We care about the impact that our clothes have on the environment, not because it is trendy nor the zeitgeist, but because we genuinely believe responsibility starts with the individual. Here are a few examples of how our commitment to sustainability is seen in our clothes.
We design clothes to be durable. The longer they last, the longer they will be worn, increasing the time between replacements. Making clothes to last reduces the amount of cloth and resources required to produce a replacement.
We mainly make bespoke clothing to order, this allows the client to get exactly what he wants, which will fulfil his requirements better, and he will wear them longer. We only produce what is required, eliminating unnecessary waste.
When the garments are nearing the end of their lifecycle, we try to repair or repurpose garments. If that is not possible, we donate them to charities to be worn again or to technical colleges where they can learn how garments are put together. It also helps us analyse the areas of stress and wear and make better garments for the client in the future.
When we do make ready to wear items, we keep our production runs small and try to design items that are appealing and timeless. We avoid things that will worn for just one season and create items that will become cherished wardrobe staples.
We do not over produce in the Far East and have our garments burnt or disposed of in landfills at the end of the season, like many so called luxury labels. Nor do we try and dupe consumers by creating outlet stores that carry “discounted” stock that never appeared at their regular price stores. We prefer to produce less, but better.
All our garments and fabrics are made in Austria, England, Italy, Portugal, Scotland and Switzerland, where fair working wages, and strict environmental standards are upheld. We use the best fabrics possible, which not only make for better garments, but also more durable garments.
We try to use long lasting and renewable trims and avoid the use of plastic and polyester wherever possible. We use corozo (also known as vegetable ivory in German) for our jacket buttons. This form of nut, makes strong and environmentally sustainable buttons. On close inspection one can see striations like wood grain on the buttons. We also use replenishable, farmed, mother of pearl buttons, metal buckles that are refinished and reused, and metal clips where possible instead of plastic.
We use as few labels as possible in our garments, and they have to fulfil an exact purpose, if not two. We use our neck labels not just to identify our brand, but also as a loop to hang the garment on a hook. Our pentagonal gussets on the side seam of our shirts are not there for decorative purposes, but to reinforce the side seams and to this day, twenty years on, we have not had a single failure of a shirt there.
We try and speak with our online store clients before we send orders half way around the world, to make sure the client is getting what he expects and to reduce our return rate. We believe the environmental impact of shipping garments back and forth across the world needlessly is wasteful.
Our approach is the very opposite of fast fashion and we embody the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) in as many ways as we can. This means that you know that when you buy a garment from Udeshi, you’re also doing your bit for the planet and will have a perfectly fitted item of clothing, that you will love to wear for many, many years. One of our long-standing clients complains that he cannot buy more from us because our clothing lasts so long, that he still hasn’t worn out what he has. We think that’s a good problem to have!