Loop.a life works locally as much as possible and is also a proud member of Amsterdam Made. The collections are designed in their Amsterdam office. The brand also collaborates with Social Enterprise NL. This is an organization that supports companies to engage in social entrepreneurship. As a result, several processes in the production of the Loop.a life collection are carried out by people with a distance to the labour market.
Much of the production takes place in the Netherlands. For example, textile collection, sorting and cleaning are done by local partners. The products are designed in Amsterdam and also partly knitted in the Netherlands.All other production partners are also located in Europe. The clothes are mechanically recycled in Southern Europe before being spun in France and Italy. Finally, Loop.a life collaborates with Dutch and Portuguese manufacturers to knit the garments.
Loop.a life also collaborates with other local partners. In a collaboration with it Erfskip, the brand designed the Fryske jumper in honour of Leeuwarden Culture Capital 2018. Together with Enschede Textielstad, the brand is exploring the possibility of adding recycled, woven products to its collection.
Only a small proportion of all clothing and textile waste is recycled into new clothes. Loop.a life wants to change this and has developed an innovative recycling and production process for post-consumer clothing waste. As a result, the Loop.a life collection consists of no less than 65% recycled clothing. Much of this comes from locally collected clothing.
Loop.a life cooperates with Dutch collection partners to collect discarded clothing. These clothes are cleaned by volunteers, removing all buttons and zips are cut out of the clothes. Loop.a life uses a mechanical recycling process that shreds the clothes into fibres. With this, new yarns can be spun to make clothes. In this process, the garments are also sorted by colour, this way colours can be composed and the new material does not have to be dyed.To reduce their own production waste, Loop.a life uses a fully fashioned knitting process. This means that each component is machine-knitted and sewn together in its entirety.
To improve the quality of their products, Loop.a life mixes other materials with the recycled fibres. This makes for stronger yarns and prolongs the life of the products.
To do so, the brand uses recycled polyester from PET bottles and recycled polyamide, among others. While these materials are recycled, they are still not entirely sustainable due to their synthetic composition.
In addition, Loop.a life also uses more natural materials in their designs. The Luxury Knits collection, for example, uses alpaca wool. This gives the jumpers a soft and luxurious feel. The brand also uses lyocell in their collections. This is a viscose made from the wood pulp of eucalyptus trees.
Loop.a life sets the example in circularity. They use discarded clothes as raw materials for their collections. You can also bring in your own clothes to Loop.a life. The brand works with local textile sorters to sort non-reusable clothes for recycling.
Because recycled fibres have a lower quality, it is necessary to combine with a new raw material. Unfortunately, the addition of synthetic materials makes the clothes more difficult to recycle after use. As this is mainly the case with woven clothes, Loop.a life’s knitted jumpers are possible to recycle.
Loop.a life has a short supply chain as the brand only works with European producers. Much of it even takes place in the Netherlands itself!
The clothes are collected in the Netherlands, sorted and cleaned by volunteers. It is then ground into fibres and spun in Southern Europe. Some of the knitting of the clothes themselves also takes place in Portugal. Smaller runs are produced in the Netherlands.To work even more locally, Loop.a life’s parent company, Bright Fiber, plans to build its own factory in the Netherlands. So in the future, their collection will be even closer byl!
Loop.a life mainly uses recycled wool. This material is animal-friendly as no animals are directly involved in the production process. Recycling wool jumpers also reduces the need for ‘new’ wool.
In part of the collection, the brand also uses alpaca wool. This is a very soft and strong type of wool used to give the jumpers a softer feel. This Luxury Knits collection therefore has a luxurious feel thanks to the alpaca wool used in it. Unfortunately, it is not clear where this alpaca wool comes from and what conditions the animals live in.Loop.a life’s designs are modern, elegant and timeless. The collection features several styles including basic essentials, elegant women’s jumpers and the bolder ‘wadden’ jumper. The brand also has knitted accessories such as hats and scarves in their collection.
Through their various collaborations, Loop.a life incorporates traditional elements into their collection. For example, the traditional flax processing of Friesland is incorporated in the lines of the Fryske jumper. And the pattern in the ‘Wadden’ jumper is inspired by the shapes of a dry tidal flat (called wadden in dutch).Loop.a life attaches great importance to the quality of their products. The materials are researched and tested to ensure they are long-lasting. The brand also provides washing info so you can take care of your purchase in the best way.
Loop.a life is very transparent about their production process and materials. All production countries are also listed on the website.
The only downside is the unknown origin of the alpaca wool, so we can’t forma a full picture of the animal welfare.Zaključak
Discover Loop.a life’s circular knitwear! The Dutch brand recycles discarded clothing into a new, timeless collection, made locally in Europe. Find where to shop the collection on the map below:
