Closing the Loop with Tonlé

Ah rayon, the fabric that everyone loves for its versatility and comfort…now available guilt free because it’s recycled. @anoushka rocked this Nary dress on our glamping excursion in Bodega Bay last month. Thanks @talmcgowan for coordinating! #glamping #sustainablefashion #remnantfabric #zerowastefashion #everythreadmatters

A photo posted by tonlé (@tonledesign) on Oct 28, 2016 at 12:31pm PDT

The Huffington Post recently introduced us to a sustainable fashion story we absolutely had to pass along. The brand Tonlé is doing something called “closing the loop”, which essentially means that the materials left over from creating their clothing is then turned into more clothing. This concept of removing waste from the garment industry has been an interest of ours for a long time and Tonlé’s approach is particularly fascinating because they are also using rejected cuttings from other manufacturers.

For a little more information, here’s an excerpt from the Huffington Post’s article:

Industry experts estimate that anywhere from 15 to 20 percent of material used to produce clothing ends up “on the cutting room floor” because it’s cheaper to toss than recycle, according to The New York Times. Large manufacturers might deem these scraps unusable because they look damaged or too small.

In Cambodia, vendors who sell goods in local remnant markets can make arrangements with a factory to collect its scraps, or they can retrieve discards from factories’ outdoor trash bins.

When Tonlé’s staff go to the markets, they’re searching for fabrics that will be easy to sew together without looking like they come from a bunch of different sources.

As always, when companies attempt to go against the status quo, they can’t compete on price point, but they can compete with quality. The article talks about how they simply can’t keep their prices as low as large companies selling a t-shirt for $5, but they more than make up for it with the quality of their products and by reminding their customers why their shirts cost somewhere closer to $30.

If you’ve been reading our blog, you’ll know that we are big proponents of quality over quantity and of eco-friendly over easy. Our green cleaning services ensure that you can close your own personal loop by buying and then maintaining your clothing in an eco-friendly way. Check out our Green Cleaning Options!