THE STORY
BY GARMENT MAKERS
SUSTAINABLE FASHION. Obviously
We are not naive, we are believers.
We are convinced sustainability is not a choice; it is a way of living. Obviously, it is not easy to deliver high quality sustainable fashion at low prices. Even so, at the beginning of 2019, these three guys, all well experienced in the fashion industry, joined forces and began the journey of pioneering change in the fashion industry.
We aimed to create a sustainable basic menswear collection, accessible and affordable for everyone. Founded in the city of Aarhus, Denmark, the idea of challenging the status quo of sustainable menswear fashion took off, believing sustainability, affordability and longevity are features that can co-exist in a brand.
Sustainable menswear for everyone
Since a sustainable mindset has been in our DNA from the very beginning, it was obvious to us that BY GARMENT MAKERS is Scandinavian sustainable fashion accessible for everyone. Making sustainable clothes affordable became the driving force of the team.
As we decided to opt out of the “conventional” fashion business by offering slow fashion of organic cotton at affordable prices, new opportunities and ideas for making clothes arose, and the brand began to take form.
As we created BY GARMENT MAKERS, it was obvious to us that every decision we took needed to create value for men such as ourselves. Men with the same aspirations to taking care of people and nature.
The idea behind BY GARMENT MAKERS
Our aspirations to creating ethical and organic Scandinavian clothes made it clear that by finding a way of making prices affordable, we could make it even more accessible. We thoroughly ran through the supply chain and focusing on creating value for our customers, we divided each step of the way into “nice to have” and “need to have” and built the brand around “need to have”.
Today, we are often met with the question, “How can you offer such affordable prices and still be long lasting and sustainable?”. The desire to creating sustainable and organic basic clothes without compromising on high production quality made our decision easy. We had to cut down expenses somewhere else than on the clothes.
From conventional to fair fashion
At this point, we were determined never to spend money on magazine ads or big billboards as part of branding BY GARMENT MAKERS. Working with expensive agents and salespeople is also common in the clothing industry. We went for not using either one or the other, and at the same time, we decided never to participate in fashion fairs.
The philosophy of keeping the supply chain responsible and simple made us decide not to work with the samples business, producing way too many samples to sell in the collection.
Our driving force needed to be producing high quality sustainable basic menswear cutting all unnecessary costs. Every single decision was made to ensure that we always offer an ethical menswear collection at affordable prices, still long-lasting and of high quality.
With respect to the garment makers
The collaborative efforts of the whole value chain – from garment makers to consumer – are the only way to transforming the fashion industry into a responsible production.
The most important part of succeeding with ethical production is finding the right partners; the people who run the factories and produce our garments. The garment makers are the heartbeat of our brand, and it is essential that their rights reflect this ethos.
Today, we have partnered up with the best factories in Europe that back our intensions and share the idea of creating ethical and sustainable menswear. Out of respect for these (often overlooked) workers and to show our appreciation, we simply named our brand BY GARMENT MAKERS.
Who are these garment makers?
To us, it was a great feeling that the movement "Who made your clothes" was initiated, holding the same values as we seek to retain for BY GARMENT MAKERS. The garment makers mean a great deal to us as the incredible craftsmen they are, bringing life to the designs of our menswear collections.
Being a socially sustainable brand, finding the right partners is crucial to work towards changing the way clothing are sourced, produced and consumed. To BY GARMENT MAKERS, it is a necessity to collaborate with partners within Europe and avoid unnecessary long transportation to lower the CO2 emission. We work closely together with our partners and take pride in knowing and caring for them, well aware that our relentless work towards shifting fast fashion to sustainable consumption would not be possible without these European garment makers.
Sustainable fashion
Ethical, ecological and sustainable fashion is part of the process of fostering greater ecological integrity.
Many people think sustainability and fashion cannot co-exist. This is a stigma related to the issue.
Bucking the trend of fast fashion, BY GARMENT MAKERS ensures that the organic clothes we put into the world are designed to last, with sustainability in mind and affordability at the forefront of everything we do.
A statement of fair fashion
When good is not good enough. At BY GARMENT MAKERS, we use 100 % organic garments and 100% organic wool. But being a sustainable brand takes even more, as a GOTS certification is leading the sustainable way for fashion.
Behind the slightly bulk name GOTS – Global Organic Textile Standard – is the highest standard for sustainable textile production. BY GARMENT MAKERS has a uniform GOTS certification, just as our suppliers are certified. A GOTS approved production ensures that the entire supply chain of the clothes is certified, from cultivation to production, and the most important criteria for organic production and social responsibility are met.
Just a beginning
This is only the beginning og By Garment Makers' sustainable journey.
Read more about GOTS and CSR & SUSTAINABILITY.