Sustainability
In my vision, a wedding is a chance for a couple to express who they are, what they love, and what they want their lives together to be. The idea to create a bridal brand focused on sustainability arose in 2014, and in the time since we sold our first organic cotton gowns in 2015, the tone of the bridal industry has dramatically shifted, and the calls for eco-friendly business practices in fashion have become much louder. We are hearing from more and more brides about how important it is to them to find wedding vendors that align with their ethics, values, love for nature, and their passion for preservation. We see you, and we are so happy you have found us!
As a designer, nature is my greatest inspiration and my first true love, so when I started this company, I wanted to create a business model that allowed our team, as well as our brides, to be part of the solution rather than just another cog in the fast fashion machine and all the harm that it does to this beautiful planet. To that end, we are committed to three primary areas of sustainability:
Made in California
We create all of our gowns by hand from start-to-finish in our Northern California studio, rather than outsourcing our production to low-wage, environmentally unregulated areas of the world. We are committed to both the highest quality craftsmanship and paying our team a livable wage and benefits.
In this industry, we are approached by factories all over the world on a regular basis offering increasingly low prices for production in high-volume factories. Quite often these factories are located in regions known not only for unsafe working conditions, but also for garment industry river and air pollution that impacts local communities and ecosystems. That’s a no-go for us.
Organic Cotton
We love using organic cotton because it’s hypoallergenic, luxuriously soft to wear, and better for the planet. All of our bridal gowns contain between 30% and 50% organic cotton (with the one exception of gown requests for our gold shimmer lining).
Organic cotton saves precious freshwater resources and produces roughly 45% less CO2 compared to traditional cotton (it stacks up even better against poly fabrics). In addition, organic cotton spares the air, land, and water supply of harsh chemicals found in traditional cotton production, which are often known to be carcinogenic.
No Waste
Every second the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned. Crazy, right? Because we operate 100% online and make all of our gowns to order, we are able to use only what we need rather than pre-making a collection and sending it to a landfill if it doesn’t sell.
For the small amount of fabric remnants we do produce we utilize textile recycling facilities which create industrial textiles and filling fibers for things like carpet pads and furniture cushions.
Lastly, we ship all of our dresses using recycled packaging and paper - this includes everything from the boxes down to the tissue paper and accompanying printed materials.
To me, marriage is about family, community, and creating a future, as much as it is about love. And, I know our brides agree, that means taking care of each other and the planet.
xoxo,
Jillian Leigh