New Optimist

At New Opti­mist, put­ting soci­al impact at the fore­front is a core prin­ci­ple. The­ir Ams­ter­dam stu­dio is more than just a wor­ks­pa­ce – it’s a hub of oppor­tu­ni­ti­es, par­ti­cu­lar­ly desig­ned to wel­co­me indi­vi­du­als who are dis­tan­ced from the job mar­ket or come from migrant bac­k­gro­un­ds. Thro­ugh a col­la­bo­ra­ti­on with Mat­ch and Work, along with the guidan­ce of an on-site coach, New Opti­mist is dedi­ca­ted to ste­ering people towar­ds meanin­g­ful roles wit­hin the workforce.

This inno­va­ti­ve appro­ach has yiel­ded remar­ka­ble suc­cess, leading New Opti­mist to expand its ate­li­er’s hori­zons. In 2022, they made a leap to a lar­ger spa­ce, now known as the NO-kle­din­g­fa­bri­ek (NO Clot­hing Fac­tory). This expan­si­on allows them not only to pro­du­ce the­ir own col­lec­ti­ons but also extend the­ir exper­ti­se to craf­ting lines for other clot­hing bran­ds. By doing so, they’re paving the way for more bran­ds to embra­ce local, soci­al­ly con­s­ci­ous pro­duc­ti­on.

When it comes to the mate­ri­als that bring the­ir cre­ati­ons to life, New Opti­mist takes meti­cu­lo­us care. They sour­ce recy­cled and orga­nic cot­ton fibres, which are impor­ted from Chi­na. The­se fibres are woven by a pro­du­cer cer­ti­fi­ed by both the Glo­bal Orga­nic Texti­le Stan­dard (GOTS) and the Inter­na­ti­onal Labo­ur Stan­dar­ds (ILO). Fol­lowing this eco-ethi­cal jour­ney, the fabrics are tran­s­por­ted to the Net­her­lan­ds and tran­sfor­med into stun­ning clot­hing pieces. This pro­cess ensu­res that every step in cre­ating New Opti­mis­t’s gar­ments alig­ns with the­ir strong ethi­cal commitment.

The­ir clot­hing is craf­ted from 100% cot­ton, a natu­ral sin­gle mate­ri­al that brin­gs with it a remar­ka­ble advan­ta­ge – recy­cla­bi­lity and biode­gra­da­bi­lity! Even more impre­ssi­ve is that this cot­ton blend inclu­des recy­cled and orga­nic com­po­nents. The­ir orga­nic cot­ton car­ri­es the pres­ti­gi­ous GOTS cer­ti­fi­ca­ti­on, guaran­te­eing its purity by being free from pes­ti­ci­des and har­m­ful che­mi­cals. For tho­se curi­ous to del­ve deeper into the won­ders of orga­nic cot­ton, a com­pre­hen­si­ve explo­ra­ti­on awa­its in our mate­ri­al-focu­sed blog post.

Even the tags of New Opti­mis­t’s cre­ati­ons play a role in the­ir cir­cu­lar appro­ach. The­se tags are craf­ted from the­ir own excess mate­ri­als, then ador­ned with scre­en-prin­ting at anot­her soci­al­ly con­s­ci­ous Dut­ch wor­k­shop. And that’s not all – even the stit­c­hing is a part of the sus­ta­ina­bi­lity nar­ra­ti­ve. Tra­di­ti­onal­ly com­po­sed of syn­t­he­tic polyes­ter, New Opti­mist bre­aks the mould by uti­li­sing cot­ton yarn for stit­c­hing, clo­sing the loop on cir­cu­la­rity. The lit­tle thin­gs make a sig­ni­fi­cant impact, and New Opti­mist embra­ces this ethos wholeheartedly.

New Opti­mist does­n’t just design for style – they design with cir­cu­la­rity in mind. The­ir com­mit­ment to this appro­ach is soli­di­fi­ed thro­ugh three fun­da­men­tal cir­cu­lar design prin­ci­ples: craf­ting pro­duc­ts that ste­er cle­ar of was­te and pol­lu­ti­on, cre­ating dura­ble gar­ments built to stand the test of time, uti­li­sing recy­cled mate­ri­als, and ensu­ring the­ir pro­duc­ts can be recy­cled once aga­in.

A dis­tin­c­ti­ve featu­re of New Opti­mis­t’s ethos is the­ir exclu­si­ve use of natu­ral mate­ri­als. By using the­se mate­ri­als, the clot­hing does­n’t just exu­de style – it’s also biode­gra­da­ble. This means that no micro­plas­tics are shed into the envi­ron­ment during washing or once the clot­hing reac­hes its end in a landfill.

But the inno­va­ti­on does­n’t stop the­re. New Opti­mist is set to fur­t­her revo­lu­ti­oni­se the indus­try by intro­du­cing a depo­sit sys­tem for the­ir clot­hing by the clo­se of 2023. This visi­onary ini­ti­ati­ve has ear­ned pra­ise from COSH!. It’s impor­tant to note that the impact of this depo­sit sys­tem will be fac­to­red into New Opti­mis­t’s cir­cu­la­rity eva­lu­ati­on once it’s implemented.

In essen­ce, New Opti­mist is more than a label; it’s a dri­ving for­ce in cir­cu­lar fashi­on, con­ti­nu­ous­ly evol­ving to set new ben­c­h­mar­ks in this pro­gre­ssi­ve arena.

All clot­hes are made in the NO-kle­din­g­fa­bri­ek in Ams­ter­dam with cot­ton fibres ethi­cal­ly sour­ced in Chi­na.

New Opti­mis­t’s clot­hing stan­ds pro­ud­ly devo­id of any ani­mal-deri­ved ele­ments. The enti­re brand is PETA-appro­ved vegan. All of the bran­d’s fabrics are of natu­ral ori­gin and plant-based.

At New Opti­mist, expect a fusi­on of time­less ele­gan­ce and dis­tin­c­ti­ve fla­ir—pic­tu­re swe­aters ador­ned with seams in unexpec­ted pla­ces or vibrant colo­ur pat­c­hes that bre­at­he life into cla­ssic desig­ns. The brand intro­du­ces fresh styles every fort­nig­ht, each piece meti­cu­lo­us­ly craf­ted in limi­ted quan­ti­ti­es to ste­er cle­ar of over­pro­duc­ti­on and excess stock.

Nota­bly, New Opti­mis­t’s cre­ati­ons tran­s­cend tra­di­ti­onal gen­der lines. With dedi­ca­ted women’s, men’s, and uni­sex col­lec­ti­ons, inclu­si­vity is woven into the­ir fabric – ensu­ring that the­re’s somet­hing for everyone.

Built to wit­h­s­tand the test of time, the­se gar­ments exu­de quality. To make them endu­re even lon­ger, don’t miss the­ir pro tips for achi­eving ​“lon­ge­vity.” And sho­uld your New Opti­mist piece ever need a lit­tle TLC, fear not. The brand offers com­pli­men­tary repa­irs, ensu­ring your che­ri­shed gar­ments rema­in in top form.

But New Opti­mist goes beyond being just a label; it’s an expe­ri­en­ce. By invol­ving you in cre­ating, they help you del­ve into the craf­t­sman­ship behind your atti­re, reve­aling the story and value it hol­ds. This inti­ma­te con­nec­ti­on nur­tu­res an appre­ci­ati­on that exten­ds beyond mere clot­hing. So, dra­pe your­self in New Opti­mist and beco­me a beacon of posi­ti­vity, wearing more than just fashi­on – wearing optimism.

Tran­s­pa­ren­cy is more than a value at New Opti­mist; it’s a guiding prin­ci­ple. The­ir missi­on? To invi­te cus­to­mers into the very heart of the gar­ment-making jour­ney, shed­ding lig­ht on the ori­gins of the­ir clot­hes and the genu­ine cost behind them.

But that’s not all – New Opti­mist is set­ting its sig­h­ts on even gre­ater tran­s­pa­ren­cy in the days ahe­ad. The­ir ambi­ti­on? To bes­tow con­su­mers with com­ple­te tra­ce­abi­lity for every sin­gle gar­ment. It’s a com­men­da­ble aspi­ra­ti­on that aims to con­nect people even more deeply to the clot­hes they wear. At pre­sent, each gar­ment car­ri­es a story tag, reve­aling the skil­led han­ds that bro­ug­ht it to life in New Opti­mis­t’s Ams­ter­dam atelier.