Our company is based on two principles: be kind to people and be kind to the planet.
Ethics is the heart of what we do at Adorned. Our pieces are produced being mindful of our environment, and of the people that create these beautiful pieces. It’s about changing the status quo of world-destroying and inhumane processes that the fast fashion world upholds. Instead, we’re taking it slow.
Our pieces are not mass-produced. We work with small, often family-run businesses like ourselves. Allowing them to create as they want to means we often receive beautiful batches of limited edition, unique pieces. This means they are what we call ‘fairly traded’. To read more on fair trade check out our detailed blog post here.
On our UK site, you’ll also find curated collections of vintage. If you wait long enough, Sarah produces reworked on our new EU shop. Her reworked collections can often take months to put together. Bringing together materials from around the world to create unique, wearable art! It really hits home just how long clothing can take to produce and how much we should value it. Because the materials already exist, it is kindest to our planet (other than wearing what you already own).
There’s no pressure at Adorned to produce timely, seasonal collections. The fashion industry has exploded in not just how much it produces, but how often it releases collections. In contrast, we take it as it comes. Our suppliers never work to strict deadlines imposed by us. Quite the opposite, we work around their time frames!
This has been especially true during the pandemic. Worldwide, fast fashion brands have cancelled millions of £’s worth of orders, putting people out of jobs with no financial security. Over a year on, campaigns are still calling for people to be paid. What did we do? Check the workers are OK. Pay up-front for collections, even if they arrived out of season (which they did, or arrived without the full quantity).
We try to keep our shops updated with small, regular collections but above all just work within our capabilities. With various mental and physical (though not visible) disabilities between us, we know the importance of the work-life balance and you can often find Mamma and Amy volunteering down at Bentley Urban Farm.
The impact of fabric production on our planet is indisputable. We avoid brand new 100% synthetic fibres for our fair trade collections, choosing instead cotton and recycled materials. Vintage collections have synthetic fabrics, but as they already exist we believe this is better than sendind to landfill. When reworking or making jewellery, clothing scraps and beads are saved and sent to other crafters. It’s about closing the loop. Waste isn’t waste until we waste it!
It’s about style over fashion: whilst we’re mindful of what may be trending, we prefer to think about longevity – stocking and making pieces that you will wear for years rather than throw away after one season. Often we forget there’s a person behind the garments; we want to connect you to the process and show you who makes your clothes.
Choose well. Buy less. Stay Adorned.
Sarah, Mamma (Margarita) & Amy
