Arlette Schmitz

Endorsed with the ​‘Ik koop Belgisch’ label, Arlette Schmitz supports local Belgian artisans. Sophie produces her collections locally in her Ghent workshop.

The fabrics come from European suppliers, ensuring local, ethically sourced materials. The brand strictly adheres to its code of conduct, while Arlette Schmitz also pays attention to suppliers’ certifications. At almost all fabric producers the brand works with, social conditions are monitored by GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) and BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) certification bodies.
This way, the brand can ensure safe working conditions and fair wages for everyone in the supply chain.

Furthermore, Arlette Schmitz promotes inclusivity. Centred around the female form, the designs are unisex, inviting binary and non-binary individuals to discover the Arlette Schmitz collection.

Arlette Schmitz buys fabrics from European suppliers focused on sustainability. Her collections feature natural (plant-based) materials like ramie and cotton, which have a smaller ecological impact than synthetic materials. Nevertheless, even these materials can have a negative impact, for example, due to using chemical pesticides or fertilisers in farming.

Vibrant designs often employ synthetic materials, with shimmering fabrics derived from polyester or polyamide. These materials, being derived from petroleum, have environmental drawbacks. They have a very energy-intensive and polluting production process. There is also the risk of microplastics being released every time the clothes are washed. However, synthetic materials are also paving the way for innovative recycling processes.

In some designs, Arlette Schmitz employs deadstock fabrics, which are excess materials from other producers. This way, the brand can use brilliant fabrics without needing new raw materials! Moreover, this helps prevent quality fabrics from simply ending up in landfills.

When designing new garments, Sophie always considers the recyclability of the items and materials. Using deadstock materials also helps the brand’s circular status.

Using mono-materials such as 100% cotton facilitates the recycling of clothes. With material blends, such as the combination of cotton and polyester, recycling is much more difficult because these materials must be separated.
Arlette Schmitz wants to use fewer material blends in the future to ensure that the clothes can be recycled more easily.

Besides this, the Belgian brand likes to experiment with upcycling discarded clothes. For example, by making dresses with old jeans. Other materials, such as fabric offcuts and buttons, are also reused in new garments.

To ensure that clothes are less likely to be discarded, Arlette Schmitz encourages you to repair your clothes when needed. You can even have your purchase repaired or altered in Arlette Schmitz’s own atelier!

Arlette Schmitz has a short supply chain, as all clothes are designed and made in the atelier in Ghent. The fabrics are sourced from European suppliers and producers like Spain, Italy, and France. The Belgian brand shared the names and locations of its fabric producers, allowing COSH! to map almost the entire supply chain!

Unfortunately, it is difficult for smaller brands like Arlette Schmitz to trace every step of the production process. For example, we do not know where the fabric producers are sourcing their raw materials, such as cotton fibres.

Arlette Schmitz’s clothes rarely contain any animal materials like wool. However, the buttons are made of mother-of-pearl. The advantage of mother-of-pearl buttons is that they are natural and theoretically also biodegradable.

Arlette Schmitz excels at slow fashion. The brand counterbalances the fast pace of fast fashion by launching new designs on its terms, ensuring collections endure beyond mere seasonal trends.

Production is always limited to avoid overstock. In doing so, the brand also does not participate in discount promotions or end-of-year sales.

Arlette Schmitz strives to make beautiful, high-quality clothes that you can enjoy for years. Designs often incorporate asymmetry, and Sophie’s unique play on forms and colours creates distinctive pieces.

The clothes are designed and developed for women, but the brand does not rule out the possibility that the clothes could also be suitable as unisex clothes. The brand invites everyone, binary and non-binary, to step into the world of Arlette Schmitz!

For boutique brands like Arlette Schmitz, achieving transparency can be challenging. Yet, in collaboration with COSH!, she has disclosed the names and locations of all her fabric suppliers.

This allows the brand to offer total transparency on almost all steps in its supply chain. Furthermore, the brand’s local production atelier provides a clear insight into the handmade production process.