FRii shirt

Production Locations

• Grosseto, Italy (Francesca’s own studio, where design and most of the production take place)
• Occasional support from small artisanal workshops in Tuscany and Sicily, Italy

Working Conditions & Living Wages

FRii shirt is essentially a one-woman label. Francesca designs every model and produces most of the garments herself in her own studio. For selected pieces, she occasionally works with small artisanal makers in Tuscany and Sicily, with whom she maintains close contact and whom she visits from time to time. For services such as photography and laundering, FRii shirt relies on local professionals.

As production takes place in Italy, EU labour law applies.

FRii shirt is planning a collaboration with incarcerated women.

Materials

• Cotton from discarded hotel and resort sheets
• Heirloom textiles: old family trousseaus and vintage tablecloths
• Semolina-based buttons, produced in Barcelona, Spain
• Polyester labels
• Polyester sewing thread

FRii shirt buys sheets with small defects that no longer meet resort standards from industrial laundries. The brand says the sheets can come from Italy, depending on availability. According to the brand, over 10 million kilos of laundry linen end up in European landfills every year.

Upcycling existing fabric means no new cotton has to be grown for these garments.

According to the brand, its semolina-based buttons are plastic-free and potentially recyclable.

Packaging

• FRii shirt makes its shirt bags from the same sheet as the shirt itself, finished with an embroidered logo. Leftover fabric also becomes tags, shoppers and business cards.
• For shipping, FRii shirt reuses leftover boxes. 
• Within the supply chain, cardboard boxes are used.

Water Usage & Chemicals

Because FRii shirt upcycles existing sheets, no new fabric has to be produced for its shirts. That means no extra water, chemicals or energy for growing, spinning or weaving new cotton. 

Circular Product Design

FRii shirt works fully with upcycled and pre-existing materials. 

FRii shirt relies on mono-material fabric: according to the brand, its sheets are made from 100% cotton. The semolina-based buttons are also plant-derived. The exceptions are the polyester label and the polyester sewing thread. As they consist of a different fibre, they can complicate recycling at the end of the garment’s life. Removing the label before recycling helps to address this.

FRii shirt says it produces very little waste. Offcuts become tags, shoppers and materials for its workshops and labs. Final scraps are donated to mechanical workshops to use as cleaning cloths. 

Circular Business Models

• Reworked Studio: prototypes, pieces with small cosmetic flaws, older models and design studies are sold as one-offs at a reduced price. Some are reworked with embroidery or tailoring.
• FRii shirt Heritage: an archive of past designs that can be made on request.
• Heirloom Linen: old family linens get a second life as one-of-a-kind dresses and skirts.
• Repair: FRii shirt offers a repair service, and every shirt comes with a spare button.

Distance & Complexity of the Supply Chain

• Production locations: Grosseto, Italy (own studio), with occasional support from workshops in Tuscany and Sicily
• Buttons: Barcelona, Spain
• FRii shirt HQ is located in Grosseto, Italy

Transportation

• Transportation in the supply chain: The supply chain is short and mostly based in Italy. Sheets come from industrial laundries in Italy, and the buttons come from Barcelona. Most of the production takes place in Francesca’s own studio. When she works with a Tuscan workshop, she collects the garments herself, while pieces from Sicily are sent by post.
• Transportation in e‑commerce: FRii shirt ships its orders via local postal service providers.

The brand does not use animal-derived fibres. 

Product Design

FRii shirt makes shirts, dresses, skirts, trousers, shorts, tops and a short jacket. The brand describes the shirt as a garment with no season and no gender, and it offers women’s and men’s models. Everything comes in white, with classic, timeless cuts.

Slow Fashion Processes

FRii shirt works with made-to-order mini collections that sit outside the fashion calendar. The best sellers are always available but produced in small batches. The brand says this is to avoid overstock and waste. 

Transparency on Product

Each product page lists the material composition, a detailed fit description and a size chart. Customers can also personalise their garment directly on the product page, for example by choosing the embroidery position and colour or requesting individual modifications. 

Transparency on Processes

FRii shirt explains where its sheets, buttons and labels come from, how every sheet is checked by hand and how leftover fabric is reused. The brand also shares its made-to-order approach and its in-house design and production process.

Much of FRii shirt’s transparency comes from direct, personal contact: customers are invited to reach out to designer Francesca Riillo herself with questions or requests, so costumers can find out more about their garment straight from the source.