RE-GARDE

PRO­DUC­TI­ON LOCATIONS 

• Por­tu­gal 
• Chi­na
• India 
• Italy 
• The Net­her­lan­ds 

The RE-GAR­DE col­lec­ti­ons and pro­totypes are desig­ned by Lin in her stu­dio in Ams­ter­dam, whe­re she also makes the pro­totypes. The fabrics used are sour­ced from and tran­sfor­med in Por­tu­gal, Chi­na, India, and the Netherlands. 

WOR­KING CON­DI­TI­ONS & LIVING WAGES

RE-GAR­DE sta­tes that Lin keeps in clo­se con­tact with all pro­du­cers to ensu­re the clot­hes are made in safe and fair wor­king con­di­ti­ons, and she per­so­nal­ly visits seve­ral pro­du­cers. Due to this clo­se, per­so­nal con­tact, she for­ges las­ting rela­ti­on­ships with everyo­ne invol­ved and can guaran­tee that the clot­hes are made safely. 

RE-GAR­DE sta­tes that they are inves­ti­ga­ting how to offer more tran­s­pa­ren­cy abo­ut the­ir pro­duc­ti­on pro­cess and the cos­ts of making the clothes.

MATE­RI­ALS 

• Cot­ton 
• Orga­nic cotton 
• Vis­co­se 
• Lyo­cell 
• Recy­cled polyester 
• Wool 

RE-GAR­DE sta­tes that they care­ful­ly cho­ose fabrics that are com­po­sed enti­rely of natu­ral fibres. You’ll find hard­ly any syn­t­he­tic fibres like polyes­ter in the clot­hes, alt­ho­ugh RE-GAR­DE some­ti­mes uses recy­cled polyes­ter as pad­ding for the­ir jackets.

Much of the fabric is sour­ced from sur­plus stoc­ks of other pro­du­cers, and is often made of cot­ton, vis­co­se, or lyo­cell. Vis­co­se and lyo­cell are man-made, plant-based mate­ri­als; you can read more abo­ut the­ir sus­ta­ina­bi­lity and pro­duc­ti­on here. Re-Gar­de buys the­se dead­stock fabrics and brin­gs them to life in the­ir unique and colo­ur­ful collection.

In addi­ti­on, the Dut­ch brand also has some desig­ns made from orga­nic cot­ton. This cot­ton is pro­du­ced in Por­tu­gal, whe­re the clot­hes are also made. Due to the small-sca­le pro­duc­ti­on, having this mate­ri­al cer­ti­fi­ed is impossible. 

The col­lec­ti­on also inclu­des some knit­ted desig­ns made from Ita­li­an she­ep’s wool.

PAC­KA­GING 

RE-GAR­DE does not dis­clo­se what pac­ka­ging mate­ri­als are used wit­hin the­ir sup­ply cha­in or for e‑commerce on the­ir website. 

WATER USA­GE & CHEMICALS 

As RE-GAR­DE uses sur­plus fabric, the water and che­mi­cal use asso­ci­ated with the­ir pro­duc­ti­on is reduced. 

CIR­CU­LAR PRO­DUCT DESIGN 

RE-GAR­DE uses dead­stock fabrics, hel­ping to put cir­cu­la­rity first. What’s more, the­se fabrics are mos­tly mono­ma­te­ri­als, meaning they will be easi­er to recy­cle at the end of the­ir lifespan. 

CIR­CU­LAR BUSI­NESS MODELS 

RE-GAR­DE has laun­c­hed RE-LOVE, a col­lec­ti­on of vin­ta­ge, rewor­ked items that per­fec­tly com­ple­ment the RE-GAR­DE aes­t­he­tic. In this col­lec­ti­on, you can dis­co­ver hand-pic­ked vin­ta­ge pieces with a con­tem­po­rary twist, hel­ping to give new life to gar­ments that are made to last. 

Desig­ner Lin is also hap­py to dis­cuss opti­ons when a gar­ment requ­ires repa­ir, exten­ding the lifes­pan of every product. 

DIS­TAN­CE & COM­PLEXITY OF THE SUP­PLY CHAIN

Pro­duc­ti­on locations:

• Chi­na 
• India 
• Por­tu­gal 
• Italy 
• The Net­her­lan­ds 

Beca­use part of RE-GARDE’s pro­duc­ti­on occurs in Chi­na and India, the brand unfor­tu­na­tely has a long sup­ply cha­in. Wan­ting to mini­mi­se the dis­tan­ces a gar­ment tra­vels, RE-GAR­DE also wor­ks with Por­tu­gu­ese and Ita­li­an manufacturers. 

RE-GARDE’s headqu­ar­ters are loca­ted in Ams­ter­dam. The brand offers ship­ping wit­hin Europe. 

TRAN­S­POR­TA­TI­ON 

RE-GAR­DE sta­tes that the­ir e‑commerce is ship­ping car­bon-neutral­ly, thro­ugh car­bon-off­set­ting schemes. 

• Wool

The majo­rity of RE-GARDE’s pro­duc­ts are free from ani­mal mate­ri­als. To help ensu­re ani­mal well-being, the brand cho­oses mule­sing-free wool, sour­ced from Italy. Mule­sing is a con­tro­ver­si­al prac­ti­ce in which a small por­ti­on of the sheep’s skin is remo­ved to pre­vent har­m­ful lar­vae infestations. 

PRO­DUCT DESIGN 

RE-GAR­DE was born from a love of colo­urs, sha­pes, and texti­les. Lin draws ins­pi­ra­ti­on from her pain­tin­gs to cre­ate ele­gant and unique desig­ns. The col­lec­ti­on con­ta­ins a lot of colo­ur and expre­ssi­on, whi­le at the same time radi­ating tranquillity. 

The desig­ns are time­less and ver­sa­ti­le, like the rever­si­ble kimo­nos, which allow you to form two out­fits with one gar­ment and com­bi­ne them endlessly.

SLOW FASHI­ON PROCESSES 

The cal­m­ness of Lin’s desig­ns is also reflec­ted in her design pro­cess, as Lin cho­oses to work at her own pace. In this way, RE-GAR­DE fol­lows slow-fashi­on prin­ci­ples, not fol­lowing seasons and pro­du­cing in small num­bers.

TRAN­S­PA­REN­CY ON PRODUCT 

Each pro­duct page sta­tes what mate­ri­als the gar­ment is made from, alt­ho­ugh the pro­duc­ti­on coun­tri­es are not pro­vi­ded. This makes it dif­fi­cult for con­su­mers to know whe­re the­ir spe­ci­fic pur­c­ha­ses were produced. 

TRAN­S­PA­REN­CY ON PROCESSES

RE-GAR­DE spo­ke with COSH!, sha­ring more infor­ma­ti­on abo­ut the­ir pro­duc­ti­on part­ners and mate­ri­als. As the brand sha­red the names of its manu­fac­tu­ring part­ners, COSH! was able to verify the information. 

Still, the brand reali­ses that the tran­s­pa­ren­cy on the­ir web­si­te could be bet­ter, so they are now explo­ring oppor­tu­ni­ti­es to sha­re more infor­ma­ti­on abo­ut the clot­hes’ eco­lo­gi­cal impact and pro­duc­ti­on costs.