La Femme Garniture

All of La Femme Garniture’s products are produced in their Belgian workshop, part of the collection being hand-knitted. 

Because the production is done in Belgium, there are good working conditions and fair wages. In other words, the brand works ethically and locally!

Most of La Femme Garniture’s collection is made of merino wool. The blankets, scarves and hats are especially made of 100% merino wool. This is a soft type of wool derived from the merino sheep. Merino wool is a natural material and lasts a long time, which also makes the material durable.

In some scarves, the brand combines the merino wool with viscose. Viscose is not always durable, depending on how it was made and from what. Viscose is made from cellulose material, which often comes from eucalyptus trees. Growing eucalyptus forests is often detrimental to local biodiversity and also poses a risk of forest fires. Still, viscose is a more sustainable choice than synthetic materials such as polyester.

Other natural materials used in La Femme Garniture’s collection are cotton and linen. These may be natural materials, but growing cotton unfortunately requires a lot of chemicals. Linen requires fewer chemicals, making it more sustainable than conventional cotton. Sustainable alternatives to cotton are organic and recycled cotton.

La Femme Garniture also uses a synthetic material in their collection. In their bags and pillows, polyamide is mixed with the natural materials. Polyamide is made from petroleum. This is a very strong material, which is why La Femme Garniture uses it in their bags to improve its quality. Synthetic materials have the risk of releasing microplastics during washing, but since you don’t need to wash a bag often, La Femme Garniture limits this risk.

Most of La Femme Garniture’s collection does well in terms of circularity. All products made from 100% merino wool are easily recyclable and are even biodegradable. The latter does depend on the chemicals used during the dyeing process. 

A small part of the collection is less circular, especially the bags and pillows. When different materials are combined, it makes the product more difficult to recycle. When synthetic and natural materials are mixed this is all the more so, as the product is then also not biologically degradable, which a 100% natural product would be.

La Femme Garniture produces their collection themselves, locally, in Belgium. Thus, the brand has a very short supply chain. However, we cannot form a complete picture of the supply chain because no information is known about the origin of the materials. It is possible that the materials travel a long distance to the production workshop in Belgium. For example, Australia and New Zealand are the largest producing countries of merino wool.

La Femme Garniture uses merino and sheep’s wool in their products. Unfortunately, the brand does not share information about the origin of these materials. As a result, COSH! cannot estimate the welfare of the animals and the conditions in which they live.

La Femme Garniture uses quality materials in their products. In this way, the brand wants to ensure that their products have a longer lifespan. La Femme Garniture also provides specific maintenance tips. With these, you can ensure that your purchase stays beautiful for a long time.

One such tip is that you don’t need to wash your scarf and hat often because wool has self-cleaning properties. When you do want to wash your purchase, it is best to do it by hand and at low temperature.

La Femme Garniture’s designs are modern and colorful. The contemporary style provides a fresh twist to the classic products. This combination of traditional style with modern elements makes La Femme Garniture completely timeless.

La Femme Garniture does not score well on transparency. There is no information about the origin of the materials used. As a result, there is also no information about the conditions in which the wool is obtained. The possible presence of chemical substances is also not known.