All items sold on leotielovely.com
are vintage, re-purposed, upcycled or recycled.
Leotie Lovely is an ethical label primarily using re-purposed vintage, deadstock and eco-friendly fabrics/components for production of Leotie Lovely clutches and re-purposed clothing items.
Limited Edition/One-Of-A-Kind: All Leotie Lovely products are limited edition or one-of-a-kind due to the use of vintage materials.
Fabric: The fabrics used by Leotie Lovely are either re-purposed vintage or fabric deadstock purchased from charity shops. The lining fabric used is deadstock/scraps from UK based designers, charity shops or fabric shops. Fabric production 'waste' from Leotie Lovely production is donated to a local nursery for children's crafts.
Felt: Many of the clutches feature felt between the lining and outer materials to add weight and thickness. All felt used in Leotie Lovely products are made from Eco-fi Kunin felt which is a high-quality fiber made from 100% post-consumer recycled and BPA-free plastic bottles. Felt production 'waste' from Leotie Lovely production is donated to a local nursery for children's crafts.
Leather: The leather fringing (all hand fringed by me wherever I be) and detailing is created with deadstock leather and scraps from UK furniture and fashion manufacturing. All leather's used in Leotie Lovely products is a bio-product of the British Meat Industry and comes from bovine animals. Leather production 'waste' from Leotie Lovely's manufacturing is donated to UK based
jewellery designers including EA BURNS & MARIA SIKSTROM
Zippers: Leotie Lovely uses deadstock zippers from vintage haberdasheries and charity shops, or (if bought new) YKK zippers. YKK's zipper chain and slider are made from recycled materials and as there are no metal components, the zippers used for Leotie Lovely products can easily be broken down. This components are made from PET bottles, old fiber and other polyester remnants.
Beading: Beads on Leotie Lovely products are re-purposed from charity shops or purchased new from fairtrade eco-friendly bead shops.
Bone: A bio-product of bovine meat processing. The hand carved buffalo or ox bone pieces seen on SS13 Leotie Lovely products utilize the waste of unwanted bones, turning refuse into an income sufficient for supporting artisans from a sustainable source, while reducing waste. These were purchased directly from an artisan named Wayan in Ubud while travelling in Bali, Indonesia.
Dye: The hand dyed items seen on SS13 Leotie Lovely products are dyed with Dylon Eco Reactive Dyes, known as a low impact dye and classified by Oeko-Tex Standard 100 as eco-friendly. These dyes are free from heavy metals and AZO's. However, we know we can do better by working with natural dyes from a fairtrade source and will be sourcing these dyes for our SS14 collection.
Clasps: Leotie Lovely uses antique brass magnetic clasps produced in Britain and purchased from a local haberdashery. We have yet to find an eco-friendly option for magnetic clasps, but we will continue to search for a suitable component made from recycled deadstock or develop another option for fastening. Any suggestions or leads on this subject would be greatly appreciated. Please email [email protected] with any suggestions.
Labels: Leotie Lovely has purchased labels from a graphic designer based in the UK. Unfortunately the eco-label manufacturers we found had minimums too high for our limited edition collections. So, in effort to reduce waste, we chose to support a small local business. We will continue to search for new labels made from natural self-sustaining products and printed with soy ink when we come close to selling 100 clutches (and depleting what we have). Any suggestions or leads on small run eco-friendly labels would be greatly appreciated. Please email [email protected] with any suggestions.
Packaging: All items are shipped in re-purposed grocery bags / recycled kraft paper scraps lined with re-purposed plastic bags and in the case of the clutches, recycled bubble wrap. All packages are tied with eco-friendly, bio-degradable twine.
Leotie Lovely is an ethical label primarily using re-purposed vintage, deadstock and eco-friendly fabrics/components for production of Leotie Lovely clutches and re-purposed clothing items.
Limited Edition/One-Of-A-Kind: All Leotie Lovely products are limited edition or one-of-a-kind due to the use of vintage materials.
Fabric: The fabrics used by Leotie Lovely are either re-purposed vintage or fabric deadstock purchased from charity shops. The lining fabric used is deadstock/scraps from UK based designers, charity shops or fabric shops. Fabric production 'waste' from Leotie Lovely production is donated to a local nursery for children's crafts.
Felt: Many of the clutches feature felt between the lining and outer materials to add weight and thickness. All felt used in Leotie Lovely products are made from Eco-fi Kunin felt which is a high-quality fiber made from 100% post-consumer recycled and BPA-free plastic bottles. Felt production 'waste' from Leotie Lovely production is donated to a local nursery for children's crafts.
Leather: The leather fringing (all hand fringed by me wherever I be) and detailing is created with deadstock leather and scraps from UK furniture and fashion manufacturing. All leather's used in Leotie Lovely products is a bio-product of the British Meat Industry and comes from bovine animals. Leather production 'waste' from Leotie Lovely's manufacturing is donated to UK based
jewellery designers including EA BURNS & MARIA SIKSTROM
Zippers: Leotie Lovely uses deadstock zippers from vintage haberdasheries and charity shops, or (if bought new) YKK zippers. YKK's zipper chain and slider are made from recycled materials and as there are no metal components, the zippers used for Leotie Lovely products can easily be broken down. This components are made from PET bottles, old fiber and other polyester remnants.
Beading: Beads on Leotie Lovely products are re-purposed from charity shops or purchased new from fairtrade eco-friendly bead shops.
Bone: A bio-product of bovine meat processing. The hand carved buffalo or ox bone pieces seen on SS13 Leotie Lovely products utilize the waste of unwanted bones, turning refuse into an income sufficient for supporting artisans from a sustainable source, while reducing waste. These were purchased directly from an artisan named Wayan in Ubud while travelling in Bali, Indonesia.
Dye: The hand dyed items seen on SS13 Leotie Lovely products are dyed with Dylon Eco Reactive Dyes, known as a low impact dye and classified by Oeko-Tex Standard 100 as eco-friendly. These dyes are free from heavy metals and AZO's. However, we know we can do better by working with natural dyes from a fairtrade source and will be sourcing these dyes for our SS14 collection.
Clasps: Leotie Lovely uses antique brass magnetic clasps produced in Britain and purchased from a local haberdashery. We have yet to find an eco-friendly option for magnetic clasps, but we will continue to search for a suitable component made from recycled deadstock or develop another option for fastening. Any suggestions or leads on this subject would be greatly appreciated. Please email [email protected] with any suggestions.
Labels: Leotie Lovely has purchased labels from a graphic designer based in the UK. Unfortunately the eco-label manufacturers we found had minimums too high for our limited edition collections. So, in effort to reduce waste, we chose to support a small local business. We will continue to search for new labels made from natural self-sustaining products and printed with soy ink when we come close to selling 100 clutches (and depleting what we have). Any suggestions or leads on small run eco-friendly labels would be greatly appreciated. Please email [email protected] with any suggestions.
Packaging: All items are shipped in re-purposed grocery bags / recycled kraft paper scraps lined with re-purposed plastic bags and in the case of the clutches, recycled bubble wrap. All packages are tied with eco-friendly, bio-degradable twine.
Fair wage: All
employees/contractors working for/with Leotie Lovely are paid £10.00/hour (UK minimum wage is £6.19) regardless
of their role. All component products purchased for production (apart
recycled, repurposed or vintage products) are certified fairtrade.
Cashmere:
The cashmere used in Leotie Lovely products comes from a lovely woman on a farm
in Devon, United Kingdom where the fibres are treated with as much care as the
rare animals who produce them. You can read about the farm here
Paying It Forward: Leotie Lovely invests 10% of every sale a Kiva entrepreneur at the end of each season. Kiva is a non-profit organization which works towards alleviating poverty around the world with micro finance loans. All loan repayments from seasonal Leotie Lovely loans will be recycled back into the Kiva system. Customers purchasing from Leotie Lovely will be updated post season on the story of the individual(s) benefiting from their Leotie Lovely purchase.
All products sold on Leotie Lovely are as ethical as possible but we strive
to continuously improve through research and your suggestion. Please
don't hesitate to drop us a line!