 1% of the material used to produce clothing is recycled. Therefore, it is utterly important to shop by your values, think before you buy and if possible, purchase a second-hand item instead of a new one. Or an upcycled item. Otherwise, we will bury our planet under clothes, shoes and accessories.
“The Reet Aus brand was created for one specific reason - to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry through design. As controversial as it sounds, but buying an upcycled t-shirt will reduce the amount of garbage behind my back. We turn trash into trend.” – Reet Aus
The most common period of high return rates is during holidays and straight after. Why? Again because of the splurging throughout the Black Friday, Christmas, and New Year sales. The more people purchase items online based on emotion and time pressure (due to end dates of the sales), the more are there returns.
Returns come with a number of negative impacts on our environment. Consumers sending items back, and couriers collecting and redistributing them, all means extra driving thus traffic and thus CO2 emissions. Furthermore, processing, transporting and landfill of single-use or non-recyclable packaging used in returns mean more land use and a greater carbon footprint.
Sales shopping can spark joy and be economically friendly to your wallet but it should be done wisely and responsibly.
With the COP26 behind us, the 2030 Agenda being constantly promoted, the daily talks about fighting climate change and protecting our environment, we need to take action. But sometimes taking action could also be not taking action. Simply put – missing a sales season or two, instead of going along with the frenzy, is often a choice for a better, and greener, future.
]]>The results of this research show that depending on the size of the factory the fabric leftovers and textile waste generated in garment production ranges from 25–40% of the total fabric used. Experiments show that 50% of that material can be upcycled into new garments and for some types of leftover—mainly spreading loss and excess fabric—it can even be up to 80%.
Implementing upcycling on the industrial level requires transparency to understand the waste created in garment production and create designs that suite the production system. It is important to consider that the upcycling design process differs from regular design—a garment is designed based on the parameters of the waste materials.
The fashion and textile industry is one of the world’s most polluting industries, mainly because its volume of production dwarfs most other industries. Textiles production requires a lot of land for crops and uses a lot of water, energy, chemicals and other resources leaving often untreated pollution behind and has a highly negative environmental, economic and social footprint (Fletcher, 2008; GFA & BCG, 2017; Hiller Connell & Kozar, 2017; Leal et al., 2019; Remy et al., 2016). Today’s conventional fashion and garment industry is linear by nature and in addition to the impact that raw material extraction for newly produced fibre production has, textile waste has become a major problem in the sector (Ellen MacArthur, 2013, 2017).
The amount of waste created is truly significant, as the European Union (EU) textile industry alone generates around 16 million tonnes of textile waste annually (European Commission, 2017). Much of this waste today still ends up in landfills or is incinerated. This represents a loss from a production effort which uses millions of tonnes of water and kilowatts of energy, and countless hours of human labour that could be salvaged (Leal et al., 2019).
While most debates and circular fashion approaches focus on the problem of used garments—so-called post-consumer waste (Fischer & Pascucci, 2017; Singh & Ordoñez, 2016), less attention is paid to the textile waste and leftovers from manufacturing garments (pre-consumer waste). Yet the environmental impact of garment production in the whole garment life cycle can be from 29 to 72% depending on the type of clothing (Steinberger et al., 2009).
Over the past 30 years, most garment production has shifted to developing countries, mainly in Asia, in search of cheaper labour. Global clothing supply chains are now complex involving several actors on many levels and regions making it difficult to have full oversight on them. This results in the waste generated in the production being less visible and less recognised by brands, designers as well as consumers (Govindan & Hasanagic, 2018).
However, awareness that the textile waste generated during garment production is a problem is starting to increase mainly of economic reasons. Fabric can make up to 80% of the total production cost of a garment, which has made manufacturers to seek ways to decrease the creation of waste as much as possible (Nayak et al., 2008). Recycling technologies for textile production waste and leftovers are also being sought and developed (Leal et al., 2019; Lewis et al., 2016). The problem of textile production waste is still mainly left for manufacturers to solve. The unofficial waste management system in those manufacturing countries is unpredictable and the availability of different recycling options is very limited. Therefore, most of the leftover material from garment manufacturing ends up dumped or burned.
The aim of this study was to analyse the amount and types of textile waste and fabric leftovers generated in the garment manufacturing process that are most suitable for what is called industrial upcycling so as to redirect the leftover material back into the production of new garments. In addition, a summary of innovative design methods and examples of garment designs for upcycling textile waste is presented. These methods and examples were developed and tested during this research, which also formed the foundation for the development of a new circular design business model, UPMADE. It is the first of its kind circular garment design and production approach based on the principles of upcycling and has proven to be applicable in mass production in several garment manufacturing factories in Asian countries (SEI, 2019).
The full research paper is available HERE.
]]>Once the pictures were taken and the laughter in our showroom had subsided, we sat down with Tõnis to talk about being a man, a son and a father.
We live in a time where there is a lot of talk about gender roles, even the lack of gender, and neutrality. How do you see your role as a man in today's society?
As a person, I am probably quite liberal on certain topics and again rather conservative on others. It seems to me that I am inclined towards conservatism in this sense of the role of a man. I have been taught to be respectful, especially towards women. I find it perfectly normal for a man to open doors and do some other things “stereotypical” to men. Speaking of gender neutrality - I myself do not wrestle with this topic. My children and grandchildren will probably do so more.
How do you define the word masculinity?
It is difficult to define it because it seems to be often expressed through physical parameters. Actually, the word masculine is rather ironic to me, like the word macho, which sounds like someone who is trying hard to look like a "man". Courtesy, offering a sense of security – those things mean being masculine to me. What’s certain is that I do not equate myself with the word masculine. Rather, I would identify myself by the word traditional (in a good way).
Do men cry?
Men do cry, maybe just more internally than externally. I've always had trouble getting tears out. The hardest thing for me is to laugh and cry exactly when needed, although I should excel in those due to my acting profession. I guess I take life a little too easily, but I like it. I don't tend to worry or think negatively too much.
When was the last time you cried?
Inevitably when I lost a close person. Some movies also make me tear up. For example, Denzel Washington's “Man on Fire”. That movie brought up the same emotions I felt back when my daughter was born.
October is Mental Health Month. How do you take care of your soul and spirit?
I try not to overthink things, not to worry. I see no reason to worry all the time. Unless the concern is justified. I take care of my soul every day by walking and avoiding unnecessary conflicts. However, I tend to irritate myself through daily politics, which get me super worked up.
And how do you keep fit?
I really like all kinds of physical exercise and sports. I very happily do some physical, very simple work in my country home, for example. Sawing, cutting down trees and stacking firewood are all extremely calming activities. And ironing clothes – what a truly enjoyable activity it is! I can iron clothes for hours.
Speaking of clothing – do you dress for practicality, comfort or self-expression?
Over the years, the way I dress has been driven more and more by practicality and comfort. I have realised that I am also less bothered and excited about colors than I used to be. I find more and more gray, black and dark blue clothes in my wardrobe. [Thinks] There are exceptions, of course - for example, my favorite football club (AFC Ajax) jersey, which is red. In addition to convenience and practicality, I always think that what I buy has to be of high quality. And I'm working on minimising emotional purchases.
Let's now do a round of flash questions on fashion:
Father's Day is coming. When you think about your father, what are the three things about him that come to your mind first?
Laughter – we have a lot of fun with dad and we have a common sense of humor. Neither of us takes things too seriously, and we're terribly ironic about everything (it irritates my mother and makes us laugh).
Forest - dad has his own forest, I have mine. Since my parents live in the countryside, in a house with a wood-burner/stove, it is necessary to make and have firewood all the time. Therefore, it is perfectly normal for me and dad to wake up at 7 AM on a day off, go to the forest, do some maintenance there, walk around and bring the firewood home.
Love for sports - my father is the one who taught me the love for sports and I am extremely grateful for that.
And in what words would you like your children to describe you in 20 years?
It would be cool if they would also describe me through sports and laughter. I also feel that my generation and younger people are becoming more aware of nature, the environment and our planet. The question is whether, as parents, we can best guide them in the path of awareness, responsible consumption and the preservation of nature. I truly hope I will succeed in that.
]]>When you think of Japan, what goes through your head? Blossoming cherry trees? Tea ceremonies, calligraphy and ikebana? Kimonos and the neon skyline of Tokyo? Mount Fuji and Nintendo? Yes, that’s it or maybe it isn’t, maybe the images and memories just keep on coming. But what about Japanese denim? After reading this post, every time someone mentions Japan, you will think about jeans. The jeans that are now made – upcycled – in collaboration between Reet Aus and one of the oldest denim manufacturers of Japan. The jeans you’ll most likely wear forever. (Or almost forever!)
Denim-lovers from all over the world praise Japanese denim. They say that it’s the best. And with good reason. While its history is not nearly as long as that of American denim, its quality surpasses this and all others. Why?
Japan’s fascination with all things American began after World War II, but the cult of denim started after James Dean wore a pair of blue jeans in “Rebel Without a Cause” (1955). Immediately, jeans became a symbol of youth, of going-forth, and of future. Businessminded Japanese started importing jeans from the United States and prices went through the roof. Also, the American product met the Eastern mindset. Its eternal search for perfection, to be more exact. Those two – search for perfection and high demand – are likely to be thanked for the existence of Japanese denim.
In the small town of Kojima, which now is the denim capital of Japan, a company called Kurabo Mills decided to craft its own denim fabric. After many failed attempts, they finally succeeded in 1972, crafting the first batch of Japanese denim, called KD-8. As you might’ve guessed already, KD-8 denim was different from its American counterpart. For one, it used natural dye to give the fabric its signature colour. For another, Kurabo Mills used “outdated power looms”, which weave at ¼ of the power of a regular loom machine. Weaving on an old loom, allowed them to produce selvage fabric.*
Many things have changed over the decades, but Japanese denim industry has remained true to its materials and methods, perfecting them over time and today, it’s safe to say that denim-making is almost an art form in its own right.
Reet AusTM has been active in Japan for a few years and so it was probably just a question of time, until Reet found a partner there, who’d be ready to be introduced to the world of upcycling. We are extremely proud to introduce you to the collaboration between Reet AusTM and Japan Blue that has led to jeans upcycled from some of the best denim in the world, designed in Estonia, produced in Japan.
Nordic mentality and Eastern mindset have overlapping key-elements that make this collaboration and the resulting jeans so special – durability and simplicity. Those, who’ve put them on once, don’t want to take them off anymore. And to be fair, they don’t have to, cause the jeans will last.
Briefly about the product. Straight-cut. Grey. Raw denim. They're robust. Real. True to their origin. Think cowboys in Japanese countryside. Think Land Rover Defender. Think steak, raw and served with pepper and salt. No useless add-ons. Just a perfect pair of jeans, as God (or Reet) intended. SHOP here.
Come, visit our shop and put them on. If you like them, you’ll never want to take them off again. If you don’t… well – buy a T-shirt and let’s talk about the jeans you dream about.
*Selvage or selvedge, from the phase "self-edge", refers to the natural end of a roll of fabric which, when made into a pair of jeans, prevents unraveling of the material. The cost of producing selvage denim is more expensive since it can only be woven at a width of 31", about half the width of non-selvage denim, and is woven on old looms requiring more skill and adeptness.
]]>Before beginning her journey with her fashion brand and as a pioneer in industrial upcycling, Reet worked as a costume and set designer for various theatre productions both in Estonia and abroad. She soon acknowledged that theatrical production has a significant ecological footprint that shouldn’t be ignored. From there on, she experimented her way forward, finding new ways to work – from implementing upcycling in costume design to sustainable set designs and embedding sustainability across theatres as organisations.
At first, one might not think of theatre productions as strikingly polluting. We know that transportation is the real culprit and there’s really not much transportation going on there. Therefore, everything’s local, right? Well, not really. Powering the lighting and sound for each show consumes a huge amount of energy and unfortunately, a high percentage of Estonia’s energy comes from oil shale. We’re the only country in the world which still relies on this environmentally disastrous production as our primary source of energy.
Then come the more materialistic aspects – costume and set design. It’s common to produce new designs for each play and after the curtains close, and these won’t usually find immediate use afterwards. So, naturally, theatres end up piling a lot of items mostly bought and intended for one play. Finally, a common issue for each play taking place in a theatre is the infrastructure and maintenance of the facility. Energy and water consumption, waste management, and so on.
As a costume designer, Reet is devoted to being as sustainable as possible in her practice. The best thing you could do, of course, is to reuse previous costumes. But if that’s not possible, the second best thing is to upcycle – to rework or combine previous costumes and clothes to make something new. This is often confused with recycling, which actually means that you’d pull apart a material completely before producing it anew. Sourcing materials, from recycling centers, factories and the like, wasn’t common when Reet started out, and therefore took some time to convince others and get them involved. If you don’t get through to a person or the person isn’t on the same level with you, it’s hard to get them to understand.
On her quest to make theatres more sustainable, Reet has come across a number of hurdles. For instance, during her work on making the Tallinn City Theatre daily activities sustainable, surprising issues seemed to pop up wherever she turned. As the theatre is divided between multiple buildings, with some buildings built in medieval times, infrastructural issues such as piping, heating, renovations etc. were the main concern. However, once you get people on board and decide to go through a common process, everything’s possible.
Reet’s work at Tallinn City Theatre went on further to include upcycling as a method to showcase that it can be implemented in theatres, too. As you know, a major element of our fashion label is the UPMADE® certification and production system, which enables brands and manufacturers to implement industrial upcycling in order to turn excess materials into garments and thus present savings in water, CO2, and energy usage.
Although the UPMADE certificate is designed for the textile and fashion industry, that doesn’t mean it can’t be implemented in other industries as well. The core methodology goes like this – you map the waste’s phases, the types of waste, where it goes, what you can bring back to the organisation by upcycling, what you can recycle, and what goes to waste management. In this way, whatever the industry, the knowledge and the tools remain the same. So yes, this method can also be applied in theatres in order to become more energy efficient, save water, and emit less CO2.
]]>It is estimated that more than USD 500 billion in value is lost every year due to underutilised clothing and a lack of recycling. Clothes are used for only a short time, after which 75 % of them are sent to landfills or incinerated. Only around 13% of the material input is recycled for use by other industries, and that is mainly for use in lower-value applications.
In order to develop a successful circular textile system, there is a need for a coordinated approach at a systemic level. More collaboration is key, in order to find innovative solutions for textile circularity, development of new business models, and to foster further development of sorting systems, upcycling and recycling technologies.
Today in the European Union, a total of 25% of all used clothing is collected, out of which only 1% is recycled. One of the reasons for this is that clothes in the market are made with so many different and complicated materials. That´s why, besides us working with leftovers, we are always keeping in mind that our products must be easily recycled.
The final step we had to make towards using mono-fabrics was going label-free. That means from now on our label information is printed on the product or the labels are made with the same fabric as the product itself and sewn onto it. We have also given up on using hand-tags or brand-labels. It’s part of our future-conscious approach. One more step towards a circular system!
]]>Cultural sustainability refers to tolerant systems that recognise and cultivate diversity. This includes diversity in the fashion and sustainability discourse to reflect a range of communities, locations and belief systems. It includes the use of various strategies to preserve cultural heritage, beliefs, practices and histories. It seeks to safeguard the existence of these communities in ways that honour their integrity. (Fashion Seeds 2020)
Estonian cultural history is intertwined with all of our neighbours’. Our new line of shirts is inspired by early revolutionary Russian art. As well as being one of our founder, Reet’s favourite artistic movements, Russian avant-garde is an essential part of her cultural background. It follows naturally, therefore, that this would become reflected in her work.
Russian avant-garde reached its creative peak between 1917 and 1932, during turbulent times following the Russian Revolution, where the ideas of the avant-garde clashed with the direction of the newly created state-supported socialist realism. While socialist realism represented idealised reality, avant-garde shifts the boundaries of what is real and not, forming a resistance against dogma.
During moments of crisis it is important not to only focus on the economical and social wellbeing of a nation, but also see how its inhabitants can help to sustain that which is substantial, through culture. What can be learned from our past and how can that be reflected into our future, beyond national identity and various disparate agendas? How can we think of our cultural past as something that has shaped our social, economic and environmental reality? In this case Russian avant-garde represents a moment of change, the possibility of multiple different roads forward.
]]>By 2025, all European Union member states will be required to collect textile waste separately. Because our consumption habits have changed, the textile industry has become the second biggest industrial polluter. We consume 400% more textiles than we did 20 years ago. All that comes at an environmental cost. This has to change. Our habits have to change. And we can only do it collectively if each one of us puts in the effort.
Up until now, we’ve mostly given consumers the option to buy industrially upcycled shirts as a solution to close the loop. We’ve developed the innovative UPMADE® upcycling design & production system which allows industries to turn excess pre-consumer materials into garments which present savings in water, CO2 and energy usage. But now we’re ready to officially present a new option, focusing solely on you – the consumer.
Local upcycling – less textile waste, more product
We know – sometimes it can be hard to let go of our favourite t-shirt. Mostly because it is still in a good shape, but got a stain on it suddenly, or a hole by getting stuck somewhere. However, that does not mean that their lifecycle has to end! They still have a lot to give. That’s why we have decided to introduce the locally upcycled up-shirt. An up-shirt custom made by you!
This is what you have to do: choose three t-shirts from your wardrobe, pick one of our up-shirt designs (arrow, bird, moon, or diamond) and let us know which part of your old t-shirt you want to have where on your new shirt. And that’s that! Now you’ve got yourself a new, custom made up-shirt.
You still might wonder why we’re doing this. It’s simple – to reduce textile waste and give you another choice on how to make a change by making a simple choice. If we, as consumers, don’t change our consumption habits, nothing will change.
Be part of the solution, not the problem.
For our journey, on changing consumption patterns, we’ve partnered up with friends here in Estonia. Eiki Nestor, politician and former Speaker of the Riigikogu, Priit Põldoja, Chairman of Supervisory Board and Founder of Inbank, Kristel Kruustük, founder of Testlio, Tuuli Roosma, a TV journalist, Tõnis Niinemets, actor, and Ursula Ratasepp-Oja, actor. All personalities working in different fields, but united by something common. To make the future greener. To be part of the solution, not the problem.
We invited our friends over to capture their up-shirt, too. As you can see, they’re all posing with… themselves. What’s the point you might wonder. Well, if you look closely, these aren’t the same type of up-shirts. Each person wears one industrially upcycled up-shirt and one locally upcycled up-shirt. Both choices are kind to the planet and give you the option to consume consciously.
Now that we've introduced the locally upcycled up-shirt, let's talk about the price and conditions for ordering. The price for the locally upcycled up-shirt is 72€ and you can choose between four designs: the arrow, the bird, the moon, or the diamond.
As you see, the price is higher than for the industrially upcycled up-shirts. Why? Because the up-shirt itself already takes five hours to make plus the company’s added value including know-how and expertise, branding, and the company’s fixed and variable costs.
We believe it is also important to understand that this is an option, besides industrially upcycled up-shirts, one can choose to reduce textile waste – a problem we're passionately on a mission to solve. However, the cold hard truth is that we can't do it alone. We need your help. The first great step you can make is to choose an up-shirt and the second step depends on your preference – an industrially upcycled up-shirt if you wish to buy a gdbrand new shirt or a locally upcycled up-shirt if you're just not ready to let go of your old ones.
So, let's become a part of the solution step by step, up-shirt by up-shirt.
Take a look at our range of industrially upcycled up-shirts for women here and men here. If you want a custom made locally upcycled up-shirt, write to us at hello@reetaus.com!
Therefore, together with the European Commission Representative in Estonia, the Ministry of the Environment, Uuskasutuskeskus, Hoolekandeteenused AS, the Hea Hoog Foundation, and the Department of Prisons, we have initiated the Valuable upcycling’ project, as part of the “Make textiles circular!” initiative, in order to highlight textile waste and how, by applying circular design, textile waste becomes once again a product. This can also give a voice to those who are often left unheard and forgotten by society.
One of the highlighted materials in this project was denim, and jeans as a product itself, which has one of the highest environmental impacts a garment can have. Denim is made out of cotton – a crop which in most cases is a highly polluting crop and uses major amounts of water to produce. Further, the dyeing process often uses harmful chemicals, and may release carcinogenic amines. Another issue is that, with distressed jeans in fashion, they way jeans are treated to give them the “worn” look, reduces the lifespan of the jeans remarkably. So, as a tip, we’d say, instead of throwing away your jeans and increasing the burden on our planet, please consider upcycling and recycling them. Denim is a versatile and durable fabric which can be used for various purposes, not only jeans and jackets.
To showcase this, we designed six home textile products, out of which five are made out of denim. The ‘Upcycling’ project covers the whole manufacturing process – from the collection of used materials from Uuskasutuskeskus, to designing the products, and finally to producing them in Tallinn Prison and Hea Hoog Foundation centers all over Estonia. We collected denim from Uuskasutuskeskus to produce aprons, oven cloths, textile bags, decorative pillows, and small rugs in Hea Hoog Foundation work centers, and home textiles to produce colorful quilts in Tallinn Prison.
The project isn’t only about creating awareness around textile waste – it is just as much about its social aspect. It’s very seldom that we hear about the opinions of people with special needs, or people who are incarcerated. We wanted to create a bigger discussion and include all parts of society, which is why we partnered with the Hea Hoog Foundation, which works on building a more cohesive society by providing an opportunity for people with special needs to be employed and to work, and which collaborates with Tallinn Prison’s female detainees unit. We believe that prisoners have the right to express their creativity just as much as we do. After all, we’re destroying the planet at their’s and their children’s expense.
This project was showcased as an exhibition at the 15th Tallinn Design Festival this year, and the final products will furnish the new AS Hoolekandeteenused homes which will be opened this year.
Last Thursday, on the Estonian Restoration of Independence day, the President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid decided to make a clear statement. This time not only through her speech, but through fashion. Simply by choosing to wear a locally upcycled dress - for the planet. The dress is designed by Reet Aus and made entirely out of production residues from the President’s previously worn dresses.
Our third collaborative dress for the President values upcycling and nature conservation by being made out of production leftovers. The design is inspired by the “Estonian Nature” esquise drawn by the children at Pelguranna kindergarten in Tallinn. The colours express nature - the greenness of the plants, the light blue sky above and the deep blue oceans. Environmentally friendly, the dress works as a reminder that the resources of our planet are limited.
As you know, we believe the future of fashion to be circular. It is time to rethink how we consume clothing and we are happy to say that the President of Estonia is taking charge of her wardrobe and choosing to be sustainable. And yes, it is possible to do a big favor for the environment even by something seemingly as simple as a dress. In fact, the dress tells even a bigger story by having two sustainability aspects to it - it was upcycled and it was locally made.
The upcycling method used to create this design is one of the textile waste recovery methods, using an average of 70% less water and 88% less energy compared to if we had made a dress out of completely new material. Through upcycling, we have taken something already considered as waste, but completely unused, and brought it back into the consumption chain and given it new commercial and aesthetical value. The source material moves from the lowest to the highest level of the production cycle and brings about the greatest change with the least amount of energy use. It is a profitable and scalable solution to the problem of textile leftovers, which is scalable to brands of any size.
Being locally made, the dress was designed, cut, fitted, and sewn in our studio. By supporting local production chains, you can decrease the negative effects transportation causes on the environment and instead support transparency and better quality control. As for the consumer, you have a better chance at buying something unique when it is made locally since the quantity made is almost always smaller compared to mass-produced fast fashion items. At Reet Aus, we do fashion both locally and globally. Globally, we export our innovative UPMADE® method to brands and manufacturers. Whilst traditional clothing manufacturing creates an average of 18% textile leftovers, our method closes the loop by applying upcycling on an industrial scale and reducing the amount of textile leftovers. Thanks to this, that 18% can now be turned from cost into value. Locally, we have made personalised upshirts very now and then and our collections are locally made in our studio, too.Every crisis is both a threat and an opportunity. One thing is clear, something will change. In the last three decades, our society has emerged victorious from all the crises affecting Estonia. As a result of the last crisis, the Estonian economy focused heavily on the ICT sector, but this time the key could be to concentrate our efforts on the production and consumption of sustainable, high-quality products.
The Estonian people exited from the world’s largest empire during its governing crisis and restored their independent state and developed important political and trade relations on the world’s most prosperous markets in the European Union. Which wasn’t what the leaders of the world had perceived.
The last economic crisis in Estonia resulted in an optimized government apparatus, a restructured economy, and the Euro, all without increasing the state debt. Which again didn’t match with the crystal ball visions of the financial and political experts at the time.
Successfully navigating the previous crises was possible thanks to enterprising leaders but also ordinary people. The prudent state economy, hard-working people, and the smart consolidation of production to the field of technology have created a situation where an Estonian takes home higher monthly net salary than that of Portuguese, Greek, or Slovenian citizen.
Scenarios vary on how the global economy might recover. One proposed recovery scenario is the V-shape, aka a quick fall and rise, the U-shape, which slows the recovery a bit, and the L-shape, which is the harbinger of difficult or impossible recovery.
We should note that not all business areas and their sub-sectors do not recover equally. The L-shape of one area may mean a V or a U scenario to the other. One falls to give rise to others. A redistribution will happen.
We will see a rise in influence for companies whose products are being empowered by consumers and their wallets. Companies need the votes of consumer wallets, for without they will perish. Our local brands and price competitiveness is determined purely by the consumer and how strongly the local consumer chooses to support said brands.
Such voting results have glocal implications, especially in fields that were struggling long before the crisis at hand. This is the case, for example, with the global fashion industry.
Last autumn, one of the world’s leading fast fashion brands Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy. The company is for sale, but despite there being an initially interested buyer, the deal is yet to close. The reason probably stems from the complication of the global healthcare and economic crisis, which is the monkey wrench in the fast fashion sales and supply chain. The aforementioned puts fast fashion under even more pressure.
For example, in the UK, clothing retail sales in March fell 34 percent. H&M’s fashion house announced a 46 percent drop in global sales in March. It is worth noting that during mid-March, sales were fully operational in most developed markets in Europe and both in South and North America.
The key issue will be the post-crisis consumer behavior. Your banknotes, mobile purchases, and credit cards will shape the future of the world. In every consumer, there are two wolves to listen to and whose pack to follow. One of them is the good wolf, the caretaker, the other a monster, a destroyer.
The consumer can signal that a fast-fashion brand is valued. In which case, there is a possibility for a V-shape recovery. When you buy a pair of 25 euro jeans, it is worth considering that this price is 25€+X The X in the formula is not paid for by the consumer, but rather the producer. What is X?
Producing a pair of fast fashion jeans requires 10,000 liters of water. If said jeans were produced in Estonian conditions, the price of water alone according to Tallinn’s waterworks (Tallinna Vesi) would be 21 euros. Added to this are the costs of energy (in the context of the world’s leading fast fashion manufacturing center, Bangladesh, this means coal), transport, chemical, labor, administration, marketing, sales, and waste management. These costs are not covered by the sales price.
25-euro jeans are only so affordable because they are cheaply produced on the backs of children, water can be bought for nothing, energy is produced from coal, and waste can be chucked anywhere. The world we live in accepts all of this with no questions asked.
The consumer has a de facto and de jure opportunity to turn a blind eye and let the world burn. The question is, which wolf do we listen to - the caretaker or the monster?
“We launched an experiment, where we refrain from working with wholesalers.”
As was said, the consumer can choose to be the caretaker. We launched an experiment, where we refrain from working with wholesalers. This is not a hostile action towards wholesalers. We just want to find out, whether this unprecedented step can give new impetus to our business, making us more competitive compared to fast fashion.
Namely, we can offer prices on average 30% cheaper without bearing the price pressure from wholesalers. The strategy is to own one store and e-sales channel per market. In the past, the lowering of prices was hindered by the price pressure of wholesalers, who set a threshold for all prices. This pressure is no more.
A new innovative sales model of the fashion industry could be where a brand has one store for every market with strong demand in an excellent logistical location. There, the consumer can try things on or pick up the goods. This would reduce costs on logistics, retail space, staff, retail space maintenance, and upkeep. The consumer gets to pay a fairer price.
It would be naive to expect that consumer choices be driven only by environmental sustainability, but I also consider a good solution for Estonian consumers to make their choices based on value and quality. This could, for example in five years, give way to a different Ülemiste mall, which pillars would then not be the fast fashion brands, but rather responsible fashion brands that can offer competitive prices on the Estonian market.
After all, the supply is not determined by the head office in London or New York, but by consumer behavior. If Estonia only buys 300 Stella Soomlais’ bags a year, the price remains high. If that number is 3,000, the price can be reduced. Should that not work, then Ülemiste would soon feature brands like Veja, Patagonia, etc.
The same goes for responsible luxury brands. Would it be possible for Ralph Lauren, which adopted a radical green strategy last year, to have a store in Tallinn? Global fashion houses do careful market analyses.
If the market analysis shows that the market prefers 25-euro jeans, costs of producing which remain in Bangladesh, then Estonians are not rewarded with a store. If there is an urgent demand for environmentally friendly brands, Tallinn will be analyzed and considered, whether to open a local store without using wholesalers.
The nature of consumer behavior during and after the crisis determines which products and services will be available in Estonia in the future. But not only that. Consumer choices affect innovation. This is true in every area.
When the Estonian consumer accepts that every eatery offers nothing but hot-dogs, Estonia would at some point have the best hot-dogs in the world, but that would severely limit innovation.
If the local consumer is satisfied with low-quality cheap fashion, then only global fast fashion brands can offer it at competitive prices, and that only at the expense of third-world countries. But should the Estonian consumer be ready to make quality-oriented choices, international chains would have the motivation to sell here and local designers would have a larger home market.
“In general, every consumer could emphasize quality and even better if that product is Estonian.”
“Prefer Estonian” is undoubtedly a great solution to give consumers, but in general, every consumer should emphasize quality and even better if that product is also Estonian. If it is not, then pity should go towards Estonian companies, but it is also a sign that quality deserves another look.
The added benefit of quality-based consumer choices to a circular economy is the use time of clothes, which are no longer discarded so quickly and if that does eventually happen, there would be an aftermarket for quality clothes. This principle also applies to every field, be it clothing, a car, or a washing machine.
The Estonian market is small, but if it consisted of sustainability-oriented consumers, Estonia’s way out of the crisis could lead to local consumers gaining access better products and services, local businesses would be motivated to offer better products and services, which would result in local companies that are internationally competitive.
Of course, the side bonus would be that Estonian consumers would no longer subsidize the environmentally destructive business models at the expense of poorer societies, the world’s seas, water resources, and ecosystems. That would mean that Estonians listen to the good wolf, the caretaker.
Even better if the product is designed according to the principles of circular economy and the consumer supports that with their purchasing decisions. These days it is no longer a question of environment, but rather a question of the country’s economy.
Moving from the consumer to state level, it is worth considering that the state also has the option of choosing which wolf to listen - whether to empower entrepreneurship and market or to hinder it. This decade will see taxpayer money flowing towards the goal to create an innovative, climate-neutral, and circular economic model.
According to the Green Deal, the EU will invest one trillion euros in green projects over the next decade. This order of magnitude is about a hundred times the Estonian state budget. There is food for thought on the Estonian state level on how to empower Estonian companies in this new investment climate.
A great example is France where the government has banned fashion brands and wholesalers from 2020 and onwards from destroying unsold or returned goods. What are the results? One the one hand, there is an emerging textile waste problem, on the other hand, companies operating on the French market are being given the impetus to develop a relevant business model. Estonia should not miss the innovation train.
The Estonian state should similarly enable innovation both in the fashion industry and in other areas. The conditions of competition are not presently equal. In the context of the fashion industry, the Estonian tax model does not take into account waste recycling or products thereof.
Figuratively speaking, the state charges everyone to enter the park but equates tidy and nature-loving guests with a trash dumping egotist. This kind of behavior is not fair to nature and is not accepted by mainstream European politics.
Instead of waiting for binding directives from Brussels, it would serve Estonia better to develop a model that is a step ahead from the rest of Europe and which would also have an applicable use somewhere else in the EU. After all, the winners are the countries that act fast, for they are the ones receiving the better part of the trillion dollars that are earmarked for green projects. The ones not going with the flow will miss out on the trillion and have to operate in a dated business environment with market actors who lack the export capacity to meet new demands.
I realize that expecting political decision-makers to listen to their good wolf is a slippery slope. If even one government party vetoes good policies, the results will be a big fat zero.
Should even half of the Estonian consumers listen to their good wolf, the caretaker, and make consumption choices based on quality or even better, choices based on resource circulation, Estonian future would be bright and with better products and services, more innovation-oriented, fairer to the rest of the world and to be completely honest - we would have more euros circulating the domestic economy.
* This article was originally published on the Estonian Public Broadcasting (Eesti Rahvusringhääling) website in Estonian. The original article can be found here.
]]>But this is clearly not enough to change the industry. We’ve been rethinking and evaluating our business model. This has caused changes. We swiped retailers out from our pipeline. Why? Our products weren’t competitive enough. Despite our customers belonging into the LOHAS (i.e. lifestyle of health and sustainability) segment, that prioritises the sustainability of the Planet and Mankind, they also prioritise the sustainability of their wallet. LOHAS is a homo economicus.
Let’s face the calculations. An average person in Europe makes about 1500-2000 euros a month. Can this person afford a dress for 120 euros? Yes. Will this person buy a dress for 120 euros? Probably not. That’s why we had to unchain us from retailers. If we want to mainstream sustainability, our products need to be competitive by all standards. Ditching retailers enables us to get the steering wheel back – we now determine our prices ourselves. Previously, our pricing policy was determined by the agreements established with our retailing partners.
This also enables to ditch cross-subsidising. What’s cross-subsidising? For example, fashion companies usually generate great profit margins from simplistic products like polo shirts or Previously, the agreements with retailing partners forced us to cross-subsidise, but we don’t do this anymore. No for cross-subsidising. We determine our pricing policy ourselves. All our products follow UPMADE® certification as before, but are now up to 50% cheaper.
Oh, and the new pricing policy isn’t a one-off-marketing-stunt. It isn’t a discount campaign. We don’t do those. The new pricing policy is here to remain. It’s sustainable :) But as the leftovers change, so do our products. Each product is a strictly limited edition. So take your time, but hurry up ;)
]]>According to the European Commission’s report “Towards an EU Product Policy Framework contributing to the Circular Economy”, recycled materials only account for around 1% of all materials used in textile production. It’s a surprisingly small number, given that we would be able to do much more. Textile waste has become one of the most complex types of waste in the welfare society. But why?
The reason lies within the materials. This 1% is, in large part, due to the fact that many designers don’t take into account the principles of circularity. Most of the clothes we all wear are made out of mixed materials that are difficult or even impossible to recycle. But how does one tackle this issue? Consumption in the welfare society is endless and post-consumer waste has become a massive problem. Within the European Union, we are only able to collect 25% of used clothing, and only 1% of that gets recycled. The rest is burned or sent to landfill. In Estonia, for example, the recycling percentage is 0%. That is shocking and devastating.
The EU has issued a directive stating that by 2025, 100% of textile waste must be collected separately. Even if we can collect all of the textile waste, then what should we do after that? The global market has dried up. Back in the day, Europe used to send its textile waste to developing countries, however, those countries will no longer accept it. That means that the only thing left to do is deal with our waste locally. Collect, sort, clean and recycle.
The 2018 Waste Framework Directive announced an obligation for the separate collection of textiles by 2025.
Reet Aus have been using various methods of upcycling and recycling for years. A good example is the knitwear that is made from recycled post-consumer denim. The discarded denim is collected and sorted in Europe and spun into a new yarn. The most recent yarn we have used is from Italy by a company called Pinori Filati, who are one of the leaders in producing recycled yarns.
Initially the denim is collected and sorted by colour, and the metal parts such as buttons, zippers and hinges are separated. Then the denim is cut into pieces and broken down into fibre. Since the fibres are very short after the cutting process, the new yarns are not spun only from recycled materials. The short fibres are spun together with some synthetic fibre to give it strength and durability. Our knitted dresses are made from a recycled yarn made of 92% recycled denim, 4% polyester and 4% polyamide. They are breathable and comfy, perfect for a lunch date or a dressy party.
Help us to spread the word about recycling. Shop our recycled knits, for women and for men.
]]>The European Green Deal launched a strategy for a climate-neutral and resource-efficient economy, to help bring the concept of circular economy to the mainstream, so that we can finally achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Their action plan includes everything from packaging to textiles, electronics to consumer awareness. In this article, we want to focus on three main areas: the circular economy, waste and textiles.
Many don’t realise that 80% of the environmental impact of products is determined in the design phase. Therefore, the so-called “core” of the product determines how impactful it is to the planet – many of them break too quickly, can’t be recycled or reused, and many are made for single use only. In order to produce products fit for a climate-neutral economy, the European Commission will propose a sustainable product policy with an Ecodesign framework. Through this, they can regulate product durability, performance and safety, reducing carbon and environmental footprints, restricting single-use etc.
Circularity in production processes is incredibly important. The Commission puts great emphasis on promoting the uptake of circularity, and we are more than happy to see that. Our whole brand has been built on “green” technologies, and the core of our brand has been the focus on lengthening the lifespan of textile waste. In addition, since we produce using many different methods, such as industrial upcycling, recycling and local upcycling, our company is 100% circular. We got where we are after endless hours of academic research, but it’s totally worth it. We encourage everyone to adopt a circular business model, no matter whether you are a small startup or a big corporation. We are all in the same boat and we need to have courage to do the right thing.
The action plan also covers textiles. New statistics show that less than 1% of all textiles worldwide are recycled into new textiles. So, it isn’t difficult to guess where the massive problem of textile waste in landfills comes from – it just doesn’t go back into the system. In the light of the complexity of the problem, to respond to this challenge, the Commission will propose a comprehensive EU Strategy for Textiles. They will aim to boost the EU market for sustainable and circular textiles, including the market for reuse, to address the problem of fast fashion, and to drive new business models. They will achieve this by providing guidance, boosting reuse and recycling, ensuring that textile products are fit for circularity, and by improving the business and regulatory environment for sustainable and circular textiles and increasing transparency through international cooperation.
We are waiting in anticipation to see the outcome of this. We feel like we are directly impacted by this chapter in the document, and that it is where we can help the most. But, you may ask, how can you help? The short answer is – make smart purchasing decisions. Buy what you need, not what you want. Buy quality items. Make your garments or any other products last as long as possible and if not – reuse, upcycle, recycle, or sell! The possibilities are endless. Although this document puts a lot of focus on businesses and brands and what they can do to combat this issue, we believe that we everyday consumers can start making the change within ourselves.
Less waste and more value is the other key message of the action plan. Despite all efforts, the amount of waste is still not going down. Writing out a sustainable product policy and splitting it into sections will be key to making progress on waste prevention. The plan also acknowledges that they need to build on, further strengthen, and better implement, waste laws within the EU.
High quality recycling relies on highly effective separate collection of waste, therefore, the Commission will propose to harmonise separate waste collection systems. For instance, this will involve implementing common bin colours, key waste symbols, product labels and information campaigns.
Thanks to our academic background we have come to the conclusion that upcycling is the most resource-efficient method of waste prevention. Furthermore, we have even developed a certification system called UPMADE® that helps others to put their leftovers back into circulation. As we mentioned before, we tackle the issue of waste by upcycling industrial and post-consumer waste on a local and global scale. We have clear evidence that this is how wate can be most easily sent back into circulation. If you are a garment manufacturer, designer, or anyone who works with fashion and would like to know more about how you can cut down your waste, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We love giving advice and educating people on this topic that we put our heart and soul into every day.
We are really pleased to see that the European Union is finally taking its first steps towards a cleaner future, and we can’t wait to be a part of it.
]]>Currently, many countries don’t do any form of waste reappropriation. Estonia is a great example of how textile waste goes into landfill or gets burned – both equally bad for the environment. Thus, the second-largest polluter, the fashion industry, is a major waste generator. Just making one product uses a lot of resources, and that’s why a linear or “take-make-dispose” economy is a big burden on our planet.
For many years, we at Reet Aus have focused on finding better solutions in product development to make every process in the company as environmentally friendly as possible. Our main focus has been on industrial upcycling, but we have also dabbled in recycling and local upcycling. Here’s a story about our latest product development in local upcycling – making carpets from post-consumer denim.
Back in January, we started a long-term collaboration with a small business called Koome Koos. They are an Estonian based, women-led, company, who specialise in weaving carpets and blankets. We love supporting local businesses as they often have a smaller carbon footprint than larger companies. First, we asked our Arrow Tribe community to donate their old jeans so we could start testing and prototyping different carpets. Reet made the design and continued to work with the ladies to find the best patterns and techniques. The most time-consuming and difficult step was to turn jeans into a material that could be used to weave the carpets. Stripping jeans by hand was tedious and took a long time. The solution came through an overlock machine that allowed even strips to be produced faster.
Once the strips were ready, we started prototyping. It took some time to find the right technique, fabric, warp, and design, but in the end we got the samples ready. Three different sizes, with the two smallest sizes in different shades. In addition, we opted for a thread that is 100% natural hemp fibre.
When we started looking at how long the process took and what the price would be, we quickly came to the conclusion that other products like this on the market were too cheap. Therefore, we wanted to share the time it takes to complete these products, in order to help you understand the value of these carpets.
It took the ladies at Koome Koos this much time to produce the carpets:
Furthermore, we wanted to let you make the final decision on how much you are willing to pay. They all have a fixed production price: 60x80 cost 42€ to make; 80x150 cost 140€ to make; 150x200 cost 325€ to make. Also, they all follow our new pricing policy principles and the markup on all products is 2-3x (+ VAT). However, we don’t want to have a set retail price. Our goal is to showcase the time, craftsmanship, and dedication it takes to produce these, putting the pricing in your hands. We created different price points so you can choose how much you want to support local businesses and the craft-community. When you decide to pay more, the ladies at Koome Koos will earn more. However, the final price is completely up to you.
You can shop the carpets here.
The carpets are made to order. Delivery takes around 3 weeks. For more information, contact us at hello@reetaus.com.
]]>Radical transparency has become particularly important to the fashion industry, and consumers are increasingly concerned about brands' supply chains, fair labour, and taking care of the environment. This desire for information has led to more and more brands sharing all aspects of their operations – from the origins of fabrics to cost breakdowns. We believe that this change has created a stronger trust and credibility both internally and externally. Radical transparency should be the norm, because only then can everyone understand how to make every process less harmful to the planet.
Although radical transparency is gaining popularity, there is still a lot of problems. The one that we've been looking into is textile waste. It is our daily mission to solve the problem, but the cold hard truth is that we can't do it alone. Feedback and statistics show that more people would be involved in our mission if we had lower prices. Therefore, as a result, we have decided to change our business model, which will make our prices and environmental calculations 100% transparent.
Our new pricing strategy is now very simple and clear. We want to share cost breakdowns with you as well as environmental calculations, which are supported by the UPMADE® certification. Our brand has an academic background which enables us to deeply understand every process – and it is very important to us to know all of the ins and outs of our business.
Therefore, we believe that, just like we do, our customers have the right to know how much their clothes cost to make, and what impact they have on the planet.
Now onto the important stuff. Traditional retailers mark up their products by more than 6x. As it is not public knowledge and almost kept as a secret, we never really know what profit margins they have. Usually, the true cost of a product is marked up 3x, which then creates the wholesale price. Then it is marked up 3x, which creates the retail price. The change in our business lets us focus on direct sales, enabling us to make the wholesale price our final price.
We want to share two very important calculations: the environmental calculation and cost breakdown. Both are just examples, but every product in the Reet Aus collection follows the same principles.
For the whole fashion industry to become cleaner and more sustainable, we encourage other brands to also share their environmental calculations and cost breakdowns. The only way for the whole industry to become transparent is when everyone is involved.
Unfortunately, the result of making our prices more consumer-friendly is that we cannot continue to work with wholesalers. This is a risky step, but it is crucial in order to lower our prices, to make our products more accessible to more people. As we have said, we need the help of everyone to solve the massive problem of textile waste. In the future we will mainly focus on direct sales through our studio shop at Telliskivi 62, Tallinn and through our online store. But we have not cut all ties with wholesalers. Our products can still be found at Estonian Design House in Tallinn, and in the Siluett design store in Pärnu. In addition, we will continue to work with a sustainable fashion marketplace called Weecos, and our partner Yourmarks inc. in Osaka, Japan.
If you have any questions regarding our environmental calculations, cost breakdowns, or our pricing policy, please don't hesitate to email us at hello@reetaus.com
]]>However unfortunately, our current economic system is linear, which means we take, make, use, and dispose. Our planet offers finite resources, so this practice is clearly unsustainable. To serve the needs of both people and the planet, our human-created systems need to be aligned with the natural rhythms and processes of Earth. And we don’t need to live in huts, without electricity or running water, to do so. We don’t need to give up our creature comforts. We believe that we can have our cake and eat it, too, by adopting a global circular economic system.
Therefore, we want to announce that Reet Aus will go 100% circular. We will introduce 4 different steps to our business model to make our brand more sustainable than ever.
We will continue industrial upcycling by using textile leftovers from mass production to make our garments. All products in the Reet Aus collection are UPMADE® certified and by using textile waste we save on average 75% water and 88% energy.
We will start accepting old and worn garments from the Reet Aus collection to give them a new life and a new purpose. The clothes can be returned in-store or sent via mail and a 10% off discount code will be given with every return.
Customers will now have a choice of having an Up-Shirt made out of their old T-shirts. Or a new pair of jeans made out of their old jeans.
Uuskasutuskeskus and Stockmann are still accepting your old jeans. The jeans will be sent to United Kingdom, where they will be turned into yarn, which we will use to make our knits.
We are hoping that by going 100% circular we can influence others to do so as well, because in order for there to be a global shift towards a circular economy, major corporations need to get on board. Yet companies resist this kind of change, even when it’s good for the planet and sometimes even good for the wallet.
More updates on further details will come soon. Stay tuned.
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