Capsule Studio

Capsule Studio is a 100% European brand. They only work with partners they have visited themselves and they constantly monitor quality, sustainability, and fair working conditions there.

The brand mostly produces in a small factory based in Warsaw, Poland. The brand owners have a close connection with this factory in order to find the right fabrics, patterns and cuts to deliver you good quality clothing. The Polish factory also plays an important role for employment within the local community there, that’s why Capsule Studio is proud to work with them.

Another factory Capsule Studio works with is located in Portugal, which is supposed to be GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified. Thanks to the GOTS label and European production and regulations, we can be sure that Capsule Studio’s clothes are produced in fair working conditions. Do you want to know more about organic cotton? Then be sure to read the COSH! blogpost about it!

The brand also conducts manufacturing in a factory in Riga, Latvia, who they also have a long relationship with. 

All clothes are made either from natural, organic or from deadstock materials and they are made to last, quality is key! 

The power suits are made from deadstock materials, the composition of this material exists out of viscose, polyester and elastane. This blend on itself is not very sustainable, since it’s not recyclable or biodegradable and there are more sustainable alternatives for these fibres such as Ecovero viscose and recycled polyester. However, because it concerns deadstock, we can look at it differently, no new raw materials needed to be used for this. Besides, it contributes to the quality and comfort of the suits, no need to steam or iron them all the time.

Then they have the cosy suits. These are made of high quality wool sourced from Portugal, which makes them possibly recyclable! They also have many products using deadstock wool as well. 

The tags on the clothing items are made from recycled paper and the shipping bags are biodegradable. Their buttons are also made of a bioresin material, which is a more sustainable option as compared to its conventional alternatives. 

This brand has many products that are material-blends, which are hard to recycle at the end of use, however as these are all deadstock materials they already contribute to the brands circularity. The brand also has many monomaterial clothing which makes the garments more easily recyclable later on. 

Capsule Studio operates from Amsterdam, and limits all of its manufacturing and sourcing to within Europe. While we still do not know of their raw material sources which makes the true length of the chain unverifiable, their efforts to keep their sourcing within Europe already goes a long way. The brand also does not mention their methods of transportation, however.

Capsule Studio has a line of garments made from Wool, some of it deadstock and some virgin wool. While the brand does not explicitly say anything regarding the ethical sourcing of the wool, they provide us with the names of the suppliers, which makes it easy for us to verify their efforts in sourcing ethical procured wool. That being said, none of the wool carries a mulesing free certificate.

If you say Capsule Studio, you say slow fashion! The clothes are made to last, quality wise and design wise. The style is fashion forward and slightly oversized. The iconic suits have a timeless and tailored fit, the colours vary from daring and popping to more pastel and neutral. So you can pick a colour that suits your personality and empowers you the most! For cosy suits, they now also sell unisex clothes, whereas the power suits are meant to be worn by women.

In terms of business model and collections, Capsule Studio aims to create limited quantities in a responsible way, that’s why they work with small production partners and don’t mass produce, they also try to choose more sustainable logistics methods. The collections are continuous, although colours sometimes change and for the seasons, there’s extra collections as well, such as the linen collection. 

Capsule Studio is pretty transparent, but they can still improve in this section as well. They describe their production locations clearly and they also post pictures of these on their Instagram, however they don’t mention the exact names. However, they do mention their supplier names and details, which is a big plus point for the brand. 

In terms of transparency regarding materials and pricing, they offer more detailed information. They always explain the materials and composition of them. For pricing they say 30% of the price goes to manufacturing, 10% to marketing, 4% for admin and logistics, 21% to VAT and the rest is reinvested in the business to create new products. It’s unique that Capsule Studio is so transparent about this!