6 Sustainable Fashion Commitments of Dress Shirt Brand Ella Hopfeldt
Great style should not come at the expense of the environment. When we started creating women’s sustainable dress shirts, we wanted to create shirts with purpose and meaning.
Our aim was to design and produce shirts that we wanted to wear ourselves with sustainability at the core of everything. Our 6 sustainable fashion commitments are about doing our part, however small, to help the environment and to make our planet greener.
1. Our Philosophy is Slow Fashion
The concept of our women’s sustainable dress shirts is simple – we produce lower quantities of well-made, built to last investment pieces. Instead of creating quick turn-around pieces that respond to trends, we design timeless dress shirts that feel as stylish now as they will in ten years.
We are always conscious about how much we produce, keeping surplus stock to a minimum to avoid waste. This isn’t always easy, but working with small, traditional manufacturers helps. They have lower minimum orders and also offer superior levels of craftsmanship.
“When something is beautifully and consciously made and is of the highest quality, it is not meant to be thrown away and will not be destined to end up in landfill.”
2. E-Commerce Creates Transportation Savings
You can shop for Ella Hopfeldt’s women’s sustainable dress shirts only at our official online store. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Centre for Transportation & Logistics recently conducted a study that reveals e-commerce to be more sustainable than traditional brick-and-mortar retailing.
While packaging for e-commerce is greater, it does not outweigh the transportation saving created by online shopping. In total, the end-to-end environmental impact is roughly 15% lower for online versus in-store shopping.
3. 100% Sustainable Fabrics
We choose natural cotton fabrics for our women’s sustainable dress shirts. These fabrics are soft as well as comfortable and better for the planet. We order our fabrics from Getzner Textil AG in Austria.
The entire production process of Getzner is certified and the factory offers sustainability at the highest level. The long-standing Austrian business is entitled to use the renowned Bluesign® and “Made in Green by OEKO-TEX®” labels – a clear and conscious commitment to sustainability.
For these certificates, all processes are thoroughly checked: the safe use of input chemicals, monitoring of air and water emissions and ensuring worker safety.
4. Local Manufacturing
We produce all Ella Hopfeldt dress shirts in Estonia. Keeping our production in Europe is important to us in order to keep the transports short and to work with suppliers that treat their employees fairly and responsibly. This way we can be sure that the people who make Ella Hopfeldt shirts are treated well. The care and attention to detail gets passed down to the product.
5. Women's Sustainable Dress Shirts Require Sustainable Packaging
Ella Hopfeldt’s women’s sustainable dress shirts arrive wrapped beautifully in pink tissue paper in an optimal size recyclable cardboard box. But here’s what we’re actively working on improving: shirt polybags. The shirts are currently packaged in plastic to keep them in place and clean during shipment. We are working on replacing these bags with compostable bio-based polybags.
6. Reducing the Number of Returns
We know that reducing returns has a significant impact for improving the environmental impact of our store. In order to keep our returns as low as possible, we have worked hard to design products that take into account both the shape and size of our customers. Our fit selection process guides our store visitors through various fits to make the decision-making process more accurate; hence minimizing unnecessary returns.
You can help, too! When choosing your shirt look at the available fits and also the sizing charts to find a perfect fit. If you are unsure as to which fit and size to pick, talk to us on LiveChat – we have years of experience with our shirts.
Start by taking our short fit test.
Slow Down and Take a Breath
At Ella Hopfeldt we don’t claim to be perfect, but we do our best and are continually looking for ways to improve. Explore our dress shirt collection for pieces that have been made with love and sustainable materials. And remember, trends come and go so invest in your personal style and build a wardrobe of pieces that will last a lifetime.
Author of the article:
Merit Lookene, co-creator of Ella Hopfeldt brand
