How beautiful that we were lucky enough to meet the Easter bunny. He gave us a few exclusive tips on how to fill Easter baskets this year. We have collected these ideas for you. So if you're looking for sustainable and vegan inspiration, you've come to the right place:
As the saying goes... the morning makes the day and for most people it starts with a good cup of coffee. Coffee from "Alrighty" not only tastes good, it is also good. Because Alrighty offers top-quality coffee that is produced fairly and sustainably. The brand is involved in green projects such as reforestation in Ethiopia in order to reduce its own CO2 emissions. And they are committed to social equality on their coffee farms, where they are for example fighting against the gender gap. In our opinion, a coffee with such values tastes so much better.
For a cozy atmosphere, a candle is a must. The candles from nordesign are not only stylish, but also resource-friendly. The candles are made from European soy and rapeseed wax and essential oils from organic farming. What's more, they are even locally handmade. The untreated wooden wick creates a slight crackling effect when burning - if that doesn't make for a good feel-good atmosphere.
And for all those who always feel a little nostalgic after burning a candle, nordesign will soon be offering a refill solution. This means you can simply use the high-quality concrete container again and revive your candle. |
A 100% natural lip balm is not only good for your lips, but also for the environment. Made from plant-based ingredients, this balm by SUMMER FRIDAYS offers effective care as well as a clear conscience. It soothes dry lips while providing a touch of sheer pink color. Butter up for instant moisture, color and shine with a blend of buttercream and a hint of sweet sugar flavor.
And here comes our absolute highlight: the cardholder by MELINA BUCHER. It is made from the 100% bio-based material MIRUM®. The unique vegan leather is completely plastic-free and requires around 90% less CO2 emissions than animal leather. The cardholder is handmade to measure in MELINA BUCHER's own factory in Mannheim by experienced designers and master craftswomen. If that doesn't pave the way for a future in which our Easter bunny can continue to hop across the lush green meadow. Because with products like these, we care about animal welfare and protect our environment.
High-quality, vegan and a beautiful accessory in every bathroom, because we're all really into apothecary bottles now. The aromatic composition with plant extracts and finely ground pumice |
stone ensures gentle cleansing and natural exfoliation. Aesop's hand soap conjures up smooth, clean and refreshed hands every day. How wonderful that exfoliants also work without microplastics.
And what should not be missing at Easter? Right, the sweet temptation, chocolate to be precise! Of course, we have tested a few so that we can only recommend the best to you. The Easter bunny from LA MARA or the Nucao bars are for true chocolate fans! They impress with their delicate creaminess and nutty crunch. If, like us, you can't get enough of chocolate, you can snack your way through many other vegan vareties from both brands. Be aware of addiction!
The good old handwritten card, well, who still knows it? Nowadays we tend to forget the handwritten word due to the sensory overload and all the messages on social media. But it's all the nicer to be surprised with a few personal words. That's why our last tip is the classic greeting card, with which you can never go wrong. So why not place your personal Easter greeting in a paper card this year, which is guaranteed to bring joy.
Putting together an Easter basket is not only a loving gesture, but also a way to share your values and inspire your loved ones. Veganism is fun, so show them your favorite products that are stylish, delicious and also good for our environment.
]]>At a time when women hold only 28% of all management positions globally and only 2% of venture capital funding goes to female-founded startups (1), it is time to take a stand. And we are doing this in the way we do it best at MELINA BUCHER - namely with the new "MONEY MOVES" campaign, which is challenging the status quo.
Turning the Tables on Traditional Roles
Our new campaign rejects traditional role models and aims to break down the well-known clichés of gender roles with its humorous reversal. In the new collection, MELINA BUCHER deliberately plays with the images of a strong, independent woman who overcomes the inequalities she is faced in her professional environment every day.
Accessories for a future
The focus of the new "MONEY MOVES" collection is on high-quality accessories such as wallets, card cases and laptop bags, which are designed for fashion-conscious and self-determined individuals. Because the individual pieces in the collection express nothing else: Each accessory combines elegance, functionality and the expression of self-determination – always under the claim of sustainable, vegan leather.
Yes, we too could hardly wait to expand our product range to include small leather goods, because what could be better than storing all our plastic cards in a vegan and plastic-free card case and showing them how beautiful plastic-free accessories can look.
Our award-winning Bailey has been joined by other products of the current collection, all of which are also made from 100% bio-based MIRUM® and thus meet our requirements for ethical responsibility and the use of plastic-free and vegan leather. Each item is handcrafted in a made to order process in our manufactory in southern Germany.
Did you know ...?... that MIRUM® is a plastic-free, bio-based material, while other synthetic, vegan or plant-based leathers often require the use of plastic in the form of plastic resins, adhesives or coatings? |
We are ready to face our male colleagues and the sustainable fashion market with new designs – what about you?
[1] Boston Consulting Group and MassChallenge, "Why Women-Owned Startups Are a Better Bet", 2018.
]]>Bye bye "clean girl", hello mafia chic or what is the best way to describe the new trend of the "mob wife" aesthetic in one word? Minimalism with subtle beige, delicate make-up and sleek buns was yesterday. The fashion zeitgeist has turned and 2024 is all about the "mob wife" aesthetic, which focuses on absolute maximalism that could hardly be more opulent and ostentatious.
The charm of this new fashion trend lies in its bold combination of elegance and edginess, which opens up a completely new perspective on luxury and ostentatious style. Anyone who has been on Instagram or TikTok in the past few days has certainly already discovered the "mob wife" trend, as it is currently going viral on social media.
HOW TO BECOME A "MOB WIFE"
After last year's dominant "quiet luxury" aesthetic, this year heavy gold jewelry, sensuous make-up and messy hairstyles are introducing a new era. In the new "mob wife" trend, leather is combined with animal prints, bold sunglasses and large designer handbags. This extravagance is finally wrapped up in voluminous animal furs, which we hoped would never appear again.
Not only social media is full of styling tutorials on the "mob wife" aesthetic, but stars such as Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber also show how to wear this pompous look with confidence today.
Kendall Jenner´s and Hailey Bieber´s mob wife look on Instagram.
TikTok styling tutorial on how to dress like a mob wife.
THE STORY BEHIND THE FASHION STYLE
The hyped trend goes back to the media influences from films and TV series of recent years and decades and is a tribute to film characters such as Lorraine Bracco in "GoodFellas" (1990), Sharon Stone in "Casino" (1995) or Jennifer Lawrence in "American Hustle" (2022), whose style is characterized by sinful luxury and extravagance. With their strong, self-confident characters, they have inspired a fashion movement that expresses individuality and self-determination.
THE PROBLEM WITH THE NAME "MOB WIFE"
There's no question that we women can wear this look with confidence. But does the meaning behind the trendy name "mob wife" still fulfill do us justice these days? We say a resounding no.
"Mob" comes from the word "mobster", which is another name for the mafia. The "mob wife" thus refers to the style and appearance of women who are associated with mafia members or crimes. More specifically, it refers to a woman who is married to a man of secret machinations. She is expected to do nothing but accept it all and smile about it, never acknowledging what an abusive, greedy and selfish world she has married into.
This brings to light clichés and gender roles that people are trying hard to escape today. Women should not be described as "wives" who stand in the shadow of their husbands. We can abbreviate this message at this point, as we are surely in agreement that we need to get rid of these stereotypical roles today. Nobody really needs the old role models anymore, which is why at least the name of the new trend seems to us to be in need of improvement.
And don't we also think that the fur obsession, which seems so necessary with this trend, can definitely be settled with a fake fur model? In 2024, we will not only be more enlightened about old gender stereotypes, but also about animal welfare and sustainability.
HOW TO RESTYLE THE TREND IN A SUSTAINABLE WAY
Self-confidence is key and the "mob wife" trend provides the perfect backdrop to showcase your inner strength. Here are some elements you can use to weave thoughtful statements into your everyday look or to indulge in full "mob wife" glam:
© Design Melina Bucher, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below.
LOOK 1: Vegan fake-fur-coat by ESSENTIEL ANTWERP / dress by HELSA / shoes by Urbanima
LOOK 2: Vegan fake-fur-coat by &OtherStories / dress by GANNI / shoes by BLOOM
LOOK 3: Vegan fake-fur-coat by ESSENTIEL ANTWERP / roll-neck shirt by ARMEDANGELS / skirt by GANNI / shoes by PIFERI
Decadent, vegan fur coat
Understated and restrained is a thing of the past. The "mob wife" trend challenges glamour and nothing adds more drama to your look than a vegan fur coat.
We are clearly committed to veganism, because the truth about animal husbandry in fur farms is more than cruel. Animals are bred specifically for the fur industry under the worst possible conditions and are sometimes skinned alive. And let's not even get started on the environmentally harmful chemicals used in the processing of fur to prevent it from decomposing – so let's keep our hands off it!
Thanks to the tireless work of animal rights activists in recent years, the issue of the fur industry is on the political agenda more present than ever. Last year, California became the first US state to ban the sale of animal fur products. And in the EU, the European Citizens' Initiative is actively campaigning for a "fur-free Europe", forcing the European Commission to take action. Of course, we also use the faux fur alternatives, that are at least as fashionable as real animal fur.
While conventional synthetic fur coats are made of polyester and are therefore also problematic for the environment, BioFluff and ECOPEL have just launched a revolutionary invention: the first plant-based fur that not only protects animals, but also our environment.
Animal print and leather look
Whether pants, skirt or dress - the "mob wife" trend declares animal print and leather looks to be the ultimate must-haves that add a touch of seductive sophistication to any wardrobe. If you want to play it safe, opt for the combination with a black turtleneck sweater. The eye-catching accessories will provide the necessary dose of glamor.
Heels, heels, heels
The key pieces of the trend are shoes with heels. There are no limits to the shape and color – the main thing is that they have heels!
Luxuriant accessories
Make your look even more opulent with a matching large designer bag, heavy gold jewelry and statement sunglasses that will turn your "mob wife" outfit into a real eye-catcher.
© Design Melina Bucher, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below.
Vegan handbag "STELLA" by MELINA BUCHER / vegan card holder "OLIVIA" by MELINA BUCHER / sunglasses by nordgreen / tights by saint sass / ring by MARA PARIS / lipgloss by gitti / earrings by MARA PARIS
SEDUCTIVE AND FLAWLESS: THE IDEAL MAKE-UP FOR THE MOB WIFE LOOK
Mob wives are known for their intense and seductive make-up. Start witha high-quality foundation to conjure up a flawless skin that radiates pure elegance. To give your face the right contour, use contouring and highlighting for cheekbones, jawline and nose.
For eye, make-up you can opt for dark, framing kohl or eyeliner that add a touch of drama and sophistication to your look. Smokey eyes, framed by strong and defined eyebrows, are of course the absolute go-to. You can finish your make-up with a lip liner and a statement lip color such as a classic or berry red. The look ultimately reveals the inimitable combination of classic beauty and modern glamour, perfectly showcasing a flawless skin, radiant eyes and seductive lips.
Immerse yourself in the fascinating drama of the "mob wife" style and make a statement that knows no bounds. Boldly combine leather with animal prints and wrap yourself in opulent faux fur. The “mob wife” style is more than just fashion - it's an invitation to self-expression and a tribute to bold femininity. So are you ready to turn heads and fill the world with the majestic power of femininity? After all, we women have nothing and no one to hide from.
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Animal leather is one of the most ancient materials used by humans and was considered a social status symbol for a long time. However, nowadays this material is no longer in line with the times. There has been a significant change in public opinion in relation to the production of traditional leather. This is due to a growing awareness of the cruelty of factory farming, the social conditions for workers during leather production and the environmental impact of tanning. Consumers are increasingly looking for alternatives, making it necessary for the fashion industry to rethink its approach.
As a result, material innovations that can replace animal leather are increasingly conquering the market. From small independent brands to luxury brands like Gucci and sportswear manufacturers like Adidas, fashion companies are launching a growing number of products made from non-animal leather, following in the footsteps of Stella McCartney, who has been using vegan leather since she founded her label in 2001. According to Infinium Global Research's February 2021 market report, the global vegan leather market is expected to reach a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48,1 percent over the forecast period from 2020 to 2026.
With the variety of new materials entering the market every year, it is difficult to keep track of them all. In addition, reporting on the various synthetic and so-called plant-based alternatives is often inaccurate, misleading or simply greenwashing. Not every non-animal leather is also a vegan leather, as materials from animals – such as glue and dye – may also be used in the production process. Neither does every vegan leather have the same properties and environmental impact, as the production methods are quite different.
As a manufactory and brand that specializes in vegan and biobased materials, we are actively involved in material developments with many innovators and rigorously test new innovations. The following article therefore aims to create order, to disentangle the prevailing confusion of definitions and to give an overview of the different types of leather. In Part 1 of our Vegan Leather Guide, we will first examine mono-materials (also called monomers), which include animal leather and new material developments made from mycelium, bacterial nanocellulose or collagen.
Apple leather? Pineapple leather? But what does that mean? Learn more about coated materials next week in part 2 of our Vegan Leather Guide. At the very end of the article you will also find an overview table with the most important characteristics of well-known vegan leathers.
Production: Before we take a closer look at the various vegan leathers, let's briefly return to the original product: Animal leather is still referred to as a "natural product" in articles and vegan leather is praised for its ethical superiority, but criticized in terms of sustainability.
Animal leather is made from the skins of animals. The skin of the animals (usually cows, goats or sheep, but also exotic animals like crocodiles and snakes) is first preserved, then soaked to clean and rehydrated. After that, components such as hair or flesh are removed. Next, the animal skin is dehydrated, pickled and degreased. In a complex process, the hide is then tanned, further processed and later usually dyed or coated. After about 20-40 process steps, the result is a robust, relatively flexible and water- and dirt-repellent material.
Performance:The final product thus in fact has relatively little to do with the "natural” animal skin. Instead, each of these steps is designed to keep a biological material from decomposing and to make it last as long as possible. In addition, animal leather is often, if not mostly, coated with polyurethane or other synthetic materials to even out imperfections in the structure and make it more durable against moisture and humidity. Take a closer look at the leather when shopping: if the graining is identical and uniform at all parts of the product, it may well be that the material is coated. A coating up to 0.15 mm is not subject to declaration, so the material may still be called leather.
More than 70% of animal skins are processed in developing countries, where the lack of wastewater systems means that toxic waste could end up in the groundwater.
Sustainability:Animal leather also scores poorly in terms of environmental impact: The hides must be tanned before they can be used in leather goods, as they would otherwise decompose and become unusable for further processing. The most used tanning agent is chromium, which can transform to toxic chromium IV (a carconigen) if not processed properly. In the EU there are strict regulations on how much chromium IV is allowed to be detected in the end-product, but government investigations found that these threshold values are often exceeded. Besides chromium, other chemical auxiliaries are used, with studies showing that for 1 kg of leather, ca. 2.5 kg of chemicals are needed. Those synthetic materials can also be classified as problematic for human and environmental toxicity. The manufacturing process consumes an enormous amount of water and causes high CO2 emissions. This results in environmentally harmful, non-biodegradable waste products , such as tannin-containing wastewater or chemical containing solid wastes like raw hides or flesh. Moreover, more than 70% of animal skins are processed in developing countries, where the lack of wastewater systems means that toxic waste ends up in the groundwater and harms people working in tanneries. Vegetable tanning can offer advantages compared to chromium in regards to toxicity and biodegradability. They need more water and energy during processing and can only be used for specific types and colors of leather. Their application is therefore still very limited and vegetable tanning agents are mostly combined with synthetics to reduce cost and increase performance of the resulting leather.
Disposal:Biodegradation of most animal leather is also severely limited after use, and recycling is not technologically feasible or economically viable. So animal leather is currently either landfilled or incinerated.
Inputs and Outputs of Producing 1 kg of leather (© Melina Bucher)
Read more about animal leather in our detailed article "The 5 most popular myths about animal leather".
There are some companies developing materials that mimic animal skin as a raw material in the leather process. These materials can then be made durable and adapted in their physical properties by either mechanical or chemical processes. Cellulose-containing materials, collagen or fungal biomass are used for this purpose. The main goal is to replace animal or synthetic raw materials with biological ones. In the following, we present some of these innovations in more detail.
Production:In the making of "mushroom leather" from mycelium, mushroom cells are grown into mycelium, a net-like biological mass. Mycelia are structures of the fungus that usually grow underground and are therefore less well known than the superficial fungal body. There are several material innovators working on mycelium-based materials that employ slightly different production techniques. The mycelium usually grows on agricultural by-products and produces a foam-like mat that can then be processed in chemical and mechanical processes to produce a leather-like material. Some innovators also test approaches to let the mycelium eat cotton or other textile materials to increase strength of the material.
Cross-Section of Mycelium Leather (© Melina Bucher)
Performance: MycoWorks, which manufactures mycelium leather marketed under the product name Reishi, has commissioned extensive testing of material strength, durability and color fastness. The results show that the mycelium leather has similar properties to animal leather. The "Reishi High Strength" material even outperforms animal leather – but in this case, a polyester carrier and coating were applied. Bolt Threads used a synthetic coating for a faster go-to-market approach. Overall, the right processing technique, the combination with a textile backer or a coating enhance the overall performance of mycelium materials.
Sustainability:The companies MycoWorks and Bolt Threads use sawdust, a waste product from forestry, to grow mycelium. Thereby, the foam-like mats can be produced in 4-9 days. Since the mycelium grows in a naturally biological process and does not require light to grow, the environmental impact should be correspondingly low. Mushrooms absorb and store CO2 as they grow, so the process is CO2-neutral. The subsequent processing of the mats into leather consumes resources – which depend on the selected processes of the manufacturer. Bolt Threads, for example, worked with leather tanneries that have to meet special requirements in terms of sustainability. However, more in-depth information is not publicly available.
Disposal: Mycelium is a natural, biodegradable material. In order to determine the biodegradability or recyclability of the end-product, it is necessary to consider the chemicals involved in the production processes or, if applicable, the dyes and coatings selected. This is another area where information is still lacking.
Deployment in the fashion industry: Bolt Threads, the company developing the material Mylo, has raised approximately USD 471 million in 7 investment rounds. They worked in a consortium with Adidas, Kering, Lululemon and Stella McCartney to develop products for different applications. At Paris Fashion Week, Stella McCartney showed a handbag made of Mylo on the runway for the first time in 2021 and thereafter launched a limited edition of 100 Frayme bags. In 2023, after not securing additional investment, Mylo production was stopped and Bolt Threads combined its business with Golden Arrow Merger Cop. If and when the material will be sold again is still not known. The company MycoWorks, which markets its mushroom leather under the name Reishi, has secured funding of USD 125 million in a series C round in 2022. Investors include automotive company General Motors and celebrities Natalie portman. They have a long term strategic partnership with Hèrmes, although the handbag that was shown was never available for sale and still contains trims made from animal leather. They have launched some capsule collection with artists like Nick Fouquet, and Daniel Martin Made. Currently, material availability is scarce. In 2023 they started building a new production facility which has the potential to increase availability in the upcoming years. The Italian company Sqim, formerly known as Mogu, announced a raise of EUR 11 million in its series A round in January 2024. They made headlines with their Paris Fashion Week runway debut in 2022, when Balenciaga used their Material Ephea for a floor-length coat.
Mycelium Foam Mats (left) and finished Mylo (right) (© Bolt Threads)
Production: Muskin is a leather made from the caps of the Phellinus ellip-soideus. After extraction, the caps are cut into thin slices before being treated in chemical and mechanical processes similar to those used for animal leather. However, the leather can currently only be produced in small quantities, so it is not very suitable for industrial purposes.
Cross-Section of MuSkin Mushroom Leather (© Melina Bucher)
Performance: Muskin leather offers special properties such as antibacterial action and moisture management. Although the manufacturer states that the material does not have the mechanical properties of animal leather. However, it can be combined with carrier materials or waxes to improve the performance.
Sustainability: The fungus used to make Muskin is harvested from nature. According to the manufacturer, the material is treated without toxic substances and is plastic-free. Further information on the environmental impact of the manufacturing process has not been ascertainable.
Disposal: Since the material is completely natural in origin, it should be biologically degradable. However, this may change depending on whether and how it is bonded to textile backers or which waxes and dyes are used.
Deployment in the fashion industry: MuSkin is manufactured in Italy by Grado Zero Innovation. At the moment, production is only possible in small quantities of 40-50 pieces per month, which is why it is not suitable for industrial purposes, but for special one-off pieces. Besides, it is not produced in running meters, but only in individual pieces – so one is dependent on the size of the mushroom, similar to the hide size for animal leather.
MuSkin Vegan Mushroom Leather (© Life Materials)
Production:Materials made with bacteria? What may sound gross at first, actually leads to completely natural and beautiful materials. The company Polybion creates their biomaterial material Celium by feeding bacteria with fruit waste in bioreactors. The bacteria then create cellulose (the building block of plants) as a metabolic by-product in 7-25 days depending on the desired thickness. The cellulose membrane is then stabilized in a tanning-like process without using chromium but using significantly less water and energy. Modern Synthesis also feeds bacteria to agricultural waste. Their unique approach is to feed the bacteria in a framework of thread to create a more textile like material. This leads to a nonwoven hybrid material that is a mesh of a leather like drape, a textile like look and a dry and warm touch like paper.
Performance:Polybion has commissioned extensive testing of material strength, durability and color fastness. The results show promising performance metrics. The company says that the material can be tuned to the specific performance parameters by using different bacteria, tanning and dyes. As there are currently no products available on the market, further investigation is needed to evaluate the performance. Modern Synthesis says their unique material is incredibly strong and lightweight. Depending on the textile structure used, the haptic and performance can be tuned.
Sustainability:Polybion uses local fruit waste to feed their bacteria and their whole production is concentrated in a 30 km radius in Mexico. Energy used is coming from photovoltaics. The subsequent processing of the bacterial cellulose into a leather-like material is done similarly to leather with tanning and dyeing. The company claims to use green chemistry compliant with EPA, REACH and ZDHC regulation. The material is said to be produced in a circular loop system, without further explaining the chemicals used in the process. In a preliminary LCA type impact assessment study, the calculated environmental impact was 5 times lower than the one from animal leather above impact categories. Modern Synthesis also feeds bacteria to agricultural waste. They incorporate other natural ingredients in their proprietary formulation and use green chemistry to make their material durable, that are not further specified. They claim that the material only uses a fraction of carbon emissions, water and land without providing any specific sources.
Disposal:The raw material is made from bacterial cellulose which is biodegradable. To evaluate the overall biodegradability of the end-product Celium, a closer look at the process chemicals and dyes is needed. Polybion states that the material will be circular, which would be very exciting! Modern Synthesis claim the end-product to be completely biobased and petrochemical free in the undyed version.
Deployment in the fashion industry:Polybion is still under development and has no commercially available products made from their material on the market. They have created a very cool green and yellow jacket together with Ganni that was showcased at the Global Fashion Summit in 2023. They built their company around scalability though and say they will be able to produce 1.1 million sqft. per year. Modern Synthesis closed a USD 4.1 million seed round in 2022 and is currently still in lab scale. In 2023, they showcased the Bou Bag in collaboration with Ganni with a planned commercial launch in 2025.
Companies like Modern Meadow, a biotech startup from the U.S., follow a different path: They develop collagen - the basic building block of animal skin - directly in the laboratory. In the early stages of development, skin cells were cultivated in the lab for this purpose. In the meantime, a specific yeast strain is fed with sugar in a fermentation process, which directly produces protein.
The benefit: Whereas traditional leather production processes are designed to remove all substances that do not consist of collagen from the animal skin, Modern Meadow produces the collagen directly. The raw material can then be used in the same way known for cow hides in the leather industry – which is why it is possible to revert to previous processing techniques – only without animals. Today, their Bio-Alloy consisting of their proprietary protein and biopolymer is used in materials as a coating or together with synthetics, which makes the material not 100% bio-based. Pact, formerly known as Hide Biotech, is also using collagen as a building block. However, after they announced last year to develop vegan materials with cow collagen, they now switched plans and use collagen from fish farming, which makes the material not animal friendly.
Along with the mono-materials discussed in more detail in this article, there are a variety of coated materials that are used instead of animal leather. These are materials that consist of a carrier such as cotton and one or more coatings. You can find all the information about materials such as apple leather, cactus leather or pineapple leather in our second part of the Vegan Leather Guide.
In the following you can find a thorough comparison of the most talked about vegan leathers based on scientific research. Where scientific research is not yet available, we marked as "no sufficient data available". For the evaluation of performance, we included company information as well as our own experiences with the materials.
Comparison of the most talked about vegan leathers (© Melina Bucher)
]]>The use of fur in particular is now widely frowned, because the truth of animal husbandry in fur farms is beyond cruel. Animals are bred specifically for the fur industry and live under the worst conditions. They are crammed into tight, filthy wire cages, unable to engage in their natural social behaviors and sometimes skinned alive. In addition, to prevent decomposition of the animal furs, environmentally harmful chemicals are used in tanning processes. Thus, fur loads animals as well as the environment and human health.
Thanks to the relentless work of animal rights activists in the last years, the fur industry is also a hot topic on the political agenda right now. This year, California became the first US state to ban the sale of animal fur products. On 1 January 2023, a law came into force that makes the production, sale and donation of fur illegal. In the EU, the European Citizens' Initiative is also currently actively campaigning for a 'Fur Free Europe' with the help of a petition. The number of 1 million valid signatures is already reached, which means that now the European Commission is obliged to act.
For fur coat lovers, there was no animal-friendly and sustainable alternative for a long time. This is because the alternatives to animal fur so far have been made of synthetic fibers (more on the problems of synthetic fibers in the interview). Good news is: That's over now. Ashwariya Lahariya and Martin Stübler, the founders of BioFluff develop the first plant-based fur. The patented production process creates a unique ethically justifiable and sustainable fur alternative, without animal suffering. The fur keeps you warm and cozy, convinces with a stylish look and also protects the planet and the animals.
We met the two founders and they told us about their journey as young pioneers and company founders, about their visions and the characteristics of BioFluff. In the following article you will get a lot of insights into the world of this new and exciting material. Have fun!
Martin: In summer 2021, I was working on various alternative leather projects. During research and visits to different tanneries, I discovered that the topic of alternative leather was already being worked on many times by scientists and designers. Ideas for animal-free furs, on the other hand, were rarely addressed. The only alternative on the market is synthetic fur, which consists of polyester and modacrylic fibers. These fibers are synthetically produced from petrochemicals, partly consist of fossil fuels and cause enormous amounts of waste. Accordingly, artificial fur is at best a temporary compromise solution. I definitely see a gap in the fashion industry here and I am ready to fill it!
We have big dreams and visions. We want to become the biggest supplier for all environmentally conscious high-end fashion brands and replace animal fur and synthetic fur with BioFluff in the long run. It is important for us to set a sign and show the world that animal furs are not a necessity. The look and coziness of the furs can be combined with vegan, sustainable materials and fair conditions for people and the environment.
We also place great value on transparent and honest partnerships. We carefully select them based on shared vegan goals and a common understanding of sustainability.
The 100% natural, plant-based basis is what distinguishes BioFluff the most.What may sound simple at first, actually solves two enormous problems in the fashion industry: 1. animals are not a commodity that should be used in clothing and fashion. We can prevent that with our fibers. 2. with natural, biodegradable fibers, the environment is not polluted.
We really would like to talk about that, but this is part of the intellectual property and patent. What we can say is that we only use natural materials and ingredients. The combination of different types of fibers and plants with the help of our patented augmentation or enhancement process yield the unique soft and vegan fur. The softness is especially the result of the fiber density and a special fiber softening process. Moreover, the fibres are no cash crops, i.e. they are not cultivated specifically for economic purposes. At least 50% of them are residues from agriculture.
Martin: Every new change starts with the realization that something in the existing system is broken or wrong. I had such a realization when I visited the tanneries and saw how animal skins were processed. This was the moment I wanted to start and make a change. I asked myself: What can I do to help reduce the consumption of animal fur? Later I did some research and found out that the existing alternatives on the market are either petroleum-based or they contain only a small percentage of natural plant materials. None of the alternatives can are biodegradeble or recycled in a meaningful way. This became our approach:
Our backgrounds in the biotechnology and the textile science were key to create a product in a whole new category: a fur made neither from animal nor synthetic materials, but instead exclusively from plants.
We are also sure that now is exactly the right time for such an innovation. More and more people are rejecting animal materials and are looking for vegan alternatives that are both sustainable and circular.
Seeing our dream come true step by step is just a magical feeling. We are excited like children under the Christmas tree. What was first just a mind game is now becoming reality. We are sure there is a high demand for sustainable fashion right now. We feel this impulse every day when we go to work. We are looking forward to the future and are excited to see our BioFluff on the runway for the first time soon!
The F4C Accelerator Programme is one of the best growth programmes for young companies in the EU. It gives us as a sustainable tech start-up a voice and at the same time connects us with mentors who support young start-ups in the fashion field. We will also definitely be enriched by the contact with the other participants. We’ve seen the diligence with which the companies have been selected to create a perfect mix of diverse and innovative ideas. We could already learn a lot about ourselves and about other visions. Over the next few years, with the help of the growth programme, we hope to understand our product even better and develop it further.
Martin: Personally, I would like a fluffy white vegan fur coat I can wear to fashion events and festivals. Fur is a wonderful and warm material, keeping you cozy and stylish on concert nights or other events. I have always been a little envious of people with their fur jackets, but I still reject them because they are not compatible with my values.
Ashwariya: This might sound weird, but I dream of an app that is as popular as Facebook or Instagram, that everyone knows, everyone uses and that shows you the origin of a product within a second. Everybody should know if a product contains animal ingredients, plastic or petrochemicals. I would like to see a general awareness for sustainable an ethical products.
]]>Disclaimer: We do not use affiliate links. All products featured here have been carefully selected based on the brands' sustainability and animal welfare efforts, as well as our taste.
Matrix Reloaded! Whoever gets this dress for Christmas can steal the show from everyone else on the next occasion, such as New Year's Eve. The vegan 'Asayo Dress' by Nanushka is cut from synthetic leather. It has a price of €745, but it is a futuristic eye-catcher at any party!
As an alternative to this dress, you can find a vegan blouse dress in leather for €110 at Colourful Rebel, which is sure to attract just as many raving faces.
What would make us Bucherbabes shine the most at Christmas? Of course, the answer is obvious: the award-winning BAILEY BAG by Melina Bucher. The designer bag not only convinces with its unique design in a two-toned look. It combines aesthetics with ethics, fashion with sustainability, innovative materials, and high-quality bag-making craftsmanship. It is made of plastic-free and bio-based vegan leather MIRUM®. An advanced material that can be fully recycled or returned to nature. It was also awarded the German Sustainability Award Design 2023 and won the PETA Vegan Fashion Award. So go ahead, grab your new BAILEY, the bag of the future, and make a statement for a better fashion world!
The 'Runner K21 MIRUM®' shoes, like the BAILEY handbag, are made from MIRUM®, a 100% bio-based vegan leather. The sneaker has a retro look that is given that certain something by unique accents. For €199, you can pre-order the shoes from CAMPER today!
UNLESS also has a pair of sneakers made with MIRUM® on sale for €139. What's more, UNLESS's shoes are made from all-natural materials - from the laces to the soles. This makes them one of the first (if not the first) sneakers ever to be fully biodegradable. With their understated and clean design, these shoes could perfectly complement a vegan leather dress.
During the cold season, cozy, warm homewears are a MUST! INUIKII's fluffy slippers are a 'vegan dream'. They let you walk on comfy clouds and work like warming wonders. With a price of €180, they are yours!
Airfoot Fluffy is currently offering these fluffy slippers for €40. The shoe is made of faux fur and is also 100% vegan. Visually, it is reminiscent of the well-known UGG boots - only in the animal-friendly version.
Swiss luxury watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen, in collaboration with Gisele Bündchen, has introduced so-called MiraTex™ bands made of MIRUM®. With this, the Swiss watch manufacturer finally offers a strap without animal leather made from purely natural raw materials.
Kerbholz is a well-known German startup that manufactures watches from natural wood in a minimalist design. With the ‘easy click' you can change the band quickly and easily at any time.
A beautiful fragrance for Christmas can make hearts beat faster! LENG LING offers a vegan and especially luxurious variant with a fragrance that 'shines like a diamond' for €202. With the bestseller no 1 - el pasajero, nothing can go wrong!
If you like an Asian touch and smell refreshing flowers, you should check out the perfume 'Garden of Zen' at Jean&Len. The manufacturer does not use any animal ingredients here either. All products are vegan.
For a Christmas beauty oasis at home, we recommend a vegan skincare routine from Babor. The luxury skincare ranges from facial cleansers to facial creams to skin care for the entire body - and it's all vegan. The care set is ready for you here at a price of €95!
At Junglück, you can already find a good vegan day cream for €32. The German company stands for honesty, sustainability and responsibility. Junglück has something for every skin type. These products can also create your vegan and environmentally conscious beauty oasis.
Following the care products, cosmetic products must not be missing! We recommend the Berlin-based label UND GRETEL BERLIN, which combines bright, opaque colors and high pigmentation with the vision of natural cosmetics. Contemporary high end makeup convinces with the best ingredients from nature. For example, you can get one foundation for €52.
Annemarie Börlind stands for demonstrably effective natural cosmetics. The company develops unique products with innovative and sustainable manufacturing processes. The day makeup for €25 is one of our office favorites
Scented candles are also high on the gift list for Christmas. The dark and cold seasons cause a cozy, warm light and fill every room with aromatizing scents. The Black Pearls scented candle from Baobab offers a unique creation. The scented candle is vegan and animal-free.
However, you can also give your loved ones a slightly more affordable scented treat. The minimalist design and sustainable ingredients make the vegan candles from Aery for €36 a must-have for your home!
And who enjoys the gifts under the tree the most at Christmas? That's right: the kids. So, we don't want to leave them off our list either. The cute, vegan cuddly animals from Kallisto are handmade in Berlin and worth €40. The animals make children's hearts beat faster, that's for sure!
After a long shopping day in the city, one always treats oneself to a mulled wine in conclusion at Christmas time! We recommend the sustainably produced and vegan RED JULIET mulled wine for a delicious cup to get in the Christmas spirit because mulled wine is a classic at any time of the year. The price for one bottle is €13.
The company MUYA offers fresh, vegan, and handmade chocolates. 'The eye eats with you' - a tastefully packaged box of 4 is available for €13 and is perfect for chocolate lovers!
We wish you a reflective Christmas season and many smiling faces of your loved ones - and we are sure that the true luxury lies in spending time with family and friends!
]]>A party look in royal pink (© Design Melina Bucher, product images by Shopbop , Clara Himmel, Jan’n June, Beyond Skin, Farfetch)
Let´s start with an outfit of the upcoming season. Edwinas look will bring out the princess in you! Every little girl loved the colour pink once and we all associate this colour with the term “princess”. The first outfit inspired us to fulfill our childhood dream to feel like a princess. Our restyled look consists of a long dress, optionally you can also wear a maxiskirt with a blouse. And you know what? Maxidresses as well as maxiskirts are fully in trend this year! To complete the whole look, you also need white mules and a clutch and as you can see the outfit is completed. It is perfectly suitable for a date night with your significant other. You simply must make haste to give this look a try and show your sweet side.
1. Dress: Maxidress from Stine Goya via Shopbop
2. Blouse: Wrap blouse in pink from Clara Himmel
3. Skirt: Maxiskirt from Jan'n June
4. Shoes: White mules from Beyond Skin
5. Bag: Clutch from Themoirè via Farfetch
An elegant two piece to let the haters hate (© Design Melina Bucher, product images from Self-Portrait , Jan’n June, Maison de Mode, Mink)
Your style is very elegant and chic and you love to wear eye-catching colours like the Featheringtons? Then this is the perfect outfit for you! A fluffy knit skirt with a yellow top with puffed sleeves. In addition, pink heels, a clutch and your look is complete. With this outfit you are guaranteed to be the eye-catcher everywhere!
1. Blouse: Blouse with puffed sleeves in yellow from Self-Portrait
2. Skirt: Fluffy short skirt also from Self-Portrait
3. Shoes: Heels from Mink
4. Jewellery: Earrings from Maison de Mode
5. Bag: Clutch in beige from Mink
Girl over flowers (© Design Melina Bucher, product images by Self-Portrait, Cider, Mink, Melina Bucher)
No one wears such beautiful clothes as the main character Daphne. That´s why we had to recreate at least one of her look! We would like to show you two similar outfits in the Bridgerton family-colour baby blue embroidered with some flowers. The first one is a pretty mididress which is perfect for a festive event. Furthermore, the second look consists of a combination of a jacket and a skirt. Now only the a pair of black slippers and our BAILEY bag are missing, and the look is ready. Give this look a try and put yourself in the world of Daphne for a day. You will be the Juwel of the day!
1. Dress: Mididress with flowers from Self-Portrait
2. Combi piece: Jacket and skirt also from Self-Portrait
3. Shoes: Black slipper from Mink
4. Bag: Our BAILEY bag from Melina Bucher
Yellow, summery and also sustainable (© Design Melina Bucher, product images by Amur, Clara Himmel, Shopbop, Matt & Nat, Melina Bucher)
In daily life bright colours are rather rare and the outfits are kept simple. As fashionistas we must protest against this attitude! That´s why we have chosen one of Marinas iconic outfits in yellow to show you how simple it is to embrace bright colours in your daily life. Furthermore, pure and bright colours were reserved for the nobility at that time and the colour yellow definitely fits into this category! Our outfit consists of yellow cargo pants with a flower print and a classy white blouse. At the end you only need sandals and our TRUDY bag, and that´s it! A simple look which is perfect for the office. For a look to go out at the evening, we have chosen a pretty dress for you. You can wear it on a perfect summer night.
1. Pants: Yellow pants with floral print from Pomelo
2. Blouse: Classy white blouse from Clara Himmel
3. Dress: Maxidress from Zimmermann viaShopbop
4. Shoes: Sandals from Matt&Nat
5. Bag: our TRUDY bag from Melina Bucher
Ready to meet the Queen (© Design Melina Bucher, product images by Maison de Mode, Jennifer Behr, Matt& Nat, Melina Bucher)
For all fashionistas who like to dress up simple but also chic, take Eloise presentation gown for inspiration. What do you think about a stylish dress with a loop? In addition, a pair of boots, a hairband, a bracelet and our INDY bag and the look is completed. This is the perfect combination to make a splendid impression on the queen
1. Dress: Dress with loop from Maison de Mode
2. Hairband: Hairband in vegan leather from Jennifer Behr
3. Shoes: Boots from Maison de Mode
4. Jewellery: Bracelet from Matt&Nat
5. Bag: Our INDY bag from Melina Bucher
We hope that you like our restyled looks and that you feel inspired. It´s always exciting to try new styles and to change your look. We wish you a lot of fun while trying the outfits and we can't wait to see the next season of Bridgerton!
Yours truly,
Lady Bucher
As fashion addicts, we are always on the hunt for vegan and sustainable brands that step up the game. That's why we would like to present you the hottest vegan designer bag brands of 2022! We've searched for a long time and gathered our ideas to find the perfect list of vegan designer bags for you! Trigger warning: explicitly contains no animal cruelty.
Small and fun (© Design Melina Bucher, product images by Hozen)
A real eye-catcher, the Quilted Mini Duffle Bag by Hozen make any outfit look extraordinary! The small vegan bag offers enough space for the most important things and comes in fun modern colorways. Hozen stands for luxury based on sustainability and their vegan designer bags are made in small batches in Los Angeles from recycled PU and recycled polyester lining.
Little dream (© Design and product images by Melina Bucher)
Our vegan clutch Trudy is one of our most popular models, but who could resist her? Small, classic and above all this vegan clutch is very variable. Whether you need a shoulder bag, fanny pack or a clutch, with Trudy you can combine any outfit classically and always look perfectly styled.
Melina Bucher stands for animal welfare, sustainability and above all transparency. Read about our values and our mission here. We produce in Europe and in a small radius to keep the transport routes as short as possible.
On fire with Fire Flap (© Design Melina Bucher, product images by Alkeme Atelier)
The vegan small Fire Flap Satchel has a classic design in a beautiful, eye-catching color. We love this combination! Whether for partying or shopping, with this vegan designer bag you are always top styled.
The vegan satchel bag from Alkeme Atelier is made of pineapple leather and recycled polyester, you can also plant a tree per purchase.
A Classic redeveloped (© Design Melina Bucher, product images by Stella McCartney)
Stella McCartney stands for sustainable luxury. The designer was one of the first to not use animal leather, fur and feathers 20 years ago. The label still uses wool and silk though. 2021 she has presented her new vegan creation on the catwalk of Paris Fashion Week – Frayme Mylo™️. This Stella McCartney handbag consists of so called "mushroom" leather and is based on mycelium, the underground root system of mushrooms.
A vegan designer bag inspired by their most famous bag, the Falabella. The Frayme Mylo™️ is said to be available to purchase later this year.
The Handbag of the Future (© Design and product images by Melina Bucher)
The BAILEY bag is a real game changer. It is made out of 100% bio-based, all natural MIRUM®. The material is designed for circularity - meaning after use it can be made into new MIRUM® material our go back to nature as valuable nutrients. Compared to most vegan leathers on the market, MIRUM® is also completely plastic-free and saves 97.5% CO2 emissions when compared to average animal leather. The BAILEY bag is a timeless design staple in a black and beige two-toned design. Its elegant shape with gold-plated hardware complements every elegant outfit and the sportive shoulder strap eases up the outfit for streetwear looks. The innovative vegan leather material is paired with a recycled cotton lining and a circular leather stitching thread. It is handcrafted by highly experienced artisans in the Spanish Ubrique region making it an exceptional statement piece.
Puffer style for everyone (© Design Melina Bucher, product images by Stand Studio)
Puffer jackets have been one of the most popular styles during the cold days for years, now the trend is also seen in accessories. Whether hats, scarves or even bags! What do you think about the trend? We think it’s exciting!
The Rosanne Puffy Bag by Stand Studio is a vegan tote bag in puffer style, made entirely of faux leather. A great companion for winter days.
Boss Bag (© Design Melina Bucher, product images by Melina Bucher)
Our favorite vegan tote bag Indy means big business. With its spacious compartments for your laptop, tablet and smartphone it organizes your busy life. And the scratch resistant and water repellant vegan leather makes it worry free from day to night.
Extravagant style (© Design Melina Bucher, product images by Karl Lagerfeld)
A collaboration that moves the Karl Lagerfeld brand and the fashion world forward: Karl Lagerfeld has designed a collaboration with Amber Valetta. The vegan designer shopper is made of cactus leather Desserto and loved by fashionistas around the globe.
A new material and that combined with a Karl Lagerfeld design, just not too flashy. Who would say no to that?
Like out of a fairy tale (© Design Melina Bucher, product images by Telfar)
A designer shopper that captured the fashion world. We also love this simple design in the bright colors. The vegan handbag comes in different sizes and colors, so you can find the perfect version for any outfit. The Telfar Designer Shopper is made of faux leather with a simple logo on the front.
Directly from heaven (© Design Melina Bucher, product images by Melina Bucher)
Our designer shopper Angel will take you to heaven! Whether you carry her to work or for a weekend trip, the Angel bag fits everything. With its timeless, modern shape design this vegan shopper is perfect whenever you need a lot of things - or you just do not know what the day will bring. It is responsibly made in Europe and transported CO2-neutral directly to your door.
We love how versatile vegan fashion nowadays is: it can be both bold and fun or a modern classic. The forward-thinking vegan designers also look at innovative, next-gen materials and responsible working conditions. And with their approach they redefine what designer fashion is and should be all about.
A bold combination of green and pink (© Design Melina Bucher, product images by Jakke, Nanushka, Pinko, 1 People)
Let's get right into the first episode! Emily is dressed in green and pink accents, a risky combination. Are we going to try it out? Of course! Green was the trend color in 2021 and that's exactly why we love this look. We need the colors right now! A patterned green skirt and green accessories to match. To elevate the outfit while still keeping it tonal, she wears a pink and green lined polo shirt and a bright green matching oversized shirt. And the look is ready! What would make this outfit even better? Of course, if you could recreate it in a vegan and sustainable way. We have the solution for you!
1. Blazer: Oversize cut and plain in a beautiful shade of green from Jakke
2. Shirt: Long sleeve shirt (unisex) from Nanushka
3. Skirt: Green patterned mini skirt from Pinko
4. Shoes: Black heels from 1 People
A fancy blue dress to catch the eye (© Design Melina Bucher, product images from Alice and Olivia, Shopbob, Tal Dress, Beyond Skin)
We all know Saint Tropez for its parties and breathtaking atmosphere. But what do Emily and her friends experience? We won't tell you, of course, but we will tell you our favorite outfit of her in Saint Tropez. A dress in the beautiful color periwinkle with a rather rarely seen cut at the moment - a mullet. In addition, a larger neckline and many ruffles. Brave, but it has something! In addition, large sunglasses and high heels. The eye-catcher remains the dress! We have found several alternatives for every occasion and of course without any animal components.
1. Dress: An eye-catcher in a royal blue tone for a more evening occasion from Alice and Olivia or what about a maxi dress for the beach from Shopbob. For everyday life we have of course also something, from Tal Dress
2. Shoes: High heels with peep toe from Beyond Skin
Brave pattern mix but still stylish (© Design Melina Bucher, product images by Everlane, Cider, Noize, Sylven New York)
Not everyone can mix different patterns and still wear it with confidence and style, but Emily Cooper gets it done! She mixes red and green, risqué, but why not? Whether hearts, lines or plaids combined in one look, the end result is a cool look. So let's give it a try – but only vegan please!
1. Shirt: Longsleeve red-white lined from Everlane
2. Skirt: White with heart pattern from Cider
3. Blazer: Green plaid blazer with a slight boxyfit from Noize
4. Boots: Apple leather ankle boots from Sylven New York
Pastel yellow and also sustainable (© Design Melina Bucher, product images by Self-Portrait, Casetify)
We've saved the highlight for the end! Who hasn't fallen in love with the pastel yellow short dress from Emily? Strapless and with lots of individual details and pockets! We didn't just pick out something similar for you, but the exact dress! And you know what? It is made entirely of organic cotton! I guess Emily Cooper was paying attention to our environment too and we love this look just the way it is, vegan and sustainable!
1. Dress: Mini dress in pastel yellow from Self-Portrait
2. Phone Case: In the look of a camera Casetify
We all know that our outfits and our style always reflect ourselves and we should always stand behind it! And yet it is always fun to try out something new and experiment with our outfits! So have the confidence and have fun! But stay yourselves.
]]>A classic that never gets old: chocolates. Everyone loves chocolate, especially if it is handmade with lots of love. No one can say no to that! There are a lot of recipes out there for homemade pralines and truffles, for example from The Minimalist Vegan or Bianca Zapata. If you do not have the dexterity to do it yourself, you can also order some vegan, exquisite handmade pralines from experienced chocolatiers. Our favorite: chocolates and much more from La Mara – a vegan and female-founded German startup!
Vegan Chocolates and Pralines from German startup La Mara (© Design Melina Bucher, Product Pictures La Mara)
Of course, jewelry is always a lovely gift, but let it be something special this time. Have you ever seen jewelry made of concrete? No? Then let yourself feel enchanted. This jewelry is not only fascinating, but also handmade in Frankfurt, Germany, with recycled materials (like copper from cables). Convince yourself of Concrete Jungle!
Jewelry made from Concrete and Recycled Metals from Concrete Jungle (© Design Melina Bucher, Product Pictures Concrete Jungle)
If you've ever looked for vegan shoes, you know how difficult it can be to find the perfect pair. We've picked our personal team favorites - which of course go perfectly with our bags! Beautiful boots made of apple leather, perfect to upgrade any outfit from Sylven New York. They even have a pair in a black and nude two-toned design complementing our BAILEY bag. And if you plan to stay inside this holiday season: To protect yourself from cold feet in the winter, we have picked the coziest woolen slippers - of course as a vegan version of Allkind!
Our favorite pairs of vegan shoes - from classic to cozy (© Design Melina Bucher, Product Pictures Sylven New York, Allkind)
Luxury handbags are one of the most popular gifts, what about a luxury handbag without animal abuse? We offer you a luxury handbag, handcrafted by the best craftsmen in the world. All Melina Bucher designer bags are sustainably made in Europe without any animal cruelty involved. And do not forget to follow the launch of our newest innovation: the BAILEY Bag, made of first of its kind plant-based, circular vegan leather!
Melina Bucher vegan designer handbags are the perfect precious gift for your ethical-minded special one (© Melina Bucher)
Warm candlelight belongs to every Christmas and winter time. What could be more beautiful than watching the snowflakes out of the window, feeling the warmth inside and smelling the scent of a yummy candle? We have picked a small selection of vegan and handmade candles for you to try out. Up Candle creates candles handmade in Berlin from all-natural oils and regional rapeseed wax. They offer delicious, fresh scents like “forest walk” – infused with swiss stone pine to keep you calm. Champagne lovers out there? Design Bubbles creates candles out of old champagne bottles, that do not only smell delicious, but are also an interior eye-catcher!
Sustainably handcrafted vegan candles (© Design Melina Bucher, Product Pictures UpCandle, Design Bubbles)
Get the cucumber slices ready! We reveal the best gifts for a spa day with your best friends. You can bring the luxury home and really relax from the Christmas stress. The hand-woven gown from Turkey by Lüks Linen gives you the perfect wellness feeling. Matching a luxurious wellness evening, we have picked for you the Skincare Set for the perfect skin from Dezi Skin, so you can try out the products directly!
Our faves for an at-home spa day (© Design Melina Bucher, Product Pictures LüksLinen, DeziSkin)
Since Christmas is all about giving love, we'd like to introduce you to our most favorite gift that allows everyone to help – an animal sponsorship. For all the animal lovers out there, an animal sponsorship offers to help both your favorite shelter and the animal itself! Especially in times of a pandemic, the number of animals in shelters that must be cared for are high – even though donations are decreasing. Also, shelters are not allowed to work with volunteers in times of distance. All this causes not only financial difficulties for shelters, but also a lack of time for the employees who take care of the animals. With an animal sponsorship you help both individual animals and the animal shelters in your area. Many shelters offer special opportunities for the animal “godparents”, like pictures and regular mail updates about their chosen animal. Isn’t that the cutest thing ever?
The most precious gift for animal lovers: an animal sponsorship (© Design Melina Bucher, Animal Pictures Tierheim Nürnberg)
Don’t forget: Christmas time is not about gifting – it is about spending time with your loved ones. So do not feel pressured to spend a lot of money. We wish all our Bucherbabes a happy holiday time with your family and friends and hope you can enjoy some cozy moments.
]]>Oihana Elizalde, Vice President of Natural Fiber Welding and General Manager of MIRUM® answers all our questions
Natural Fiber Welding designed MIRUM® to aid in driving the sustainability revolution by creating the next generation of responsible materials. The new material provides designers and consumers with non-plastic options while maintaining functional and aesthetic properties.
Mirum® is a plastic-free, biobased material. Other synthetic vegan or “plant-based” leathers are made from petroleum-based inputs, most commonly polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride (vinyl or PVC). Nearly every plant-based leather on the market requires the use of plastic resin, glue, or coating to meet performance thresholds. The amount of “plant” in other “plant-based” leathers is wide-ranging. Depending on the brand, it may be as much as 80 or as little as 30 percent. Our material on the other hand is made with only natural, biobased materials, no plastics. Because MIRUM® is all natural and not a mix of plastics and other materials, the products made of it are recyclable in the sense that, at the end of a product’s life, that material can re-enter the production process and be reused to make more MIRUM®. Even if one of the products isn’t recycled, the all-natural ingredients are not polluting to the planet. The ingredients are nutrients that can re-enter the ecosystem. This isn’t possible with materials that contain plastics which cannot easily be recycled.
There are a number of different terms used to refer to leather alternatives these days. Faux leather had a glow-up in the 2010s when the category got rebranded to “vegan leather.” Pleather carries the connotation of a cheap imitator. The vegan term tugs at the heartstrings as “cruelty-free.” Other plant- or bio-based materials, while having a biomass component, must rely on plastics to deliver their functionality; they are “petroleum enabled” materials. A PU coating on a plant-based substrate is not the answer to the soft good industry’s sustainability and circularity challenges. MIRUM® is all natural and plastic free. It is unique in its ability to deliver functionality, durability, and aesthetic beauty without relying on petrochemical or synthetic inputs. It’s the only leather-like material that checks all our boxes when it comes to sustainability.
You are interested to learn more about the differences of animal, synthetic and plant-based leathers? Check out our Vegan Leather Guide 1 and Vegan Leather Guide 2 for a detailed analysis!
To fully assess a product’s environmental impact, it’s essential to not only consider the raw materials and inputs used to make a product, but also to understand what impact the materials have when they are no longer in use. Though a term like “plant-based” may seem to indicate that a product could be harmless to the environment at the end of its life, the truth is that when products contain a mix of natural materials and plastic, they are not biodegradable, cannot be recycled, and can cause environmental harm for years while sitting in landfills. Because MIRUM® is made only with natural inputs, no matter where it ends up at the end of its life, it is not harmful to the environment; this approach is what sets the material apart.
The circular design process of MIRUM® (© Natural Fiber Welding)
Another key benefit from Mirum® is its significantly lower carbon impact when compared to animal leather, with up to forty times less carbon impact. This has big implications and potential towards fighting climate change.
MIRUM® is made of only natural ingredients and contains no plastics. Each color and product is made out of a custom mix of agroforestry and agricultural products (such as natural rubber, cork and biomass charcoal) and minerals. It contains zero plastics or petrochemical-derived binders or coatings.
The abundant diversity of plant and mineral inputs enable MIRUM® to be a highly tunable material with many varying traits, including color, grain, thickness, texture and scent. These varieties are suitable for many applications, including fashion apparel, accessories, and footwear; Natural Fiber Welding has received significant investment to pursue automotive interiors; and we are looking to expand to more upholstery opportunities in the near future. It is a very durable material that is qualified by our development team to meet industry standards for a number of performance factors, such as stitch & tear strength, abrasion resistance, and fatigue life. Individual recipe specifications are available upon request for each MIRUM® product.
Oihana checking on MIRUM® production samples
The alternative leather space is a very active innovation field with many players coming up with a variety of technologies, but all of them have shortcomings. Mirum® is the only material offering a solution that performs comparably to leather, is scalable to produce meaningful volumes to support the needs across different industries and is plastic-free and environmentally friendly with minimal carbon footprint.
MIRUM® is far less resource intensive to produce than animal leather and synthetic leather. Our material requires no tanning and is made from natural polymers and materials. We have performed a rigorous life cycle assessment (LCA) on our products and the results will be communicated shortly. This study shows that MIRUM® has an extremely low carbon footprint when compared to animal leather, synthetic leather and other alternatives. MIRUM® requires no water during manufacturing and uses no chemical dyes. Our material efficiently uses only natural raw materials and can safely be returned to the earth. MIRUM® can also be recycled and reintroduced in the manufacturing process.
First of all, we want to offer designers endless possibilities on colors, textures, scents, thicknesses, etc. Also we want to build education resources on sustainability topics. All in all, Natural Fiber Welding has the goal to free product designers and consumers from the constraints of traditional plastics that come from finite fossil resources and enable beautiful and durable all natural finished goods.
We thank Oihana Elizalde and Natural Fiber Welding for their help and detailed answers to our questions. We can't wait for the future and further changing the fashion game together!
Disclaimer: All interview answers were used without any changes and reflect the opinion of Oihana Elizalde, Natural Fiber Welding. All pictures are courtesy of Natural Fiber Welding.
The market for leather products is in upheaval - innovations that attempt to replace fossil-based polymers with biogenic and fully biodegradable materials are especially in demand. A large number of established companies, but especially startups, are developing these new innovative materials. The most popular: "plant-based" vegan leather alternatives. In 2021, for example, Karl Lagerfeld, together with Ambre Valletta, launched an accessories collection made of "cactus leather" from the Mexican company Desserto.
But what does plant-based leather actually mean? Are pineapple leather, apple leather and cactus leather really as sustainable as the name suggests? As we have taken a closer look at animal leather and vegan mono-materials in the Vegan Leather Guide Part 1, in this article we will provide you with information about the different types of coated materials. At the very end of the article you will also find an table with the key features of the most popular vegan leathers.
Production: Synthetic leather usually consists of a textile carrier coated with two or more synthetic polymer layers. The carrier materials used are, for instance, polyester, recycled polyester or cotton, which are coated with polyvinyl chloride (PVC, vinyl) or polyurethane (PU). The leather-like surface appearance is imitated by the embossing of a grain structure. Attention: Not every synthetic leather is also automatically vegan – it depends on the colors, adhesives and other raw materials used in the process.
Cross-Section of Synthetic Leather (© Melina Bucher)
Performance: Synthetic leather - also known as "faux leather", "PU leather" or "artificial leather" - is often associated with poor quality. This reputation is mainly due to cheaply produced imitation leather variants of fast fashion companies. However, man-made synthetic leather is almost unrestricted in terms of its quality and properties.
The quality depends on the raw materials used (base material, coating) as well as the processing. Moreover, unlike its animal counterpart, the properties such as water resistance, flexibility and durability can be modified flexibly and even surpass the performance of the animal leather. High-quality synthetic leather is used primarily in the automotive industry for interior trim. Unlike animal leather, synthetic leather offers water resistance, is easy to care for and neither needs to be waxed nor impregnated.
Did you know: even traditional luxury brands use coated leather or synthetic leather as particularly durable materials in their collections - Gucci and Louis Vuitton's famous monogram bags are made of coated faux leather, and Prada's Saffiano leather is a machine-grained and waxed leather.
Sustainability: Synthetic leather has its pros and cons. The extraction of the crude oil for production is intensive in terms of resources. The environmental impact varies as much as the quality of the material: depending on the production country and site, raw materials used and material thickness, the environmental impact differs. However, scientific studies comparing industry standards in the field of synthetic and animal leather show that, on average, the production of synthetic leather consumes significantly less resources than the production of animal leather.
Environmental Impact of Animal Leather vs. Synthetic Leather. The higher the number, the more harmful is a material for the environment. (© Melina Bucher, based on HIGG Material Index)
Disposal: High-quality synthetic leather is characterized in particular by its durability. That being said, it also gives rise to problems when it comes to disposal: The material is very difficult to biodegrade, and recycling is not yet widespread in practice.
Deployment in the fashion industry: A large number of accessories, such as handbags and belts, are made from high-quality synthetic leather. Stella McCartney's luxury designer handbags, for example, are made from a blend of polyester (PL/PES) and polyurethane (PU). The first Melina Bucher collection is also made of the highest quality synthetic leather for reasons of sustainability and the love of animals.
Read more about animal leather and synthetic leather in our detailed article "The 5 most popular myths about animal leather".
Peoples' ever-increasing interest in sustainability regarding fashion is also impacting their relationship with synthetic materials. Since synthetic leather is made from raw oil and its disposal is difficult, consumers are seeking other, vegan alternatives. As a result, several textile developers are trying to replace as much of the crude-oil-based raw materials as possible with plant fibers. Thus, a number of so-called "plant-based" leathers have emerged in recent years.
Management consulting and market research firm Infinium Global Research published a market report regarding the vegan leather market in February 2021. According to the report, the global vegan leather market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.1 percent during the forecast period from 2020 to 2026. The report includes profiles of companies such as Pineapple Anam Ltd, Desserto, Bolt Threads Inc and VEGEA SRL, among others.
Beware of Greenwashing: Although manufacturers advertise with terms such as "plant leather", "plant-based" or "apple leather made from apple residues", the materials are in fact only partial of plant origin.
Production: Plant-based vegan leathers are leathers in which fruits, leaves or other plant-based components are industrially processed together with stabilizers in order for the final material to have the visual and tactile characteristics of animal leather.
Similar to synthetic leather, they consist of a base material which is coated with one or multiple layers. This is where the plant-based raw component comes in: in the base material or coating, some of the synthetic raw materials are replaced by plant-based components. So, for example, some synthetic PVC/PU coating can be replaced by agricultural waste products. Such examples are apple leather (AppleSkin), wine leather (VEGEA) or cactus leather (Desserto).
Cross-Section of AppleSkin Apple Leather (© Melina Bucher)
Cross-Section of Desserto Cactus Leather (© Melina Bucher)
In the case of Pinatex on the other hand, the pineapple leather from the manufacturer Ananas Anam, the base material is replaced: plant fibers from pineapple leaves (PALF = Pineapple Leaf Fibre) are coated with PLA (Polylactic Acid) and PU.
Cross-Section of Pinatex Ananas Leather (© Melina Bucher)
Performance: Hybrid leathers offer very similar basic visual and tactile characteristics to those of leather. Thereby, the synthetic components mostly serve as a stabilizer of the bio-based component, or to ensure that the qualitative requirements to which leather is subject can also be met.
Currently, there are hardly any scientifically based studies comparing the mechanical properties based on common parameters in materials science. Initial studies, however, indicate that performance depends in particular on the stability of the base material. In developing our own samples, apple leather and cactus leather could be processed like synthetic leather. Unfortunately, pineapple leather was not so scratch-resistant in previous material tests that it would be suitable for the quality we require for designer handbags. However, for individual applications it works perfectly.
Sustainability: Even though the manufacturers of plant-plastic hybrids advertise the sustainability of their materials, there is little to no scientific data on the environmental impact to date. Desserto has published initial results of an LCA study for its cactus leather, but the survey methodology is not yet publicly available. Therefore, the question of how materials such as apple leather, cactus leather or pineapple leather compare to other leathers cannot be answered up to now.
One advantage of the hybrid material is certainly that some of the fossil raw materials are replaced by agricultural waste. For example, the apple powder of the manufacturer FRUMAT, used for apple leather, is made out of waste from the fruit juice production industry. The fruit content of the apple leather is about 20-30 %, the remaining 70-80 % being PU, polyester, and cotton.
In addition, the young companies often provide information on manufacturing locations and conditions in a more transparent manner than transparent manner than is common in the animal leather industry. Surprisingly, however, the base material in the standard version of the materials is often polyester or polyester-cotton blended fabric, even though the companies advertise that they do not use fossil raw materials.
Disposal: Since the plant-based materials are mixed with synthetic components, biodegradability is not a given. Recyclability has also not yet been addressed, but in principle mixed materials are even more difficult to recycle than pure synthetic materials.
Deployment in the fashion industry:So far, the materials have proven themselves for the use in the production of accessories and can be processed in the same way as animal or synthetic leathers. The German company Nuwaii, for instance, produces bags from Apple Skin and Sylven New York uses the material to make high-quality shoes. Earlier this year, Karl Lagerfeld launched a collection made of cactus leather. Pinatex for example, which is extremely scratch-resistant and has a special surface texture, is used for accessories by Alkeme Atelier.
Ananas Leaf Collection for Pinatex Manufacturing. Ananas Anam is a Certified B-Corp. (© Ananas Anam)
Production: A new, very exciting material is Mirum from the startup Natural Fiber Welding. What makes it special: Natural Fiber Welding is the first company to succeed in developing a 100 % bio-based and plastic-free vegan leather. Like the other materials, Mirum uses a base material - which currently consists of organic cotton. However, for the first time, the coating as well as the adhesives are not synthetic in nature but are made from 100 % plants and other organic ingredients. The process has been patented and promises to eliminate the use of crude oil following the motto "Plants not Plastic".
Cross-Section of Mirum Vegan Leather (© Melina Bucher)
Performance: The manufacturer states that the production of Mirum requires only a fraction of the CO2 emissions and energy of animal and synthetic leather. Furthermore, no water is consumed in the production process. An evaluation of the material in a comprehensive LCA study is still pending. Depending on the color, Mirum consists of different raw materials such as coconut fibers, cork and oils from plants. The raw materials are partly waste materials from other industries; for example, cork from the production of wine stoppers is used.
Sustainability: The manufacturer states that the production of Mirum requires 40 times less CO2 emissions than animal and 17 times less CO2 emissions than synthetic leather. Furthermore, no water is consumed in the production process. An evaluation of the material in a comprehensive LCA study was already carried out, but is yet to be announced to the public. Depending on the color, Mirum consists of different raw materials such as coconut fibers, cork and oils from plants. The raw materials are partly waste materials from other industries; for example, cork from the production of wine stoppers is used.
Mirum has a clear advantage over other vegan leathers as it is made only from natural ingredients. The first versions have already received USDA biobased certification. "Biobased" referring to the fact that only biogenic raw materials are used for the material instead of fossil gas, coal or petroleum for the production. Moreover, no PU coating and no synthetic adhesive are used in the process. This also makes it possible for Mirum to be degraded in the environment by microorganisms and physico-chemical influences.
Disposal: Mirum is "circular by design" – The material was developed for the circular economy. In other words, after Natural Fiber Welding has been used, the material can be separated from the base material again. Subsequently, it can be used to produce new mirum of the same quality. Due to its natural origin, the material can alternatively be composted and returned to nature. A corresponding certification is still pending, so far, the information relates to laboratory tests conducted by the company.
Circular By Design Process of Mirum (© Natural Fiber Welding)
Deployment in the fashion industry: We are proud to have been one of the first brands worldwide to launch handbags made with Mirum this January. You can meet BAILEY - the handbag of the future here. Mirum has so far also been tested in pilot projects by Porsche for a car leather seat or for jeans batches at Ralph Lauren. Up until now, the material has been available in neutral colors. Since, unlike synthetic leathers or plant-synthetic hybrids, it is not dyed with industrial dyes, but the color is created by minerals, further colors are in development. They recently closed their latest investment round with 85 million dollars, so we can expect more amazing materials to come up in the future!
In the following you can find a thorough comparison of the most talked about vegan leathers based on scientific research. Where scientific research is not yet available, we marked as "no sufficient data available". For the evaluation of performance, we included company information as well as our own experiences with the materials.
Comparison of the most talked about vegan leathers (© Melina Bucher)
]]>Striking features, a dazzling smile and outfits which made an impact on an entire decade - of course we are talking about Sharon Tate! Hardly anyone has influenced the Swinging Sixties as much as this blonde beauty. From colorful mini dresses to casual boho looks, Sharon could pull off every style. Decades later, Sharon Tate still influences pop culture. Margot Robbie’s portrayal of the legendary film icon in Quentin Tarantino’s recent movie "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" brings Sharon Tate's top-notch looks back to life. We would love to see Sharon's styles outside of the big screen and therefore show you how to style them sustainably!
All of the featured brands make use of production processes that produce sustainable clothing and thus distance themselves from "fast fashion". By reviving Sharon's unique looks, you can also support small manufactures and the use of recycled materials. All selected looks are naturally 100% vegan!
Disclaimer: We do not work with any affiliate links. All styles and brands are chosen by us according to our personal taste as well as their sustainability approach and efforts for the animals.
Dressing both casually and fashionably? Sharon shows us how to do it by wearing this loose-fitting dress. Thanks to its breathable fabric and relaxed cut the look is ideal for a smoking hot summer . With eco-friendly dresses from KAN, Wass Clothing or Little Things Studio, you can recreate Sharon's look and easily endure the summer heat. Combined with vegan flat sandals, the outfit is the right choice for a laid-back day spent outdoors. Besides that, you don't have to compromise on comfort, nor sustainability!
Sharon Tate wears a laid back dress(© Design Melina Bucher, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below)
Styling tip: The nude-colored Angel vegan shopper makes sure nothing stands in the way of a day in the park! Your snacks and a picnic blanket easily fit into this spacious companion!
1. Dress: linen-cotton dress from WASS Clothing via Plain Tiger ,or this dress from Little Things Studio, as well as this Version by KAN
2. Sandals: vegan golden sandals from Beyond Skin
3. Handbag: Angel shopper in the colour nude from Melina Bucher
Bold colors are not exclusively reserved for the 60s. To this day yellow comes back in style on a regular basis and makes us look forward to summer. As a matter of fact, the vibrant color was again chosen as Pantone color of the year 2021! The perfect opportunity to try out the bright color yourself! The yellow mini dress showcases Sharon's legs and highlights her cheerful nature. You can incorporate Sharon's summer vibe into your own closet and compete with the sun by wearing Pinko’s sustainable mini dress. The eye-catching dress can be styled with black pointed-toe shoes. Enjoy sunny city trips and hot nights at the club wearing this sustainable outfit!
Sharon Tate competes with the sun in this yellow mini dress (© graphic design Melina Bucher, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below)
Styling tip: The black version of the vegan Trudy Clutch can be worn casually cross-body. Ideal for hot summer nights!
1. Dress: short yellow dress from Pinko
2. Shoes: black vegan heels from from Beyond Skin
3. Handbag: vegan Trudy clutch in the colour black from Melina Bucher
Delicate pastel colors come back in style periodically and are popular among fashionistas. If you want to copy Sharon's adorable style, take a look at Nanushka’s sustainable mini dress made of vegan leather. You can top off the look with black flats. Beyond Skin's must-have not only resembles Sharon’s, but also is vegan and eco-friendly. Whether you want to enjoy a cup of coffee in a little café or a go for a laid-back stroll around town, Sharon's look will make you beam with joy like the bright blue skies. All eyes will be on your sustainable style!
Sharon Tate in a cute blue mini dress (© Design Melina Bucher, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below)
Styling tip: You can comfortably wear the black version of the vegan Trudy Clutch over the shoulder. In case relaxed city walks turn into shopping sprees, the black version of the roomy Angel vegan shopper is the way to go.
1. Dress: short blue vegan leather dress from Nanushka
2. Shoes: black vegan flats from Beyond Skin
3. Handbag: vegan Angel shopper in the colour black from Melina Bucher
Warm rays of the rising sun gleaming through the buds of snowwhite cottonballs. A woman strides through the cotton fields and lets her hands, almost as soft as the cotton flocks, glide over the fuzzy snowballs. A picture of workers or companions, flashing a smile into the camera. Without saying it out loud, their smiles tell that they are following a passion alongside nature. An idyll coming to life, at least on the websites of large companies of the textile industries and other branches. Sustainability reports proclaim a huge progress of companies and an even greater future. Yet those claims seem to crumble when taking a look at reports about unsafe work conditions, practices harming the environment and false promises coming to light. Allegations of „greenwashing“, a PR tactic which lets companies appear greener than they factually really are, are published on a regular. With the rising importance of sustainability it's no wonder that every brand wants a green image. But with the public demand of companies to position themselves regarding sustainability and animal rights, it's getting harder to distinguish brands that just clean their records from businesses that really take efforts to go green. This practice of „cleaning up“ came to public light in 1986, first being noticed by Jay Westerweld, who initially criticized cleaning services literally. To be more precise, he denounced the at the time new, now common practice, of hotels asking their guests to use their towels more than once. In Jay Westervelds opinion, the hotels pursued just monetary goals with this plea and wanted to gain more acceptance for it by telling their guests, that the new towel policy is for the sake of the environment. Jay Westervelds term „greenwashing“ gained popularity and with that an expansion of the meaning, from just questionable cleaning services, to several strategies that coat companies with a fashionable green look.
Pretending to be greener than one actually is, can be very straining and time consuming. So why are taking brands such a huge effort to appear environmentally friendly and even go to lengths by publishing expensive sustainability reports? One reason could be the rise of a new critical consumer group, called „LOHAS“. The relatively new term is an abbreviation that stands for „lifestyle of health and sustainability“, describing people who value a conscious and sustainable lifestyle. With a market potential of 200 Billion $, it's pretty self explanatory why companies want to gain this consumer group as customers. Therefore using methods like greenwashing to appear more sustainable and socially responsible, than one actually is, is very attractive. Even if a customer doesn't belong to the „LOHAS“ - it feels good to purchase something that benefits the environment.
To achieve a sustainable perception some companies make use of several tactics, reaching from sugarcoating the truth to completely misleading the consumer. Therefore it is a popular method to make the brand’s commitment regarding sustainability appear disproportionately positive. Businesses that use this method technically don't tell lies, they „just“ make their efforts seem greater than they actually are. One example are the materials of clothing, which are often advertised as partly organic or recycled. The attention of the consumer is consciously led towards the sustainable parts of the product, even though the majority of used materials is not environmentally friendly. Additionally, brands quite often promote one-time campaigns like planting trees or the launch of a sustainable limited collection excessively. The disproportionate portrayal of those campaigns lets the brand’s effort seem more impactful than it actually is and evokes an image of constant commitment, even if the efforts were just a one-time thing. Asides from the fashion industry, companies sometimes use absolute standards like the abolishment of CFC for advertisement purposes.
Use of non-protected terms and positive language
Misleading representations are often combined with positively connoted terms like „sustainable“ or „environmentally friendly.“. Even though these terms evoke a certain image in the consumer’s mind, there actually is no legal regulation of who can call themselves these terms. To be more precise: Nobody is going to control, if brands referring to themselves as sustainable, really are what they claim to be. So terms like „environmentally safe“ are not as convincing and expressive as they sound, as everyone can claim to be those things. Precisely as terms like these are not protected by law, companies often give several more or less convincing reasons on why they are sustainable. For example a brand is able to pass off as sustainable, because they might use recycled plastic for shipping, partly use renewable natural resources or other measures, which can differ from being an important step to being not impactful to the eco-audit at all. In general, the language is often chosen to be very positive, avoiding worn out terms like „biogenetics“ and instead using terms untouch by the media like „bioengineering“.
Companies often give several more or less convincing reasons on why they are sustainable.
Use of misleading labels
Alongside other tactics, businesses often use labels for their products. Foremost labels should give the consumer a quick inside of the manufacturing process and other characteristics of the product. But with the plurality of certificates and their varying significance the contrary effect is often achieved. For users of greenwashing this instance is welcomed because labels display a certain reliability in the eye of the consumer even though the true meaning of the sign often is unknown. Labels with no importance regarding sustainability, or certificates which companies are not even allowed to use, are therefore displayed on brand’s websites. Some businesses even go a step further and introduce new, brand exclusive labels to customers. Their expressiveness can be unpredictable as no independent institute evaluates the test procedures and data.
Self published sustainability reports
To give a company’s public image a green look, sustainability reports and memberships in organisations are often published and promoted. But just like brand exclusive labels, self-published sustainability reports don't have to be expressive because they are commonly not reviewed by independent institutes. To contribute to that, financial reports are usually published separately from sustainability reports, so public accountants don't get a look in them either. Memberships in charitable organisations also aren’t a proof for the company’s commitment. Everyone who had to be a part of group projects in school, knows why.
Misleading pictures
In addition to a positive language, many companies present images of joyful animals, green grasslands and happy workers on their website. Most pictures neither show real production facilities nor stand in any relation to the business. Still, these images often evoke a clear vision of the corporation’s morals in the customers mind. That's why in many cases consumers don't question how companies portray themselves and if this stands in any relation to their real actions.
Expansion of the companies presence
To spread their name even further, some corporations offer educational programs, such as lessons about sustainability to schools. Thus businesses like to present their alleged commitment to topics like sustainability and animal rights. These educational programs pay off because at least the companies name is spread among the students and at best some of them may consider buying from them in the future or even start a career within the corporation. To remain in the public eye is also the intention behind big announcements of projects, which may not have that huge of an impact as the businesses make it out to be or are just in the first phase of planning. One example of this is the launch of sustainable collections and the following excessive promotion of it, even if the collection is limited, has just a small number of pieces or is a pilot project not for sale.
1. Be aware of suspiciously positive language – not everything is as it seems to be!
Terms like 'sustainable' and 'environmentally friendly' are not protected by law and therefore don't have to be expressive regarding the companies and their products. Also by EU legislation, not every term is protected in every segment. For example the term 'organic' is protected for food, but not for textiles. So double check if the brand provides trustworthy labels and certificates and can elaborate on why they call themselves ‘sustainable’, by giving concrete examples for their efforts.
Double check if the brand provides trustworthy labels and certificates and can elaborate on why they call themselves ‘sustainable’.
2. Watch out for labels!
Not every label gives an insight into the origin of used materials, environmental impact, production, and workers right. Some labels may have untrustworthy testing procedures or not even apply to clothes. A label, which evaluates work safety just does that, even if the brand misinterprets the label and presents it as a certificate for sustainability. Some companies go even further and introduce new labels and certifications, which exclusively evaluate the own brand. Those labels can't necessarily be trusted as no independent institute will audit the testing method. Trustworthy labels are the GOTS certificate, the fairtrade textile production label and the blue sign certification. Reliable labels have a website on which they explain exactly what they certify.
Labels and certifications can't necessarily be trusted.
3. Take a look behind the picture!
As stated before, not every picture shows the reality. So try to find out, if the pictures show real production facilities and if the brand can locate them. You may also use the google reverse image search to find out, if the picture shows up somewhere else in the internet.
4. Stay critical regarding sustainability reports and PR work!
In many cases the data for sustainability reports is raised with in-house testing methods and evaluated by the companies themselves, so you can't always be sure how accurate they really are. Check for yourself how transparent the data and the results are being displayed and if the business evaluates room for improvement. At best the reports are reviewed by independent institutes, but that is rarely the case. You should also question if the media coverage of projects portrays the companies in the right way or if things are blown out of proportion.
5. Take a look a the big picture!
Always keep an eye out for information published by the label. Is information only given out selectively and are critical voices answered or shut down? To do so, consider multiple sources and take a look at the overall appearance of the brand. Tools like the fashion revolution index and the “good on you” App evaluate the transparency, sustainability and social responsibility of big brands. Yet smaller businesses are usually not listed on those sites and also don't have a lot of expensive certifications. But since they don't have that big of a following, personal requests and questions are often answered and some sustainability-blogs feature them. See for yourself, if brands show a constant commitment, or if one time efforts are being excessively promoted and blown out of proportion. So always double check if a company can hold up to their claims!
See for yourself, if brands show a constant commitment, or if one time efforts are being excessively promoted and blown out of proportion.
When Jay Westerveld criticized the cleaning policies of hotels in 1986, he most likely couldn't predict that his term “greenwashing” would become a Flagship for critical consumers. Since then, many variations of the iconic term were developed. Some examples are the term “bluewashing”, which describes the pretense of social responsibility, or “pink washing”, which criticizes the support of the LGBTQAI+ community for advertisement purposes. Jay Westerveld captured one important thing with his initial criticism: Sustainability and the environment are the leading topics of the future and therefore no company can ignore it. Thus it's no wonder, that more and more businesses want to go green. Naturally, some companies are not down for taking the responsibility for a sustainable future into their own hands and rather practice greenwashing instead. With exaggerations, carefully chosen words and untrustworthy certifications, the corporations “greencoat” themselves. Since consumer groups like the “LOHAS” are the main reasons for greenwashing, it's necessary to question marketing tactics and to only make conscious buying decisions. But with the help of our guide, you'd be a master in spotting greenwashing in no time!
Ulrich Müller: Greenwash in Zeiten des Klimawandels. Wie Unternehmen ihr Image grün färben, Köln 2007.
You can find the study here
Peter Seele: Is Blue the new Green? Colors of the Earth in Corporate PR and Advertisement to communicate Ethical Commitment and Responsibililty, Essen 2007.
Read the paper here
Sebastiao Vieira de Freitas Netto et al. : Concepts and forms of greenwashing. A systematic review, Springer Verlag 2020.
Fenzel, Viktoria: CSR in der Modebranche. Anspruch und Wirklichkeit von Corporate Social Responsibility in der Textilindustrie, Hamburg 2018.
Greensurance Articel about labels and their significance , last checked 05.07.2021
Siegelklarheit, a website for checking labels , last checked 05.07.2021
Paper which explains the issue around the term organic , last checked 05.07.2021
Being an iconic Hollywood Diva just for one day – who wouldn’t want that? Eye-catching and elegant gowns seem to belong to the bygone era. Icons like Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren represent a time known by many as the golden era of Hollywood. In this article, we make dreams come true and show you how to recreate the looks in a wearable and sustainable way!
The presented brands are, just like our Hollywood divas, ahead of their time! All featured labels emphasize quality and craftsmanship and thus consciously decide against the widespread concept of "fast fashion". With pieces made in small manufactories with recycled materials or innovative production processes, your look will be just as unique as those of the Hollywood icons. Of course, all recreated styles are free of animal components!
Disclaimer: We do not work with any affiliate links. All styles and brands are chosen by us according to our personal taste as well as their sustainability approach and efforts for the animals.
Marilyn Monroe’s opulent look in “Gentlemen prefer Blondes” is undeniably unforgettable. If you want to feel like the blonde icon for one night at an elegant cocktail party, you may go for the sustainable pink dress from Amur. As the song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” suggests, extravagant diamond jewelry is a must! Sacet's sustainable version relies 100% on recycled material and ethically produced diamonds from the lab, which are guaranteed to sparkle just like the movie’s original. Marilyn's black shoes, studded with sparkling gems, shine just as brightly and complete the look perfectly.
Marilyn Monroe in 'Gentlemen prefer Blondes' (© Design Melina Bucher, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below)
Styling tip: For a cocktail party, try the black version of the vegan Trudy clutch, which fits your lipstick for touch-ups.
1. Dress: bold pink dress from Amur
2. Shoes: black glitter pumps from Mink
3. Accesories: Earring with lab-grown diamonds and recycled metal from Sacet, as well as this sustainable necklace from the same brand and this bracelet from Sacet
4. Handbag: vegan Trudy clutch in the colour black from Melina Bucher
To this day most people remember Sophia Loren’s costumes and iconic moments on film. One of them is undoubtedly her ruffled gown from the crime comedy Arabesque, in which she sweeps the audience off their feet. Although it may be difficult to pull off such an extravagant robe quite as elegantly, you can emulate the style very closely with Amur’s sustainable maxi dress. The somewhat subtler version of the dress can also be worn outside of the film set to chic events of all kinds. On top of that, you don't have to make any compromises in terms of sustainability, as the dress is made of 100% recycled polyester. It can be styled with gold vegan mules from Beyond Skin.
Sophia Loren wears a flouncy gown in the movie 'Arabesque' (© graphic design Melina Bucher, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below)
Styling tip: The nude version of the vegan Trudy Clutch or the Indy Tote Bag made of vegan leather go with the outfit perfectly and add another eye-catcher.
1. Dress: Ruffle dress made out of recycled polyester from amur.
2. Shoes: golden vegan mules from beyond skin
3. Handbag: Indy vegan tote bag in the colour nude from Melina Bucher
With her kind smile and superior fashion sense Sharon Tate charmed all of Hollywood. We especially remember her plum colored robe as it gives us modern fairytale vibes. You can recreate the look with Lunar’s sustainable wrap dress, which will attract attention to your décolletage. To complete the look, try Mink’s black vegan pumps with a stiletto heel. Mink has been crafting top-quality vegan shoes in its own Italian manufactory for more than 20 years and is well-loved by celebrities like Miley Cyrus and Natalie Portman. You can wear this sustainable outfit to a chic brunch or a date!
Sharon draws the spotlight on her with this breathtaking purple gown (© Design Melina Bucher, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below)
Styling tip:The black version of the Indy vegan tote bag goes perfectly with the plum colored dress.
1. Dress: plum wrap-dress from Plain Tiger.
2. Shoes: black vegan shoes with a stilletto heel from Mink
3. Handbag: Indy vegan tote bag in the colour black from Melina Bucher
Today, the pop diva still wows crowds (just like us!) with her unique performances and outlandish costumes. We are thrilled by her dazzling 70s look. If you also want to be the center of attention at any party, try this glittery sustainable jumpsuit by Pinko! The vegan golden sandals by Beyond Skin match the It-piece, which is currently back on trend thanks to the palazzo cut. Wearing this glamourous Cher inspired outfit at the club opening, you are guaranteed to outshine everyone around you.
Cher 'shines bright like a diamond' in this glittery look (© Design Melina Bucher, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below)
Styling tip: Instead of using a belt, you can also accentuate the waistline of your jumpsuit by wearing the nude version of the vegan Trudy Clutch as a stylish fanny pack.
1. Jumpsuit: glittery golden Jumpsuit from Pinko.
2. Shoes: Golden block sandals from Beyond Skin. Made out of vegan leather.
3. Handbag: vegan Trudy Clutch in the colour nude from Melina Bucher
Vintage lovers – watch out! You don’t have to rummage through your grandma’s closet in order to restyle iconic looks from bygone eras. We will prove to you why the looks from back in the day don’t have to gather dust up in the attic.
Outdated? No way! Over the top? We don’t think so!
Classy business looks as well as casual leisure wear with a retro touch may be worn today without looking out of date. On the contrary! Fashion trends – be it colors or cuts - repeat themselves on a regular basis. The retro collections of major brands are a great proof of that. As vintage looks are a testament to timeless elegance, we think it’s worth to invest in sustainable and vegan alternatives, you can stick to no matter what! Therefore, in this article, we present to you three seductive vintage looks for the summer including possible occasions you can wear them to – vegan and sustainable, but we assume this goes without saying!
Disclaimer: We do not work with any affiliate links. All styles and brands are chosen by us according to our personal taste as well as their sustainability approach and efforts for the animals.
Marilyn knew how to wear a casual business look in summer without being [looking] too buttoned up and getting sweaty. We adore this combination of professional confidence and simple elegance which will attract attention at business meetings, as well as on relaxed city walks. Unlike cotton blouses, the fabric of the beige satin blouse by Nanushka clings less to the skin and thus provides refreshing air circulation. Additionally, the sleeves can be rolled up and a few buttons can be undone - ideal for strolling around town after a meeting! Marilyn's skirt perfectly showcases her curves and falls loose towards the knees. With Armed Angels' sustainable alternative, you'll not only accentuate your hips perfectly, but also go easy on the environment: the innovative Lenzing EcoVero fabric made of European wood causes only half of the water consumption, CO2 emissions and energy consumption conventional fibers do. The look can be topped off with beige vegan pumps by Mink Shoes and a classic black handbag.
Marilyn Monroe in a casual business look (© Design Melina Bucher, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below)
Styling tip: The timeless and classic design of our eco-friendly Indy Tote Bag goes perfectly with Marilyn’s Casual Business Look. Due to three practical interior compartments and a removable pouchette, the Indy vegan tote bag will be your faithful business companion. It easily accommodates your laptop - up to 13 inches in size. An absolute must-have for girl bosses who want to be prepared from day to night!
1. Blouse: Satin blouse made out of cellulose-based fibers from Nanushka
2. Skirt: light grey skirt from Armed Angels
3. Shoes: vegan heels in the colour nude from Mink
4. Handbag: Indy vegan tote bag in the colour black from Melina Bucher
It is almost impossible to talk about the playful fashion of the swinging sixties without mentioning Twiggy. Thanks to her extraordinary looks and her portrayal of almost every 60s trend, the supermodel was the poster child of her era. With her outrageous outfits, her sassy pixie cut and signature graphic liner look, Twiggy embodied the fashion industry like no other. This iconic look in bold pink definitely evokes summer feelings! The sustainable version of Twiggy’s dress (Stella McCartney) can be worn at casual get-togethers, such as relaxed picnics in the park. Combined with silver sandals and eye-catching statement earrings, attention is guaranteed.
Twiggy wears a bold pink dress and combines some striking silver accessories with it (© graphic design Melina Bucher, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below)
Styling tip: The black version of our roomy Angel shopper made of vegan leather is ideal for a picnic as it fits all your snacks as well as a picnic blanket. If you want to wear the dress fitted, the black vegan Trudy Clutch is perfect for that. The additional shoulder belt allows you to wear the clutch as a fashionable fanny pack and thus draw attention to your waistline.
1. Dress: bold pink dress made out of sustainable rayon from Stella McCartney
2. Shoes: Silver sandals made out of vegan leather from Beyond Skin
3. Earrings: Statement Earrings made out of recycled silver from Made Trade
4. Handbag: Accentuate your waistline with the black version of the Trudy clutch or size up for a picnic with the black version of the vegan Angel shopper
Twiggy’s blue knitted dress is the perfect fit for date nights as well as laid-back walks along the promenade. The dress is a genuine eye-catcher on balmy summer nights. Pinko's sustainable blue classic can be combined with black vegan leather loafers.
Twiggy spots a very sixties style in a blue knitted dress (© Design Melina Bucher, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below)
Styling tip: The vegan Trudy clutch can be worn either over the shoulder or cross-body to perfectly complete the look. The clutch fits everything you need for a romantic date night, such as your wallet and lipstick.
1. Dress: Blue knitted dress from Pinko
2. Shoes: black vegan loafers from Beyond Skin
3. Handbag: Finish off the look with the vegan Trudy clutch in the colour black from Melina Bucher
Imagine Melanie91 did not send that iconic photo of Serena van der Woodsen at Grand Central Station? The beginning of the drama and first welcome of Gossip Girl was surely a moment everyone remembers from the show. Serena took it comfortable while traveling with a dark pair of jeans, boots, a striped shirt and a leather biker jacket (something she combines often during the series). To give the look its classic Upper East Side note, it is finished with a cute little scarf around Serenas neck.
Spotted at Grand Central, bags in hand: Serena van der Woodsen (© Design Melina Bucher, Gossip Girl and pictures courtesy of The CW, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below)
To restyle Serenas travel look, we chose two sustainable options of round neck striped shirts. The sleeveless option from Dai is ideal for a summer vacay, as it is made of breezy materials. Or you choose the long-sleeve version from Armed Angels made of organic cotton. Choosing Mud Jeans for a sustainable take on Serenas dark blue jeans was a no brainer as the brand is known for its especially eco-friendly dyeing options. To resemble S’ leather jacket, we opted for two options of vegan leather blazers from Nanushka, that give the look a bit more of a modern take. The style is complemented with vegan leather boots, a vegan belt and recycled scarf from Jan’n’June.
1. Shirt: Short Sleeve Striped Top from Dai, made in Portugal. Long sleeve from Armed Angels out of 100% organic cotton.
2. Jacket: Dark brown vegan leather tailored blazer or brick colored boxy vegan leather jacket. Both from Nanushka.
3. Jeans: Recycled Denim Mud Jeans, GOTS certified and PETA approved vegan.
4. Shoes: Slim fit black vegan leather over knee boots. If you prefer a little heel, go for the high luxury vegan boots. Both from vegan UK brand Beyond Skin.
5. Accessories: Vegan leather belt with golden details from Watson & Wolfe via Immaculate Vegan. Recycled polyester scarf styled around the neck from Jan'n June.
Worth a Queen: Blairs preppy takes on the Constance uniform were always both classic and high fashion at the same time. Her signature look: ruffle blouses combined with a classic blazer, skirts or shorts combined with bold tights. And some bold colored accessories to preppy up the look – headscarves are always a sure option!
Queen B is known for her preppy classic school looks with a playful twist. And don't miss out on headscarves! (© graphic design Melina Bucher, Gossip Girl and pictures courtesy of The CW, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below)
We combined a playful blouse with a classic blazer with golden staple hardware from Pinko. For a more casual take on Blairs look you can go with shorts, or you choose the very classic Amur skirt. For accessories we chose some of Blairs favorites: Red German Falke tights (which Mr. Bass so extra bought her by flying to Europe to say the three words) and a headband from Jennifer Behr who made many of the iconic headbands worn in the OG Gossip Girl series. Most of her pieces are made of silk, but we found this very cute (and Blair like) velvet cotton option!
1. Blazer: Classic Blazer with Golden Hardware from Pinko.
2. Blouse: Blair style ruffled blouse from St. Roche via Maison De Monde or bow-tie version out of Ramie from Zimmermann.
3. Shoes: Ballerinas with feminine bow detail Beyond Skin.
4. Bottoms: For a classical preppy look choose the organic cotton skirt from Amur. A more casual take is the organic cotton shorts from Sézane.
5. Accessories: Red velvet headscarf with crystal stones detail from Blairs favorite brand Jennifer Behr. Bold red tights from German brand Falke.
S was the master of matching some fancy items with casual style elements, like glitter skirts or blazers with casual tees and shorts, or more boyish wests and jackets with gold elements and heels. In this look she paired a casual oversized denim tee with a sequin mini skirt and top. Paired with some timeless black pumps and a nude tote bag.
Serena always mastered combining fancy with casual and made it look effortlessly chic! (© Design Melina Bucher, Gossip Girl and pictures courtesy of The CW, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below)
1. Skirt: This skirt just screamed Mrs. Van der Woodsen! Made by Pinko.
2. Top: Striped organic cotton top from Armed Angels or off-white organic cotton short from German sustainable brand Lana for a more clean look.
3. Denim blouse: Casual denim tee from Pinko.
4. Heels: Timeless vegan leather high heels from Mink Shoes.
5. Handbag: Indy vegan tote bag in the colour nude from Melina Bucher (aka us). Can also worn crossbody!
Sometimes the stars align for two old friends to go together. But sometimes they align for two old flames to totally combust. Wonder what the sky holds for S tonight. Friendship. Or fireworks.
With the gorgeous outfit Serena chose for the memorable Hamptons white party in the season 2 pilot, we definitely vote for fireworks! She combined a summery white gown with golden accessories and I think we can all agree we sent this photo to our hairstylist at one point or another.
Serena at the Hamptons summer white party. (© Design Melina Bucher, Gossip Girl and pictures courtesy of The CW, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below)
To resemble the Hamptons look, we went on the hunt for the perfect summery sexy yet comfortable white dress from Pinko paired with vegan golden sandals from Beyond skin. For accessories we decided to pair a silvery headband from Jennifer Behr with fine jewelry from Munich Designer Saskia Diez to resemble the dainty shimmery look from the series.
1. Dress: Summery fitted white dress from Pinko.
2. Shoes: Golden metallic sandals with heel from Beyond Skin. Made out of vegan leather.
3. Headband: Silvery fine crystal headband from series favorite Jennifer Behr. Pro Tip: combine two or three to resemble Serenas look even more!
4. Jewelry: Fine jewelry from German designer Saskia Diez. Our favorite options are the Fluid Lasso Necklace paired with the suitable earrings. We also love these flirty open fringe earrings
5. Accessories: The original look did not come with a handbag (S has always a man at her service). Our vegan clutch bag Trudy in the colour nude would be a perfect match!
Upper East Side Queens aren't born at the top. They climb their way up in heels, no matter who they have to tread on to do it.
Probably our all time fave look is the breath-taking red gown Blair wore in season 4’s “Double Identity” episode. Remembered for the train station meet-again between Chuck and Blair and her convincing Chuck to come back to New York, the outfit stood out both plot and style wise. Blair combined the bold red dress – originally from Oscar De La Renta – with even bolder pink accessories
Blair Waldorf in a gorgeous red gown on her way to save Chuck Bass (again). (© Design Melina Bucher, Gossip Girl and pictures courtesy of The CW, pictures of fashion items courtesy of brands below)
1. Dress: Ressort 2019 red gown from Flor et.al or vegan burgundy gown from Dalia Macphee.
2. Shoes: Statement pink heels from Beyond Skin. Made out of vegan leather.
3. Bag: Crystal bow clutch out of satin from Marchesa Notte via Farfetch.
We hope we were able to revive your memories on some of the most iconic looks of the show and you liked our take on them! Let us know in Instagram which look we missed out so we make sure to research a sustainable version for you. Until next time. Xoxo, the Melina Bucher team.
Bangladesh 2013.
A fateful morning in one of the many textile factories in Bangladesh, Rana Plaza. One of the textile workers goes on duty that day, we would like to call her Rosina here.
Rosina: "When we came to the factory, we saw the cracks. On the ceiling, on the floor. The iron bars were already coming out of the supporting pillars. I took my sister and said, come on, let's better go!"
Less than a month before, this factory had been inspected by TÜV Rheinland, with the result: no defects and appropriate working conditions. Unfortunately, this did not correspond to reality. Severe damage to the infrastructure and inhumane working conditions determined the picture of work in the Rana Plaza. Workers had no choice or strength to confront those responsible, which would cause many to lose their lives that morning.
Rosina: "'Why do you want to leave,' he asked me. 'The others are working, too.' I told him, 'Then cut my salary.' At that moment, the power went out. The generator started. Then everything collapsed. I didn't see my sister again. I thought she was on her way out. Then I fainted."
Many people may still remember this catastrophic event of April 24, 2013 at the Rana Plaza textile factory in Bangladesh. The factory produced for suppliers such as Primark, Benetton, Mango, C&A, Adler Modemärkte and Kik under inhumane conditions. Tragically the factory had been classified as "appropriate" shortly before by various inspection bodies, including TÜV Rheinland. The fact that 1,136 of the more than 5,000 workers died and more than 2,000 were seriously injured as a result of this concession shows the circumstances under which the production can take place in developing countries and that this cannot always remain without consequences.
The catastrophe made international headlines and laid the foundation for a worldwide debate about the abuses in textile production. In May 2013, 200 textile companies from over 20 countries signed the Bangladesh Accord, an agreement on fire protection and building safety in textile factories. However, this 5-year agreement would have expired in 2018, but was replaced by a new Transition Accord, which was supposed to secure the successes already achieved. In 2021, however, this Transition Accord will also expire and will be replaced by a company founded by the government, the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC). It is feared that the working conditions and rights of the workers will deteriorate, as the RSC is a government-appointed association. Whether and how the situation for the textile industry in Bangladesh will change, however, remains to be seen after the RSC comes into force in 2021.
The fact that companies do not always pay attention to conditions in their supply chain makes it even more important for consumers to consciously consider sustainability, to demand more transparency and traceability, and to ask themselves: Where does my product come from and who produced it under what conditions?
A crucial factor that contributed to what happened in Bangladesh was the poor and non-transparent communication and information about the production conditions in Rana Plaza and the supply chains of the labels producing there.
A garment is usually not produced by the label we know and love. The raw materials are grown, spun into yarns, made into fabric panels, sewn and finished. These value-added steps are performed by various global suppliers. The labels themselves are often only in contact with the sewing factories, which purchase the fabrics and ingredients independently. The many stops and different production/manufacturing locations make tracking difficult. The number of people involved in the global manufacturing chain of textiles can thus not be fully recorded and grievances in the supply chains are often overlooked.
A study has determined that a T-shirt travels an average of over 27,500 km before it is actually used by you. The fact that companies do not always pay attention to the quality of all steps and production methods makes it even more important for consumers to consciously consider supply chains, to demand more transparency and traceability, and to ask themselves: Where does my product come from and who produced it under what conditions?
The map shows the individual production steps with the corresponding transport routes of your shirt: these include the growth of the raw materials which are spun into yarns, made into fabric panels, sewn and finished. Keep in mind, every step takes place in a different region!
Fun fact: the average German car driver covers between 10.000 and 15.000 km a year, almost half the distance your t-shirt has covered before it even reaches you.
Find out what you can do to promote more transparency and sustainability in the textile industry in our practical tips for you below!
Many of the above-mentioned problems were causes for the idea of founding the 'Fashion Revolution' movement, which became known especially for its campaign 'Who made my Clothes'. The movement was founded in 2013 after the Rana Plaza disaster with the goal to make consumers, producers and companies more sensitive to injustice and grievances in the textile industry by means of education and research.
Their vision: a global fashion industry that protects the environment and puts people above corporate growth and profit. In doing so, the movement pursues the idea of preserving valuable resources and regenerating ecosystems, establishing a culture of transparency and accountability along the entire value chain, and promoting local craftsmanship over industrial mass production.
Editor's Note: Fashion Revolution's vision is very much aligned with your own values. Take a look on our transparency, craftsmanship and sustainability pages to get all the deets!
‘It’s allowed to kill for a bag, but a bag shouldn’t kill anyone’. It should be clear that the principle of all-encompassing protection of all supply chain participants must be anchored in fashion industry, as well as in our own consumer behavior. This is one of the reasons why the movement repeatedly draws attention to the exploitation of textile workers in the fashion industry through actions such as the Fashion Revolution Week. It mobilizes society and creates space for the issue in political and international debates. In 2021, designers, companies and consumers will again ask themselves the question 'who made my clothes?' However, the focus will be primarily on the gaps in the value chains of companies, paying attention to the unheard voices of workers, communities and producers. In particular, people, companies, and policymakers should feel motivated to drive systemic change across the fashion industry.
Among other things, the Fashion Revolution movement tries to raise awareness and participation by pointing out gaps in transparency on the part of companies. With the Fashion Transparency Index it tries to evaluate more than 250 companies in their transparency and to provide a reference point for consumers as well as companies to evaluate and assess.
To ensure better social conditions for people along the entire global value chain and the protection of our environment, we all need to take action by reflecting on our past behaviours and improving those. One thing is clear: Faster, higher, further can’t be the way to go in near future. What is also clear is: A T-Shirt that costs only 5 Euros cannot have been produced in an environmentally friendly and ethically correct way.
In the following, we would like to point out some ways in which legislators, companies and consumers can stand up for an ethical, sustainable fashion industry.
On part of the law!
Transparency and sustainability are two terms that require a legal basis on which further decisions can be made. Just this March 2021, the EU therefore passed a uniform Europe-wide supply chain law. This includes regulations on extended information obligations of companies about the working conditions in their supply chains. In addition, the legislator is taking measures to sanction violations, such as fines of 100,000 to 800,000 euros and import stops from countries in which human rights violations are known.
On part of the companies!
Companies have a responsibility to establish safe and supportive working conditions. Young companies in particular have innovative and creative ideas to advance transparency and sustainability. Melina Bucher, for example, developed an interactive and innovative tool which allows to accompany the production steps of the costumer’s bags in every stage: The map therefore aims to create more transparency and reveal the entire value chain of the product. This involves creating an interactive map and marking all the places where design, production or manufacturing takes place. In addition, the map contains more detailed explanations of environmental and social standards of the individual corporate partners. In somewhat more general terms, it would already be sufficient for companies to fundamentally apply supply chain tracking technologies and to focus more on identifying and improving potential problem areas than on pure economic interest.
One thing is clear: A shirt that costs only 5 Euros cannot be produced in an environmentally friendly and ethically correct way.
On your own part!
Consumers, too, have a responsibility to use their purchasing power and voice to campaign for a better fashion world. Sustainability, transparency and fairness are terms that need to be driven with passion to establish themselves. That is why we would like to equip you with practical tips in the following on how you can positively influence the change in the fashion industry:
1. Invest in sustainable and transparent companies
Markets regulate themselves according to supply and demand. By buying a product, you are therefore sending an active signal: if you buy from a company that attaches particular importance to sustainability and transparency, you are promoting its values. If others also start to buy more frequently from such companies, their demand increases and at the same time the demand for products from companies that do not take responsibility for their suppliers or the environment decreases. So these companies either have to adapt or are plunged into economic ruin.
© Fashion Revolution
2. Shop small and local
Smaller companies usually do not have the same market power over their suppliers. They cannot exert pressure, as large labels can, to further reduce purchase prices or negotiate contract terms.
3. Less is more
Be more mindful about how, what and why you consume fashion and reflect more often on your consumption behavior. Make yourself aware again and again that a 5 Euro T-shirt simply cannot be of high quality, let alone produced under conditions that violate human rights. So rather buy a higher-priced and long-lasting shirt with a good conscience than a new cheap T-shirt every two months.
4. Join movements and think critically
Through your participation in movements like 'who made my clothes', issues become even more present and achieve great reach and influence. You can use the hashtags #whomademyclothes or #whatsinmyclothes to ask companies via social media about the social and environmental conditions in their supply chains. Or you can ask the companies directly by email. Because: Companies notice that you as a customer care about the issue and that they should place more value on ethically correct production. This way you can support movements like Fashion Revolution in their goals.
5. Start a blog
Draw attention to the issue and inform yourself comprehensively and objectively. Make sure to use correct and backed up information and design your article to make people want to read more.
6. Ask your favourite influencers
Also start questioning the consumption and advertising partners of your influencers and draw attention to the issue through comments or reactions. Influencers are the medium of the time and companies do not invest in influencers as important advertising partners for nothing: they have a great influence on their followers, especially on a younger target group. Therefore, they also have a special responsibility. Can 50% discount codes for fast fashion brands be sustainable? Or do they rather still promote that textiles are sold cheaply and draw attention away from the conditions behind them. If you as a follower show that you care about social justice, animal rights and sustainability, more and more content will automatically be produced around the corresponding topic. And with it, more public interest and focus on the topics!
As you can see, it doesn't always have to be the big deeds, many small steps already help on the way to an ethical, sustainable fashion world.
Throwback…
When Rosina regained consciousness, she was shown a devastating picture: Rosina: "Three men were lying somewhere above me. Their blood was dripping on me. We kept screaming for help."
Rosina survived the accident badly injured, but she was one of the few that day. Even today, many women and men work under inhumane and life-threatening conditions in the fashion industry in developing countries. Whether we as a society and the companies have learned? Perhaps in parts. But one thing stays clear: fashion should not cost people - nor animals - their lives.
Vegan fashion is getting more and more popular. According to the 2020 LYST report, the search for the term “vegan leather” has experienced an increase of 69% in the span of a year. Customers are getting increasingly interested in vegan, sustainable or upcycled fashion items. Therefore, it is not surprising that a lot of information on this topic is available online. However, this information must be handled with care, because unfortunately there is a lot of misconceptions and greenwashing out there. In this article, our founder Melina shares her insights and sheds light on what vegan fashion is all about.
Vegan fashion means that a fashion item is produced without any animal ingredients. However, what sounds simple, is actually not that easy in practice: Depending on the brand or organization, the definition of a vegan item can differ. In the simplest way, fashion is called vegan if it does not incorporate animal-derived fabrics like animal leather, wool, silk or fur. As a result, some companies/brands already call themselves animal-friendly just using synthetic or plant-based fabrics like cotton, viscose or polyester.
There are also brands that go a step further and look at all the auxiliaries and ingredients that are needed to produce their fashion items. Ingredients to look at are glues, which can potentially be derived from bones, gelatin or casein, and waxes like beeswax, lanolin, or shellac. Another area to investigate are coloring dyes, which can be derived from animals. Examples are Carmine and Shellac, red pigments from insects and Sepia, ink derived from sea fish.
Vegan fashion - as of today – usually does not incorporate operating materials from suppliers who, for example, use chemicals or detergents in the production of cotton fibers. This is more of a practical issue, as it can be difficult for fashion producers to trace back these ingredients when buying cotton or other fabrics. Vegan fashion also doesn't have to mean that the ingredients are all cruelty-free, because animal testing by definition has nothing to do with an item being free of animal-derived ingredients.
Lastly, if a fashion piece is declared vegan, that also does not give any information about the company as a whole. To give you an example: Melina Bucher was founded to make the fashion world an animal friendly place. As saving animals is one of our core values, it comes natural for us to use vegan paper, vegan print inks or vegan furniture in our office. This is by far not industry standard, as these products are (sadly) a lot more expensive. Also, many people are unaware that these items contain animal ingredients. If you want to shop vegan and cruelty-free, I would recommend to really look at a brand's values and beliefs.
A vegan fashion item does not contain any animal-derived ingredients from fabrics to glues and color dyes.
People decide to switch to vegan fashion for ethical and ecological reasons.
In the production of fashion articles, animal welfare is not the first priority. Animals are seen less as living creatures and more as commodities for their skin or fur. Most of the people are aware of the cruel mulesing practices in wool production, or the poor conditions for animals in fur farms.
Leather or virgin wool products are considered to be less severe of an issue. There is this misconception (that is often pushed by the fashion industry) that leather is a waste product of the meat industry and no animal is actually harmed for leather production. This is untrue, as many animals are raised and killed first and foremost for their skin. Crocodiles, alligators, snakes, and other exotic animals are increasingly used by designer brands as they are perceived as particularly “exclusive” and “rare”. When speaking of cow leather, it is important to acknowledge that around 12-19 % of the sales price of a cow is collected by selling the cow’s hide. Leather is therefore a valuable co-product rather than a waste product. Therefore, consumers actively support the meat industry when shopping leather products.
Vegan fashion is often marketed as sustainable. However, evaluating the sustainability of a garment is much more complicated than is often portrayed. A vegan garment is not necessarily more sustainable than one made from animal raw materials, as the production of animal-free products can be just as harmful to the environment. Therefore, the label "vegan" should be used first and foremost to highlight an ethical choice: Namely that you do not want any living being to be killed for your clothes.
A statement on the sustainability of vegan fashion cannot generally be made, as it highly depends on the fabrics, the production processes and the location where the items are produced. The Higg MSI index, which was developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, is a helpful tool to compare different fabrics in terms of their sustainability based on scientific and industry data. It measures different environmental impacts like GHG emissions, water scarcity, eutrophication and chemicals and normalizes the values to a single score. According to this index, the materials silk, wool and leather are on average the three most polluting materials, all of animal origin. These measures are already high without even considering animal husbandry or farming. Again, this is an average score and the environmental impact can be different depending on the actual production processes.
Taking a closer look at vegan leather, it is a much-discussed topic in terms of its sustainability. However, scientific studies point in the direction that synthetic leather has a much lower environmental impact than conventional leather. Depending on the study model, animal leather has 2 to 6 times the environmental impact of synthetic leather. More information on the sustainability of leather and a more detailed comparison to synthetic leather can be found in this article.
Environmental Impact of Animal Leather vs. Synthetic Leather. The higher the number, the more harmful is a material for the environment. (© Melina Bucher, based on HIGG Material Index)
When searching for vegan items online, finding vegan fashion is actually quite easy! One convenient way is to look at the comprehensive list of PETA (PETA Germany, PETA UK, etc.). The main advantage is that all brands listed there are certified according to the PETA vegan textile standard. More about the PETA approved vegan standard below.
Another option is to use marketplaces for vegan or sustainable fashion. Avocadostore, for example, offers the possibility to filter by vegan brands. Immaculate Vegan, on the other hand, is a newer marketplace with a special focus on design and aesthetics. They have a lot of amazing vegan young designers and also offer a section that informs about their production processes. An advantage of marketplaces is that you can directly shop different styles and clothing items all in one place without worrying that some item might have been produced under unethical conditions. Also, in order to be listed on a marketplace like Immaculate Vegan, brands have to go through a quality standard process. Of course, Google is also helpful when searching for terms like “vegan fashion” or “vegan handbags”. But attention: The term "vegan" is contrary to the term "organic" not regulated - so you have to look closely at the brands and their offers.
When you shop offline, it becomes a bit more difficult to buy vegan fashion. Of course, you can look on the label to see if the item contains any animal-derived fabrics, such as wool or leather. But, as mentioned earlier, fashion companies don't have to declare animal byproducts on their labels. To ensure that the item was really produced in an animal-friendly way, you have to rely on certifications or do your own research on the brands you love.
Of course, you can also look at our Instagram page or our magazine – we are celebrating and sharing vegan fashion brands all the time!
Top tips to find vegan fashion and avoid animal products when shopping:
To give you some options, here is our list of top vegan fashion brands with a special emphasis on sustainability and design. This is by no means an exhaustive list – there are so many amazing vegan brands out there. These are our top pics in terms of design, sustainability and they are all female-led:
Matea Benetti Sustainable and Vegan Luxury Fashion (© Matea Benetti)
Miley Cirus at the Grammys wearing Mink Shoes vegan high-heels (© David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
In contrast to food, where lots of different labeling options exist, certifications for vegan clothing are scarce. The most well-known standard for clothing is the PETA-approved vegan standard. If a brand wants to get certified according to PETA, they are not allowed to use any animal fabrics, as well as animal by-products like glue, wax, or colour dyes. The regulatory process involves the signing of a contract by both the brand itself and all its suppliers, which assures that the production is animal-free. The PETA approved vegan standard does not imply any inspections. Another pretty new standard is the ProVeg standard. ProVeg, well known for their yellow V sign on food items, has implemented a new standard for vegan textiles last year. The standard also includes signing contracts on animal free production processes as well as the possibility for investigations in the future (not yet in place). In contrast to PETA, the ProVeg vegan standard costs a fee for every product a brand wants to get certified.
Keep an eye out on the Peta-approved vegan logo when shopping for vegan fashion (© PETA Germany)
Melina Bucher is PETA-approved vegan and works closely with PETA to further develop the standard. Shopping vegan is much more convenient than it was a few years ago, but it still requires some effort and research.
Melina Bucher is on the mission to make the fashion world a cruelty-free, ethical and inclusive place. Accordingly, it is especially important to us to provide you with all the necessary information that will make it easier for you to help animals as well and to learn more about sustainable and ethical purchase decisions. For more information on the topic of sustainability, veganism and fashion, feel free to follow us on Instagram, subscribe to our newsletter and check back regularly on our blog.
Frankly, I often find it difficult to actually recognise discrimination against me, even if it is blatantly obvious and completely in my face. Handbags are still, to the largest part, female territory. Investors, of which many are (older) males , are able to relate less to this market, as it does not fall within their sphere of interest or influence. When I am let down by a potential investor, I sometimes cannot identify whether the reasoning behind the rejection was because I am a female, or simply because my field of interest does not align with theirs.
Due to these experiences, I have shifted priorities when delivering pitch presentations; nowadays, I try and focus on the technological aspect of our products, for example how our supply chain is based on blockchain technology, and can, through this, notice a clear shift in interest in male investors. On the other hand, female investors often understand the products themselves and their respective field better, but unfortunately, they rarely sit in the committees with decisive power. Studies also show that there actually is a gender bias in pitch rounds: Male founders are asked much more often about their vision and the intangible, while females have to elaborate more on the tangible, such as their current customer base and specific financial forecasts . The way the founders are assessed is also vastly different; while men who start a company are called “brave” or “willing to take risks”, women are “naive” or “inexperienced” . And, of course, you always come across people who would rather talk to a man than to a woman, starting with bankers and ending with producers abroad.
Melina Bucher at a pitch event.
Over and over again, it is the small things that stand out, such as noticing that only the e-mails from my male colleagues and counterparts being answered or clients only directing eye contact to other men during a conversation. Sometimes, I do feel like I am not taken seriously enough or seen as not qualified enough, as business questions are usually addressed directly to my partner Dominik, even though I have the same academic background as him.
However, I believe society plays a big part in perpetuating this problem: I have definitely made the observation that the sectors that are more feminine-dominated are more likely to be ridiculed in our society and that their new products are not perceived as real “innovations”. I have often been told that the fashion and beauty industries have no big impact; these are industries worth billions! Nevertheless, start-ups in these industries and their founders are not taken as seriously as the developers of the next great app or the inventor of the next technical application. For example, I can still remember the headlines in the media when Kylie Jenner overtook Marc Zuckerberg as the youngest self-made billionaire with her cosmetics brand. Instead of focusing on her individual successes, her fame and fortune was largely accredited to her shapely figure and the fact that she came from a wealthy money. That really frightened me, and I ask all of us to reflect on our own thought patterns regarding cases such as hers.
Even today, women are still at a societal disadvantage. Women are often attributed with having the crossroads between professional success and starting a family. I believe that this is the thought that compels not only HR departments, but also the women themselves, to question the legitimacy of their career trajectory.
Above all, I believe that the fact that most high-ranking positions are held by males is the greatest gatekeeper. People naturally want to surround themselves with like-minded and likewise individuals, those you can easily identify yourself with. Thus, one would also tend to hire those similar to oneself. Aside from that, I also have the feeling that men are more willing to take risks, especially when it comes to starting a company. The women I have met, on the other hand, are much more risk-averse, often have to think everything through and have the feeling that they have to work twice as hard because they would not be taken seriously otherwise.
An MVP will probably only rarely stem from these conditions. As mentioned above, I believe that our societal norms are the centre of many of the barriers for females. We identify strongly with our own gender and everything that is defined through it in our society; moving on from classic and modal societal roles and fighting off stereotypes is not an easy task.
Melina Bucher designs bags for strong personalities. Female empowerment and leadership plays a huge role in her collection.
I find it very intriguing that the majority of founders and designers in the fashion industry are male, although most people associate said field much more with women and perceive it as feminine. Even at fashion-related events, the speakers are often male. With this, I think encouraging women in the industry would go a long way. I do not think that hard-fixes such as a female quota within the industry are the best long-term solutions to the underlying problems. Rather, something that would really help is to set positive examples, to give successful women a platform and to shine the light on them, to involve more women in discussions and to give them the courage to openly and unabashedly express their opinions. In that area, there is definitely still a lot of room for improvement. Particularly as an entrepreneur, you have the opportunity to organise your time freely and combine work and family on your own terms - without having to conform to a higher-up’s expectations.
What definitely needs to improve are the funding conditions in Germany; technology-oriented founders are promoted disproportionately in Germany, and if these fields are dominated by males, then logically fewer women receive funding and the help they need. In addition to this, women only make up 12-29% of the decision-making bodies on funding. Focusing on the good, however, the fashion industry is already becoming more diverse in a plethora of areas and to me, that is already a huge step forward. As an example, we now celebrate a much larger range of ethnicities, body shapes and beauty standards across the board.
For my specific product, I think it is greatly beneficial that I am as detail-oriented and obsessively creative as I can be. Every male I talked to about this at some point told me that “no customer will notice the detail” or “a tiny bit that isn’t vegan won’t hurt” - but I was always confident enough to stand up for my values and my ideals, and I'm sure that these subtleties will be appreciated by the customer and will help make my product stand out just that bit more.
Something else that I have noticed is that men don't like to ask for help, while I, on the other hand, along with most other women, am not afraid to ask people with more know-how for guidance. This is a clear advantage and has often helped me in many situations. Furthermore, I am very communicative and find it easy to network with others. In the past two years, I have been able to find great mentors and at the same time support many start-ups myself as their mentor.
As a founder, you naturally enjoy some privileges over being employed, with the biggest for me being the fact that I can pick and choose and piece my team together myself in such a way that I can thrust women into the role of role models. In addition to that, I love having complete creative freedom of choice over my own company.
Melina Bucher with her dog Elay.
If you have a burning passion for something, whatever that is, purse it! If you want to start a value-oriented, sustainable company and people tell you that it is not “scaling” quickly enough and that the margins are not large enough – do not let yourself be unsettled and rattled. Not every start-up has to become a million-dollar business overnight to be considered a success, but women-run companies have all the potential in the world to achieve that if they want to!
It is also extremely important to surround yourself with the right people. Men like to "celebrate" their successes and themselves; women support each other far too sparingly! Many female founders are extra tough on themselves and often are too scared to tell others about their ideas, as they are afraid of being judged. Honestly, with my company, I want to change the fashion industry sustainably and perpetually avoid animal suffering. Ignoring the few people in my immediate vicinity who laughed at or even sneered at the idea. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and who have a positive mindset. It may take a while, but all great things do.
Of course, this does not mean that critical feedback should be neglected; on the contrary, take it in and internalise it. However, it is important to understand criticism for what it is and not let it get you down and make you give up prematurely. Ideas take a lot of time and a lot more energy to materialise; a lot of hard work lies behind those involved in a passionate project and everyone should be aware of that. If you can combine your passion with your professional work, it makes everything much more fun! Just remember: earning big money shouldn't be the fundamental motivation behind the start-up.
Are you confronted with clichés as a woman? Learn to play with it. As a blonde, made-up and styled woman, I am now making fun of the fact that men often underestimate me at the beginning of a conversation, because, nowadays, the moment I am allowed to showcase my expertise, they are all the more astonished. That should for sure not be the case, of course - but I have learned to spin it in a positive light and use it for my advantage.
The fashion industry is a major burden to the environment. In 2018 alone, the clothing and footwear industry caused 2.1 billion tons of global CO2 emissions . If this amount does not see a drastic decrease soon, it will no longer be possible to achieve the goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius set forth in the Paris Agreement. The fashion industry surprises time and time again with advanced methods to curb climate change, but the adaptation is not happening quickly enough . The “Fast Fashion” business model in particular has a significant influence on the amount of clothing produced annually. In recent years, however, the topic of sustainability, particularly ecological sustainability, has received a lot of attention. According to this, both consumers and companies are increasingly paying attention to aspects of sustainability. In our article Environmental impact of the fashion industry, we highlight which business models are particularly problematic.
In the following, our aim is not to shed light on the pressing challenges - but rather introduce all the new, creative innovations that the fashion industry is currently working on. Many of these ideas have the potential to make our world a little better.
An obvious way to keep an eye on the environment when buying new fashion pieces is to pay attention to the material composition. In this article, we have compiled tips for you to keep in mind the next time you shop. But what can companies do to improve the materials in their collections? Many companies are already incorporating recycled or more sustainable materials into the production of their clothing. This includes, for example, organic cotton, organic linen, or recycled nylon yarn made from plastic waste. The two most common synthetic fibres used in the manufacture of clothing and accessories are polyester and nylon. These are made with fossil fuels, a non-renewable energy source. Innovative developments that make it possible to replace polyester and nylon are therefore always intriguing.
Kintra, a materials science company, makes high-performance biosynthetic fabrics that do not pollute the ocean with additional microfibers. The company has developed synthetic fibers based wholly on biological sources, such as corn starch, instead of the industry standard petroleum base. What sets this material apart is that it is not only completely biodegradable, but production can also be traced back to the field where the raw materials were grown. Utilising materials by and akin to Kintra, brands around the world should be able to manufacture high-quality products while remaining sustainable and transparent . Many new doors can be opened if access to this environmentally friendly material is expanded and you would have a lot to look forward to as a fashion lover.
The fashion world would further be improved by using seaweed, one of the most regenerative organisms in the world. Companies like AlgiKnit develop durable but rapidly degradable yarn from seaweed, creating another environmentally friendly material to encourage a circular economy. Their goal is to achieve a circular product life cycle within the textile industry.
AlgiKnit develops biodegredable yarn from seaweed. (© AlgiKnit)
As a company that uses vegan leather itself, we closely monitor every innovative development that replaces leather in an animal-friendly and sustainable way. In spring 2020, Lyst reported that search demand for vegan leather had risen by 69% within one year. Studies show that the environmental impact of synthetic leather is 5.5 times lower than that of animal leather. Nevertheless, materials are used in the manufacturing of synthetic leather that, due to their composition, take a long time to biodegrade. Therefore, it is a big step for the fashion industry to develop vegan leather that not only abstains from using materials of animal origin but is also devoid of any petroleum based materials.
Several start-ups are currently developing vegetable leather based on mycelium, the fungal threads of fungi. In an innovative process, the mycelium is grown and converted into an alternative for animal and synthetic products. This begins with the cells of the mycelium, which can, for example, be found on beds of sawdust. Here they grow together to form an interconnected 3D network that is modulated, tanned and coloured. Such materials are biologically based and contain mostly renewable materials. The similarity to animal leather is remarkable, yet mycelium leather promises a much lower environmental impact.
Melina Bucher is also currently working with a US start-up on a fully plant-based leather alternative. While we unfortunately cannot reveal too much yet, we can definitely promise that 2021 will be an exciting year!
As previously mentioned, producing our favourite fashion items can be an extremely polluting process. Examples include using pesticides to grow cotton, emitting an excessive amount of CO2 into the atmosphere or general over-production. The use of harmful chemicals in manufacturing processes also causes serious environmental damage ; chemical colouring causes wastewater emissions that are difficult to biodegrade. The extent of chemical colouring depends on the type of fibres used, its makeup, or the specific dyeing technique. Chemical colouring and finishing can also denature and alter a biodegradable material in such a way that it no longer decomposes naturally, or at least takes an exceedingly long time to do so.
Spinnova develops a mechanical process to create sustainable cellulose fibers. (© Spinnova)
Fortunately, many companies, for example the Finnish company Spinnova, are working on the sustainable production of materials that can be used in the fashion industry. Without using harmful chemicals, they manufacture textile fibres from cellulose in an innovative mechanical process. In the conventional production of cellulose, wood fibres are first dissolved in chemicals to obtain the cellulose pulp and then spun; Spinnova is now replacing this process with a purely mechanical one. In doing so, they keep their water consumption, emissions, and waste to a minimum. The natural fibre material is a white continuous filament; in this state, it is ready to be spun, knit, and woven without further need of processing. According to the manufacturer, the material is stretchy, stable and is therefore ideally suited for the manufacture of clothing, shoes, and all kinds of accessories. In addition to this, it can be upcycled multiple times without the addition of new raw materials while retaining its quality. Because the fibre can also be dyed before the spinning phase, the water consumption and the need for chemicals are further greatly reduced.
Did you know:
Chemical colouring and finishing can alter a biodegradable material in such a way that it no longer decomposes naturally, or at least takes an exceedingly long time to do so
Huue is a company that has set itself the task to forego conventional dyeing techniques and instead uses biotechnology to provide sustainable dyes for the fashion industry. They want to start with an indigo blue dye for denim manufacturers. Traditional indigo requires hazardous chemicals such as benzene, formaldehyde and sodamide, as well as petroleum, to manufacture. Huue's indigo blue has a significantly lower toxicity potential compared to that of its competitors but is just as effective and easy to implement in the manufacturing of jeans. During this manufacturing process, sugar is turned into colouring. This is made possible by extensive research into natural colour compounds. Ultimately, micro-levels are created that mirror the natural process and consume sugar to enzymatically produce colouring. Thus, this is an alternative that is free from petroleum and hazardous chemicals and has a lot less impact on the environment.
While the materials and manufacturing processes mentioned are largely still in the research and development phase, they create hope and a positive outlook for an interesting and exciting future in the fashion industry.
To ensure a far-reaching change, everyone must rethink their consumer behaviour and be open-mindedly embrace new concepts. If this can be made a reality, it will be possible to reduce the environmental impact without having to give up your favourite fashion items. In addition to improving materials and manufacturing processes, it is also important to keep an eye on clothing that already is in circulation. We would like to elucidate how this can best be implemented in an upcoming article. Make sure to register for our newsletter to be notified!
I have been a fashion lover my whole life and strolling through the designer department of fashion boutiques always lit up my day. However, for an animal-lover like me, there simply was no option on the market, as all designers incorporated leather into their collections. This started the journey of Melina Bucher as a brand. In the last three years, I had a lot of discussions with customers and brand owners regarding leather. And while for me personally, it was an ethical choice not to use leather, I wanted to give a profound answer to everybody who was afraid leather could be the more sustainable choice.
As a scientist, I was intrigued and wanted to dive deeper into the topic. Let me tell you, this was a wild ride: I read everything from the processes of burning the hair of animals to different ways of preventing skins from rotting. Not the easiest of matters for me actually – but necessary to get a clearer picture. So here are the top 5 myths about leather cleared up. The questions I am addressing are mainly based on conversations I had with you guys, but also on the innumerable magazine articles I read about this topic. The answers I got there often were either, too shallow or misleading. This article is based on scientific journal articles and studies from industry professionals. A download version with all sources is also available for everyone interested.
“Leather is a waste product of the meat industry and not the reason why animals are killed. Why shouldn’t I use it then?” I hear this argument all the time, especially from designers working with leather products. In reality, it is not that simple. Let me try to discuss this statement from an economic and ecological perspective.
Economically, the question is if leather – or raw hides to be more precise – are actually waste or a profitable by-product, meaning that money is earned from selling raw hides to leather production facilities. Depending on the market, studies show that the by-products of the meat industry contribute to 12-19 % of the cow’s total value with hides being the most valuable by-product. For farmers the value added from by-products means realizing higher prices for the cows and thereby subsidizing meat, meaning that without selling these by-products, meat prices should be higher. In comparing the worldwide trade volume of different commodities, the importance of hides and leather are emphasized even more: Meat has a worldwide trade volume of around 29.2 billion USD, whereas leather and hides have a trade volume of 28.5 billion USD (including 6.2 billion USD for raw hides). Thus, trading hides and leather has nearly the same economic value as trading meat.
What does this all mean? Animal hides and leather are trading around the same volume of money as meat itself. By looking at the value added to the meat industry, calling leather a waste product is a huge underestimation. If you are a vegetarian or against animal exploitation, it could therefore make sense to avoid buying leather products and putting money into this system subsidizing the meat production.
Hides are a by-product of animal farming, contributing to 12-19% of a cow's total value. It is a valuable co-product, not a simple waste.
When looking at the ecological perspective, many believe that the animal hides used for making leather are directly taken from the slaughterhouses nearby. The reality looks a little different: around 70% of all hides and leather is produced in developing countries. China, India and Brazil are the top three countries producing raw hides and leather. The German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs explains the high production volumes of developing countries by both the low labor costs and the non-existing or lower ecological standards in the leather production processes. Leather from Germany, on the other hand, is mainly used in the automotive industry. Moreover, three quarters of Italian and Spanish leather is imported from developing countries and then finished in Europe. This means that a huge amount of material is transported around the world one (or more) times in the production process of leather products. The European Commission highlights that these imported intermediate materials might have been processed with chemicals prohibited within the EU without any restrictions leading to harmful effluents in the finishing countries. When trying to answer the question whether it makes sense to use these animal hides from an ecological perspective, one should therefore take into account the additional ecological impact of the leather-making process.
Another argument I hear often, especially when comparing animal leather to synthetic leather, is that leather is a natural product and is therefore more sustainable. First of all, leather is not a “natural” product, but animals and their hides are. To make use of animal hides as raw material for fashion or upholstery, the hides need to be preserved from rotting. This process is often referred to as “tanning”, but actually between 20 and 40 process steps are necessary to transform an animal hide to leather as we know it. Without going into too much detail: the hides are salted (conserved when transported from facility to facility), any remaining hair as well es any residue meat is removed in chemical processes before they are tanned and re-tanned and finished with coatings and so forth.
Leather Production Process with Input and Output Flows (© Melina Bucher, based on European Commission, 2013, p. 27)
To investigate the environmental impact of these processes, scientists can use so called life-cycle assessments (LCA). LCA studies assess all energy and material flows in the value chain and calculate different potential environmental impacts like GHG emissions, water consumption or toxicity. Many LCA studies investigating leather production show that these processes have a huge environmental impact in terms of GHG emissions, water consumption / water scarcity, eutrophication, resource depletion and chemicals. The whole leather production process generates waste water containing chemicals, biological material as well as contaminated solid waste. Strong acids, pesticides and chromium pose the greatest threat to the environment amongst all hazardous by-products of the process, as they are not only highly toxic to humans, threatening those who work unprotected in supply chain processes, but are also released into water systems due to a lack of proper waste management. In developing countries, studies show that waste water is sometimes not even managed at all but discharged untreated and uncontrolled into the environment.
To make things a bit more tangible: 5 kg of raw hides need to be tanned in order to get 1 kg of leather. The residual 4 kg of the material goes to waste, which needs to be managed. Around 105 liters of wastewater is generated, and 2.5 kg of chemicals are consumed. The energy needed to produce 1 kg of leather is comparable to the energy a 2-person household consumes in 5 days and the CO2 emissions are equivalent to a 68 km ride by car. Of course, these measures differ highly according to country, tannery etc. The numbers are based on a study investigating an Italian leather production, which likely has a lower environmental impact according to stricter EU regulation compared to developing countries and is based solely on the tannery process (no cattle raising, farming, slaughtering and production of the leather good is included). Therefore, the real numbers are likely to be much larger. The example emphasizes how many resources are needed to get this material, which we perceive as natural, ready to be used for fashion.
But what about vegetable tanned leather? The ecological impact of chromed vs. vegetable tanned leather is not yet well investigated. Even though vegetable leather eliminates the toxicity of chromium, a first study indicated no significant differences between chromed and vegetable tanned leather regarding GHG emissions, water and energy consumption.
Inputs and Outputs of Producing 1 kg of leather (© Melina Bucher)
After taking a closer look at the production process, the question remains how the ecological impact compares to other raw materials. Synthetic or vegan leather is often said to be more ethical, but less sustainable than leather.
To my knowledge, there is no academic paper directly comparing the environmental impact of synthetic leather to animal leather. One peer-reviewed study compares the production of synthetic shoes with leather shoes. The study estimates that the production of animal leather consumes about double the amount of energy compared to polyurethane (which is often used as an animal friendly leather). Another study estimates the CO2 emissions of leather to be 6.5 times higher than that of synthetic leather.
Regarding environmental impact in a broader sense, the HIGG material index is known as one of the only tools for comparing different raw materials used in the fashion industry. In this index, which is based on both industry and academic data, leather has 5.5 times the environmental impact than polyurethane-based leather.
Environmental Impact of Animal Leather vs. Synthetic Leather. The higher the number, the more harmful is a material for the environment. (© Melina Bucher, based on HIGG Material Index)
This result is mainly driven by the tannery processes, as cattle raising is only taken into consideration with 3.6% and land use is not taken into consideration at all. Comparing all available fabrics, leather is the third most polluting raw material after silk and wool. Kering, known for brands like Gucci and Saint Laurent, states that leather is the most environmental pressuring raw materials in their supply chain, with 5 times the impact per kg compared to polyurethane. In my research, I found no study indicating a higher environmental impact of synthetic leather compared to leather. Whereas both materials have profound impact on the environment, synthetic leather seems to be the better choice according to academic studies – without the huge impact of farming and agriculture on the environment even taken into account. The most sustainable thing to do (regarding all products) is: buy less, buy better quality and prolong the life of your products as much as possible.
Biodegradability is another buzzword used in marketing lately, causing a lot of confusion around the term. But what does biodegradability actually mean? To gain a better understanding of the term, I spoke to chemical scientists. The concept is simple: a material is biodegradable if there is any bacteria or fungi in the natural world that can “eat” the material. Eating in this case means that it can break the chemical bonds holding the material together, so that the material breaks down into its components. This process is impacted by temperature and moisture. Also, time plays a significant role: some materials are biodegradable per se, but it would take tens or hundreds of years for the material to biodegrade.
When we speak of biodegradability, it is not a binary yes / no characteristic of materials, but rather a question of how long it takes for the material to decompose under certain environmental conditions. This is the reason why there are specific standards, for example those of the ISO, which say that a material needs to break down in a specific time frame and under specific conditions to be defined as biodegradable. On the other hand, biodegradability does not mean that a material must break down in your compost at home; some materials need an industrial environment to biodegrade.
Animal hides would usually decompose when an animal dies. The tanning process is specifically designed to stabilize the collagen fibre and thereby preventing the skin from rotting. After the tanning process, the skins are no longer subject to putrefaction and are more resistant to heat and mechanical influence. So the whole process is basically designed to prevent the biodegradability of the ultimate leather product. Furthermore, to make the leather look more smooth (i.e. hide any uneven parts or wounds in the skin) or to optimize its properties (protection against water, oil, soiling), the tanned leather is often times coated with synthetic materials like PU / PVC. Coatings are not necessarily declared properly. In Germany, a coated leather with a coating under 0.15 mm thickness does not need any extra declaration and is simply sold as leather.
Animal hides would usually decompose when an animal dies. The tanning process is specifically designed to prevent the skin from rotting. Waste from leather production incorporates a huge amount of chemicals hazardous and hard to break down. Therefore leather wastes usually go to landfill.
To go back to the question: yes, animal hides are biodegradable. For leather, the answer is not that obvious. It highly depends on the tannins and other chemicals used in the production processes. Moreover, the huge amount of waste water and solid waste produced cannot be broken down easily and some substances do not biodegrade at all. Waste containing chromium, for example, is considered hazardous and does not biodegrade enough to break down the chromium to get non-hazardous – even under ideal conditions. Due to the nature of elements as well as technical feasibility and economic reasons, the process waste gets either landfilled or incarnated. Landfilling of solid waste becomes increasingly problematic, as availability of land decreases. Moreover, many countries put restrictions on the amount of waste which is allowed to be landfilled, because of possible contamination with chromium, pesticides and other pollutants. The majority of finished leather products are landfilled or incinerated as well, while recycling options are limited. A lot of research is undertaken to increase the level of waste recovery instead of its disposal. The system though is far away from being circular and the process doesn’t ensure biodegradability.
A lot of people still think that buying from luxury brands ensures a certain level of animal care, or that buying under specific standards, most commonly the leather working group LWG standard, ensures a minimum standard for the animals killed in the process. This myth probably makes me the most speechless, as it is highly encouraged by brands’ Greenwashing methods. Let me be clear – the leather working group LWG standard, which is proclaimed by fashion houses to be the strictest standard - does not include any form of evaluation of the animals or the slaughterhouses. On the leather working groups website you can easily read that farming, animal husbandry, transport and slaughterhouses are not assessed in any way.
Leather standards, like the LWG leather working group standard, do not control the animal farmers.
When fashion houses talk about “satisfying the most demanding standards in terms of animal welfare for all its raw materials” , “traceability in their whole supply chain” or even proclaim “animal wellness” , but measure their efforts with the LWG standard, there is no assurance on any animal care minimums whatsoever. Any “commitments” to achieve a certain percentage of certified suppliers in the next years to ensure animal welfare standards is therefore no commitment at all. Kering, on the other hand, has started to develop animal care standards for the first time in 2016 because it is of “such high priority” , with no auditing in place yet. They are also providing information on the percentage of leather they can trace back to the slaughterhouse, not to the farm itself. The key message: big fashion companies, even the prestigious luxury houses, have problems tracing back their material to the suppliers; tracing back to animal husbandry / farm level is a problem not yet tackled sufficiently. Please be cautious when reading any environmental reports not published in the official financial statements, as there are no auditing processes involved in publishing them.
]]>In the first weeks of the new year, you have a lot of time to look back on the year. Did you achieve all of the goals you set yourself? Every new year offers us the chance to develop ourselves personally and put long-cherished plans into practice. The beginning of the new year is an ideal time to try out something new, as you are particularly motivated with the newly set goals. Do you already have resolutions for 2021?
In this article, we will provide you with some inspiration and implementation tips for everyone, who wants to make 2021 more sustainable. Of course, not every resolution has to be fully fulfilled - because every step, no matter how small, counts to make a positive change.
A first step towards more sustainability in everyday life is to reduce your own waste. In Germany alone, 44,428 thousand tons of waste are collected each year, of which 30.4% consists of household waste. The amount of waste in German households has even increased in recent years: paper, cardboard and packaging for single-use products and packaged food pollute the environment. Alternatively, to minimize this waste, food can be alternatively bought in reusable containers, like jars or glasses. Glass packaging can be refilled up to 50 times in the reusable system and can therefore be used for an average of six years. Food such as plant-based milk drinks, sauces and canned food can be bought in jars and last just as long as in plastic or coated paper packaging.
Other household waste can be saved by using your own packaging materials for store-bought food. Instead of packaged fruit and vegetables from the supermarket, you can also buy unpackaged fruit and vegetables. Many supermarkets now offer a selection of unpackaged varieties that can be packed in your own mesh bag. You can also bring your own tote bag for other purchases, instead of buying a new plastic bag or paper bag with every purchase. Tote bags are light and can be folded so small that they can fit in every handbag.
Did you know:
Each of our Melina Bucher bags comes in a dustbag to protect the bag. Dust bags tend to just lie around once you unwrapped your bag. Since we value sustainability, we want to give them a second life by upcycling them in an eco-friendly manner. Hence, our dust bags have handles and are designed as additional shopping bags you can use for grocery shopping
In Germany, 12 million groceries end up in the garbage every year: that is an average of 75 kilograms per person. In order to reduce your own food consumption, you could carefully shop in moderate amounts and use possible leftovers. These leftovers can be stored in the good old Tupperware container or in a jar with a silicone wrap.
In addition, the best-before date on the packaging does not mean that the product has expired and can no longer be used. The date is actually to be understood as a “minimum” date: it only indicates when the product could lose its taste and / or quality. Therefore, before throwing a product away, you can rely on your own senses: Does the product still look flawless? Does it still smell good? Then you can most likely continue to use it even after the expiry date!
In Germany, 16.4 billion plastic bottles are used every year, which is an average of 200 disposable plastic bottles per person. These can be returned to the deposit system after use. But what happens after that? After they are returned, disposable plastic bottles are being melted down and processed into so-called "PET recyclate". Around 34% of this material is actually used to manufacture new beverage bottles. The rest is downcycled for foils or fleece sweaters. Reusable bottles are a better choice: Reusable plastic bottles and glass bottles are being washed out to be refilled afterwards. The more circulations and the more regional the bottles are, the better the environmental balance. Compared to glass bottles, which can be refilled 50 times, reusable plastic bottles can only be used 15 times on average. However, tap water remains the most environmentally friendly alternative: tap water in Germany is of very good quality and is checked regularly so that it can be drunk without hesitation. In Germany, tap water is even more strictly controlled than mineral water from the supermarket. While mineral water is only tested for ten pollutants, tap water is tested for 33 pollutants. Other alternatives: a thermal mug can easily be used for drinks such as coffee and tea, and plastic straws can be replaced with glass straws or metal straws.
Glas oder metal straws are not only the more elegant but also more sustainable choice. (Sources: Gold metal straws: Pinterest / Chloé Dominik, Glas straws: Pinterest / PopSugar)
Instead of baking paper - which, by the way, can be used up to four times - reusable baking paper or silicone moulds are suitable for conscious baking. These are not only easy to clean, but also more environmentally friendly than traditional baking paper, which is not recyclable due to the non-stick coating.
Another sustainable resolution is to eat less meat. There are many reasons to minimize your own meat consumption: Alone in Germany, around 763 million animals are being killed annually for meat consumption (as of 2019). The majority of the animals are being kept, transported and slaughtered under conditions that are contrary to animal welfare. The animals' basic needs are being ignored and their freedom of movement is severely restricted. In addition, there is little space for the animals due to factory farming, so diseases can spread quickly. To avoid this, the animals are routinely given antibiotics, which is a threat to human health. A large number of studies link the consumption of meat to health problems. Meat consumption, for example, is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer. The German Society for Cardiology, Heart and Circulatory Research therefore recommends limiting the consumption of meat and animal fats. Replacing foods of animal origin with plant-based ones can minimize these risks. Studies have also found a positive correlation between breast cancer and dairy products: women who consume one cup of milk a day have a 50% increased risk of breast cancer. For women who consume two to three cups of milk a day, the risk of breast cancer increases by up to 80%. The meat industry also affects the environment. Around 77% of methane emissions are generated by factory farming, as well as raising animals for meat consumption uses 50% of the water in industrialized countries. That works out to be 15,500 litres for one kilogram of beef. In contrast, one kilogram of potatoes only needs 287 litres.
Did you know:
75% of all new infectious diseases are so-called zoonoses. These are diseases that are transmitted from non-human animals to humans. This also includes Covid-19. According to the UN and WHO, the increase in these diseases can be traced back to the intensification of agriculture and animal production, as well as the trade and consumption of wild animals.
Starting from January it is particularly easy to eat less meat or even to be completely vegan. Many programs and organizations support this under the motto "Veganuary" by publishing recipes or helpful tips on their website. On the Veganuary homepage, you can register to participate and receive advice on how to replace meat with plant-based products in small steps. Every year, over a million people take part in the program, including Joaquin Phoenix, Paul Mc Cartney and Evanna Lynch aka Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter. Therefore, Veganuary works together with companies to create a wider range of herbal products.
Veganuary offers a lot of vegan recipes, from beginners to advanced level (Source: Veganuary)
Another resolution to make 2021 more sustainable is to shop regionally and seasonally. Regional and seasonal foods are not only healthy, but they are also particularly environmentally friendly. This is due to the fact that the shorter domestic transport routes mean that less CO2 is emitted. In addition, regional and seasonal fruit and vegetables are harvested when they are actually ripe and therefore contain the maximum amount of vitamins. If you compare a German apple with an imported apple from New Zealand, the imported apple emits 5% more CO2, which is mainly due to the refrigeration and shipping.
Regional and seasonal foods are available in the supermarket or at the farmers' market. To help you find your way around regional or seasonal products, there is a seasonal calendar that shows when regional and seasonal fruit and vegetables can be found in the supermarket. In the supermarket you should pay attention to the origin of the food, as the word “regional” is not legally protected and can therefore also be used for imported goods. Here, farmers' markets have the advantage of transparency, because you know who grew the food and under what conditions it was grown. Regional food is not only cheaper than imported goods, but it is also fresher. This not only supports your health, but also the regional economy.
If you want to consume certain foods out of season, you should pay attention to fair trade seals. The Fair Trade seal stands for products that are grown in developing countries or by smallholder families under decent working conditions and are therefore more social and ecological than other imported goods.
Fast fashion brands produce clothing items that are designed to be worn only 30 times. Therefore, slow fashion is moving more and more to the fore. Slow Fashion means to produce fashion in a more environmentally friendly way: for example, by selecting natural and organic raw materials that are more sustainably produced and biodegradable. Particular emphasis is placed on durability in the design process and in production, so that the garment can be worn over a period of several years.
Many fashion brands opt for an environmentally friendly manufacturing process that includes organic cotton and recycled materials, which are produced under fair and ethical conditions. There are also second-hand platforms and platforms for fashion for rent on the Internet. This not only gives the item of clothing a second life, but also saves your wallet. You can read more tips for a more sustainable wardrobe in our magazine.
Vegan clothing is not only cruelty free but can also be more environmentally friendly. The HIGG Material Index, which is based on data from research institutes and industry to compare the environmental impact of various textile materials with regard to factors like climate influence, water use, energy use and eutrophication, animal materials such as wool, silk and leather are classifies as particularly harmful. Animal farming and the cultivation of animal foods are not even included in this calculation: The preservation of animal skins for leather, for example, requires around 30 production steps and around 150 chemicals. Vegan clothing is free of animal materials such as leather, wool, silk, down and fur, as well as free of animal glue, dyes or buttons and coatings.
Did you know:
Our Melina Bucher bags are 100% vegan and free from animal products. We are not only using vegan leather, but also adhesives, colour dyes, and accessories without animal ingredients – because we love our fur babies. For our engagement we received the PETA approved vegan and cruelty-free certification for all our handbags.
We hope that our resolutions for a sustainable 2021 have inspired you to change your routines a little bit. Of course, you don't have to achieve the resolutions immediately at the same time. Each person takes a different amount of time to establish a new habit. Therefore, be proud of every small step you take towards a positive change.
Melina Bucher wishes all Bucherbabes a healthy and successful new year 2021. We are thankful for the last eventful year and your trust in us. Thank you for all the support, your comments and all the exciting discussions with you. We have many exciting projects planned for next year. Have a look at our magazine for more tips on sustainability and fashion.
The first time I stood in front of a camera and actually felt like a model was when I first visited my agency Modelwerk. They briefly wanted to take natural photos of me. At that moment, I tried to recall 100 poses. In the end, I they told me to be natural - and that's something I still think about. Of course, you should be aware of your body and pose accordingly, but most photographers want you to show something of yourself and not pretend too much. You just have to be a more confident version of yourself in the end, and that's something I try to incorporate into my everyday life.
Models do the job of a model, but that doesn't mean that that's all they are. Many people see this young, "attractive person", who makes money because of his or her looks and think that this is all that defines that person. Often, one is underestimated, and nobody thinks that this person is intelligent, emphatic, strong, determined and much more! I've met so many incredible personalities in my relatively short career and almost no one has actually been superficial. On the contrary, I strongly believe that people for whom looks play an important role in their careers, try to focus on other things in their everyday lives. If you are limited to your looks all day, you no longer want to deal with it in private. A lot of models let their creativity run free and paint, write or make music or they go an academic path, which is reflected in my psychology studies, for example. But I also honestly have to say that I no longer feel like justifying myself for my job. Just because I'm studying doesn't mean I'm a better model than others who aren't studying. Modelling is a very time-consuming and exhausting profession that must also be seen as such a profession!
© Grace Epolo
I was honoured to be part of the Vogue Hope series. In this series, the focus was on the importance of sticking together and this is important in overcoming problems. That is exactly what I would like to see in this world in the future. I am convinced that most of the problems in this world would disappear if we all understood that life is not a competition between oneself and one's fellow human beings, but that we exist as a community in this world, and in the end, we only have ourselves. We are a large community based largely on interaction, communication and, if so, love. Just like in a herd of animals, we couldn't live without each other. We are dependent on each other; you can see that very well in times of Corona. How much we miss the hug of a loved one, how we entrust our entire life to doctors, nurses and researchers, how the cashier in the supermarket becomes an important person, just shows how much we need each other, so why don’t we allow these feelings of community and love? Would there be poverty if everyone had this thought within them? Would racism still be a problem? Would there still be such a thing as hostility towards religion? I do not think so.
When George Floyd was killed and the Black Lives Matter movement became more and more present on social networks and other channels, I felt really bad. I cried a lot at the time because I dealt with the subject very intensively. Racism was nothing new to me because I am a young black woman in Germany and I know that a lot of (white) people still have a subconscious aversion to blacks, which is characterized by prejudice, but so much violence, injustice and seeing hatred of people who look just like me drained me mentally. So, I did what I was able to do at that moment: I tried to use the small reach I had to educate people and get them to do something about it too. Although I cried a few times while writing the speech, it was a very liberating feeling to finally and actually be heard. A lot of people skip your posts on social networks, but for a brief moment when I gave the speech, it was all about the incredible pain that I felt, as well as the whole Black Community. Just to be heard was a very nice feeling. Even if the law has not changed very much in the United States or Germany so far, I am firmly convinced that young people in particular, who use social media a lot, have listened, changed their own views and recognized that racism is actually a huge problem in our society. I think that was also reflected in the United States elections.
© Grace Epolo
Since I haven't been a model for that long, I can't really tell whether the number of inquiries has increased for me personally, but I know from many girls that this was the case with them. What I always do before booking is, that I first look at the customer's Instagram account and see whether it is diverse. Can you see Asian, black or other models who are not blond with blue eyes? If so, then I'm happy. If not, I'm sceptical, but on the other hand, I would also like to give “the benefit of doubt”. The client may have hired a new casting director to ensure that it becomes diverse. What I always enjoy, however, is not only to see models who are Asian, black, Latin, etc., but also to see that the photographer, the make-up artist or the hair stylist is black, asian, latina / latino, etc. This shows that it's not just about image, but that the customer actually believes in diversity and wants to reflect that with its employees.
You don't need to be known to make a change. It was my biggest fear at the time that nobody would know me anyway and that nobody would listen to me anyway. But then I realized relatively quickly that it's not about how many people you can drive to change, but that you can drive at least one person to change. Even if your only follower is your best friend, she will see it and possibly tell her mother, who will then tell her friend, who will then tell her children and so on! If you are really convinced of this topic and want to make a positive difference, then nothing will stop you! Just do it and trust your effect!
© Grace Epolo
I have to honestly say that while giving my speech, I didn't even think for a second about what a future customer might think. I don't worry about such things because to me, the Black Lives Matter movement is not a political issue, but a human rights issue. If the customer is scared off, then I don't want to be booked by this customer either. My whole life isn't about what a customer might think of me. I do what I think is right and stay authentic.
Modelling is a job like any other. You always have days when you don't feel good, but then I just try to grit my teeth and do my best. If, I feel very bad physically, then I'll say that too, and fortunately the customers have always understood that. Often, it just helps to be aware that the pictures and videos are snapshots and that I don't want to see the picture or video later and want to recognize that I was having bad that day. So, I try to hide it in front of the camera and treat myself during the breaks, by taking time for myself to talk to a loved one on the phone, to listen to music or to eat something.
© Grace Epolo
I try to remind myself every day that modelling is just a job and that this job doesn't define me in any way. I often say to myself that I am beautiful the way I am, even if the customer doesn't book me, that I also have many qualities that the customer will never know about, and that there are much more than only my looks. My love for myself is unconditional. I don't love myself for my job, but for who I am.
© Felix Birkenseer
Grace Epolo was part of our campaign 2020 and we were immediately mesmerized by her strong personality both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. We are extremely proud of her personal and career development. A special thank you to Bettina from Modelwerk and Grace for making this interview possible. We cannot wait what the future holds for Grace and wish her all the best. We love you!
]]>In times of Corona, not only our everyday life is being put to the test but Christmas as well. Throughout the year, many regulations and exit restrictions have caused to close restaurants and retailers, so that there was little time to prepare for Christmas 2020.
To make jolly Christmas memories this year as well, we have come up with four last-minute tips that you can adopt within a short time. We have put together last-minute tips to create self-made gifts with special gift wrappings, as well as advice on how to serve this year’s Christmas dinner such that you can celebrate a magical party on Christmas day.
You can bring great joy with small gifts. People of all ages are more than happy to receive some small and homemade gifts that come from the bottom of your heart. Since shops are closed and only a few online shops can deliver on time for Christmas eve, you can get creative to craft some beautiful last-minute gifts for your loved ones.
Homemade cookies are small gifts that everyone likes. Because of the many different cookie flavours, there is the perfect cookie for every taste. You can find delicious recipes online, for example, at Vegan Heaven for vegan sugar cookies and gingerbread men or Peta for vegan cinnamon stars and vegan vanilla cookies.
Anyone who likes to bake knows that a lot of effort and love goes into making cookies fresh out of the Christmas bakery. If you want to find out how to wrap up cookies as a gift, keep on reading.
Cookies come in many different flavours, so that there is definitely a favorite for everyone. (Source: The Little Blog of Vegan)
Another gift idea is to gift plants. If you have a plant at home, you can easily split the plant and give it to someone else. To do this, you have to cut the root into two pieces, so that the individual root pieces can continue to grow. Plants such as perennials, flowering shrubs or conventional houseplants are suitable to split. Plants improve the air quality in the room and are particularly important now, as many people are working from homev and spend more time in their apartments due to Corona.
How about homemade gifts made from recycled materials you still have at home? This method is environmentally friendly because you don't contribute to additional consumption. Every household has empty glasses, jars or bottles from which you can make vases or make candle lights by painting them or decorating them with ribbons and paper.
Old glasses can be upcycled into candle lights by using paper, ribbons and other decorations. (Sources: Lavender candle jars: Sustain - My Craft Habit, Snowy Mason Jars: A Pumpkin and a Princess)
You can also easily make Christmas cards yourself. Instead of purchasing a regular Christmas card, a handwritten card is much more personal. With little effort, you can easily design beautiful Christmas greeting cards and send them to your loved ones.
Instead of a present, you can also give away an experience. A gift voucher for an event shows the person that you like to spend time with her. Despite Corona, there are many opportunities like visiting restaurants after the lockdown, enjoying a wellness day, or going shopping together. By doing this, you do not only support local companies but also look forward to going out again after Corona.
A very special gift is a gift membership for an animal godparenthood. This way, you make the animals in the shelter happy, as well as the recipient of the membership. In addition to a personal gift certificate, you also receive pictures of the animals in form of member magazines to see that the animal is doing well.
As retailers are closed now, it is still possible to order from local and independent online shops. For orders within your country, it is still possible to have the Christmas present underneath the tree on time. By doing this, you support small, sustainable companies that dance of joy with every placed order.
Look around at small sustainable shops like ClevrBlends, SassySpuds or our Melina Bucher Shop. You can certainly make your family or friends happy with a sustainable gift. In our Melina Bucher Shop, we put every bag in a high-quality gift box, which will arrive on time for Christmas if you order before December 22nd.
You can also get crafty with alternative gift packaging by using other materials than wrapping paper. Enormous amounts of paper waste are generated every year at Christmas. Every year, around 8,000 tons of paper waste are collected due to wrapping paper – that is the size of more than 7,000 football fields. Instead of wrapping paper, you can choose more sustainable options made of fabric, glass or newspaper to wonderfully wrap the gifts for Christmas.
Small and large gifts can be wrapped in fabric, for example from fabric scraps, an old scarf or a cloth. Wrapping gifts in fabric does not only look fancy but it can also be re-used every year. Other alternatives to paper are either brown recycled paper with the FSC seal or newspaper. There are a number of special folding techniques that can make the Christmas present stand out under the tree.
There are many wrapping paper alternatives that can be used to wrap gifts for Christmas. (Sources: exclusive gift wrapping: Deavita / Pinterest, furoshoki gift wrapping: NgLp Designs / Pinterest)
Another more sustainable option to wrap gifts are gift bags. Gift bags not only make it easier for you to wrap up the presents but arealso re-usable for next year’s Christmas.
Small gifts, such as cookies, jewellery or beauty articles, can be given away in a glass. The glass can then be painted on or decorated for Christmas with natural decorations like pine branches, pinecones or mistletoes.
Nature gives you many beautiful gift decorations, such as mistletoes, pine branches or pinecones. (Source: Stylist)
A study from the UK found that approximately 7 million tonnes of food are being wasted. During Christmas, almost 270,000 tons of food waste is being caused due to the excess of the celebrated holiday. Especially at Christmas, there are a lot of leftovers from the luscious feast.
In order to prevent this food waste, this year the festive meal can be organized more consciously with little effort. Instead of buying new groceries, you can use the stored groceries from the last panic buying to prepare Christmas dinner. The leftovers can then be used the next day by using the raclette grill suchthat everyone can prepare something for their own taste.
Even if the Corona crisis restricts the tradition of Christmas this year, Christmas is something special every year. Let us give ourselves a lot of thoughtfulness, comfort and peace during these hectic times and remember the essential meaning of Christmas: the celebration of love. Despite Corona, we can still enjoy Christmas together in the closest circle with our loved ones, so that, like every year, it becomes a magical memory.
We wish our Bucherbabes a peaceful and conscious Christmas with their favourite people! Even if traditions and old habits have to give way this year due to Corona, we hope that you remain optimistic and enjoy the little things. Stay healthy!
This is not a call for perfection. Becoming aware of your habits and doing your best is the very first and also most important step. A series of small, consistent steps catering towards a more sustainable lifestyle can be more effective than intending to change everything at once and then never being able to implement it fully in one’s life. Even the smallest steps are better than none at all.
Doing research and educating yourself are essential when trying to accommodate a more sustainable lifestyle. Fortunately, there are many sources providing detailed information on how we can contribute to a future worth living in.
For instance, reading, watching documentaries, listening to podcasts on the topic or following sustainability accounts on social media are a good place to start. Social media, such as Instagram, also is an easy, uncomplicated way to quickly get in touch with a brand you are thinking about buying from. This way, you can find out whether or not their values align with your own. But be careful: many companies are practicing so-called “greenwashing”. This method is deceptively used to persuade consumers into believing that their practices and products are environmentally friendly.
Therefore, when talking about sustainability, transparency is of central importance. Before buying from a brand, try to learn as much as possible about their production and distribution processes, about the materials used and their origins, as well as how the people involved in supply chains are treated: Where are the clothes and fabrics produced and what are the working conditions like? Which resources are used? How far does an item have to travel before being put up for sale?
Evaluating one’s own consumption behavior and considering how those choices affect society and the environment are vital before purchasing a new clothing item, accessory or product of any kind.
Rapidly changing trends are tempting, but rarely serve as long-lasting additions to your wardrobe. Buy less, but better – instead of trend pieces that will most likely be worn only a limited number of times, it is advisable to invest in clothing and accessories that are versatile, of high quality and made of sustainable materials. Styled differently, one can achieve multiple, fashionable looks with minimal pieces.
Before your next purchase, ask yourself the following questions:
In order to protect the environment, it is best to use textiles for as long as possible. The amount of times you wear an item, directly impacts its ecological footprint.
However, many fast fashion brands produce cheap clothing of poor quality, that is not built to last. In fact, garments are often designed to be worn only 30 times. Rapid discarding of fashion has tremendous environmental consequences. It is therefore of great importance, to choose sustainable clothes and materials that are engineered to last longer. Also look for pieces that stand the test of time, meaning they can be worn and restyled for many seasons.
Before your next purchase, take a look at the label: it provides information about the materials used and their composition – and that can be a major indicator of either an environmentally friendly or environmentally harmful product.
Many textiles are made of synthetic fibers, as these are a cheap alternative to natural fibers. Nowadays, almost two thirds of all textiles produced are chemical fibers, such as polyester, nylon, acrylic or elastane. These fibers are made from nonrenewable fossil fuels and their production requires energy-intensive, chemical processes.
Synthetic fibers are not biodegradable and therefore usually end up in landfills or incinerators. Moreover, fabrics made of synthetic or mixed fibers are very difficult to break down in textile recycling processes. However, it is crucial to separate fiber mixtures in order to be able to recycle them accordingly. Ultimately, due to these reasons, only about 1% of all clothing produced is recycled back into new clothing.
So, try to choose sustainable materials and products made from monofibers, as they are easier to recycle than blends. When buying items made from natural fibers such as cotton, one should choose certified organic cotton. For instance, the GOTS certification ensures that the resource is grown without the use of pesticides and chemicals. Compared to conventionally grown cotton, on average organic cotton also requires significantly less water and energy for its production and cultivation.
Visiting second-hand stores is not only a great way to pick up a bargain, buying vintage clothes also gives the garment a second chance at life, prolonging its life span. This prevents textiles from ending up in landfills and contributes to the developments of recycling communities.
And in case one owns clothes or accessories no longer worn: well-preserved items can easily be passed on. Many social institutions collect old clothes. Or one can sell preloved pieces at second-hand stores, flea markets or online. However, avoid reinvesting the money generated through reselling in fast fashion (that would reverse your otherwise sustainable action).
Another environment friendly way to update your wardrobe is renting fashion items. By sharing clothes, one makes a contribution to a circular economy and thus to a more sustainable future.
Instead of throwing old pieces away, you can easily create new items from them with a little creativity. For example, an old t-shirt can be transformed into a pillowcase or a tote bag in next to no time. Upcycling thus helps to prolong the life span of fashion items and therefore reduces textile waste.
The way we do our laundry also impacts the environment. When plastic-based textiles are washed, thousands of fibers are released as microplastics and enter our water systems. It is estimated, that every year half a million tonnes of microplastics shed into the oceans due to the laundry process.
Washing garments with similar textures together and using special, finely pored laundry nets, not only protects your clothing by preventing friction, it also hinders microplastics from entering the water systems.
Further small behavioral changes can reduce the environmental impact of textiles. Even though today washing machines are more efficient than in earlier days, they still consume a lot of energy and water. Especially, washing and drying at high temperatures is energy-intensive. In order to save resources, it is therefore advisable to wash less frequently, reduce the washing temperature, wash full loads and to avoid tumble drying.
Did you know:
According to a report published by McKinsey, reduced washing and drying could save up to 186 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. To achieve that, consumers would have to skip one in six washing loads, wash half of the loads at less than 30 degrees and substitute every sixth dryer usage with air drying.
Online shopping is bad, retail is good – unfortunately, it is not that easy. Whether shopping online or offline is better in terms of greenhouse gas emissions depends on several individual factors and hence, is difficult to judge. Online shopping is frequently accused of not being sustainable. Increased packaging waste, long distances and especially returns have a negative impact on the environment. On average, one in six packages ordered is returned. This causes a large amount of emissions hazardous to the climate. According to a study, these are equivalent to the emissions that would be generated by 2200 daily car drives from Hamburg to Moscow.
However, due to the lighting and heating of sales areas and warehouses, as well as customers travelling by car, shopping in stores also causes carbon dioxide.
Scientific studies assess the environmental impacts of retail and e-commerce very differently. However, overall, they state that online shopping does not necessarily has to be more harmful than retail. In particular, the choice of means of transport and the size of shopping cart influence environmental impacts.
In order to be more sustainable, one should then walk, take public transport or ride by bike to shops and purchase larger quantities. When shopping online, this means placing collective orders and avoiding returns in order to reduce the environmental impact.
The fashion industry is booming: over 100 billion garments are produced globally every year. Whilst, in the last 15 years, clothing production has doubled, fashion cycles are getting shorter and shorter. The fast fashion phenomenon causes brands to launch up to 24 collections per year.
But these trends come at a cost: careless and uninformed consumption is taking a toll on the environment and its ecosystems– so ultimately, we are all affected. The textile industry is among the most environmentally hazardous sectors of all. In 2018, it emitted approximately 2.1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases. This is equivalent to the cumulative emissions of France, Germany and Great Britain.
Therefore, it is hardly surprising that sustainability has become a widely used buzzword – however, generalization often causes confusion. Although it is a known fact that conventionally produced clothing is harmful, it generally remains unclear where the problems stem from. Here are the biggest ways the fashion industry impacts the planet.
The industry’s system follows a principle of “take-make-dispose”. It operates in an almost fully linear way. The production of clothes consumes large amounts of resources. The vast majority of clothes, namely 97%, is still made from materials that have been explicitly produced for the purpose of clothing production. Thus, a total of 98 million tonnes of resources are used annually.
More than 70% of the environmental impact is caused by the energy-intensive production, processing and treatment of raw materials. Leather and other animal-derived are particularly harmful. This is illustrated by the HIGG Material Index, which compares the environmental impact of various materials in terms of climate influence, water use, energy use and eutrophication and classifies leather as the third most harmful material.
Furthermore, cotton farming usually involves the use of large quantities of pesticides, fertilizers and water. Every year, total textile production consumes around 93 billion cubic meters of water. This corresponds to about twice the volume of water in Lake Constance. In particular, this poses great challenges to regions where water is already scarce.
However, the negative effects go beyond the excessive use of resources. Several types of chemicals are used in various manufacturing processes, many of which have the potential to be toxic. The use of these substances of concern not only affects the health of farmers and textile workers, it also has serious ecological consequences. Large quantities of water containing toxic chemicals are released into the environment during production processes. Globally, 17 to 20% of industrial water pollution can be attributed to textile finishing. Untreated waste water contaminates local rivers also used for fishing, drinking or bathing.
By the time our clothes end up in stores and ultimately, in our closets, they usually have travelled all over the world. In addition to transport and distribution, washing our garments can also be ecologically damaging. When being washed, textiles made of synthetic materials such as polyester, nylon or acrylic release microfibers. Annually, approximately half a million tonnes of those fibers enter the oceans. Considering an item’s entire life cycle, it is estimated that the washing and drying of one kilogram of clothing generates eleven kilograms of greenhouse gases.
The fashion world is racing, fast-paced trends are dominating. The consequence: more than half of all clothing produced is disposed within years of being made. After their use, 73% of all garments end up in incinerators or landfills. The majority of reused material is utilized in downcycling processes and is used, for instance, for insulation material, wiping cloths or mattress fillings. However, those presumably constitute the final use as they are very difficult to recapture.
Less than 1% of the material used to produce clothing represents closed-loop recycling – meaning it is recycled into new clothing.
The real threat of climate change is often discussed – rightfully so, since the negative effects of the fashion industry are tremendous and potentially catastrophic. As stated in a study by the Circular Fibres Initiative, the environmental impact of textile supply chains will increase exponentially causing the textile industry to consume 26% of the global carbon budget by 2050.
Considering, the rapid developments in climate change, this would be disastrous and the crises ahead of us would not only increase in frequency but also intensity. This would result in further irreversible damages to our ecosystems, which are ultimately vital for our future.
Therefore, the fashion industry is in desperate need of disruptive processes, but first and foremost, it is in need of brands that are willing to take on responsibility - brands that are committing to implementing sustainability and transparency as integral parts of their businesses.
Conscious consumption is crucial in realizing a future worth living in. Sustainable fashion is more than just clothes, it is an expression of mindsets and reflects values one stands for.
You can find tips on how to shop more sustainably here. To learn more about our transparency efforts, click here.
The art lies in the symbiosis, not in the individual. We harmonize dichotomies and unite ethics and aesthetics into a balanced whole – our bags combine innovative, vegan materials, elegant design and consistent transparency.
It is not rare for a high-fashion bag to promise to satisfy the desire of a certain look and image whilst also being practical. What truly is rare, is a bag that combines these characteristics with a sustainable, ethical production. Thus, the Indy, Trudy and Angel bags are exclusive accessories for strong personalities who are willing to break down (invisible) boundaries and claim the well-known “seat-at-the-table”. All without harming the environment.
The campaign, shot in spring 2020, focuses on female empowerment and shifting mindsets. It mirrors the pluralism and complexity of female identities – everyone should feel addressed, no one should feel excluded. The images celebrate the uniqueness of the models, open a dialogue about female self-determination in the 21st century and transcend boundaries of consumerism.
The established is questioned. Dynamic perspectives encourage an alternative view of the familiar, highlighting the material essence and disarming elegance of the collection. The visual compositions are an expression of solid longevity on the one hand and new beginnings on the other.
Longevity and transseasonality are expressed in the design and materials of the bags. Sustainability and transparency are pillars of our philosophy. Hence, we made the conscious decision to cooperate solely with other sustainable brands for this campaign.
We are rethinking luxury – with an emphasis on transparency and sustainability, we are pursuing innovative pathways towards social and environmental responsibility.
The campaign was shot by Stephanie Braun who won the 2019 Vogue Talent in Photography Award. She captured the vision of the campaign in an interview:
“For me as a photographer, the campaign embodies one big keyword that originates in the essence of the label and the design of the bags: female empowerment. Modern women show up and claim their agency – with all their ambitions, wishes and values. They are not only unique in their to-do’s, but also in their style, appearance and background. Therefore, we intentionally chose three unique models to establish diversity. Each of them embodies individual strength, self-confidence and self-determination while at the same time conveying a sense of community and breaking with standardized and outdated ideals of beauty in the fashion world.”
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