The business of fashion – second-hand & sustainable in Geneva

Yes, it is the World Economic Forum Davos time – when the wealth, business, government & media (and activists) descend into the Swiss Alps near Zurich. The buzz word is “sustainability”, but what is really happening in Swiss sustainable fashion in other parts of the country such as Geneva?

Forums and meetings are great…. to discuss and have updates. But the real sustainable action happens every day in small boutiques such as ours, where we walk the talk 😉

Sustainability is not just about the products we consume, it is also about the administrative and logistical actions behind them and all the bits and pieces in the boutiques and offices that supply them.

Did you know that, apart from offering you a curated selection of luxury second-hand items, here is how we DO (not just talk) sustainability and ethical fashion :

• we have had 11 ethical fashion brands come through our store since 2014 (Armed Angels, Appareal, Filippa K,  Irma Wy, Morin O, Nudie Jeans, Old-Bag, The Tallis, Totally Ethnik, Uru and Veja.). We currently have 2 in the boutique (Made-by-Women and Stutterheim) and we show-case a new local /international sustainable designer every 6 months!
• all our new brands we select for criteria such as independent monitoring of supply chains and non-exploitation certification (Fairwear, WRAP), environmental certification (eg Oekotex), sustainable practices, and contribution to the local economy;
• we sell our own design Paquis Beach t-shirts – locally printed on t-shirts ethically made in organic cotton by B&C;
• we partner with many organisations for events, such as the upcoming ethical fashion runway in 2020 at the International School in Geneva (Nations);
• each year we support an organisation that works against exploitation or abuse :
  2019: Action Innocence – to raise awareness and stop cyber exploitation of children;
  2018: trafficking.ch – that supports survivors of trafficking and runs training sessions on counter-trafficking;
  2017: Airline Ambassadors – supporting awareness of counter-trafficking in air-travel;
  2015-16: Coeur des Grottes Geneva (donations of clothing for survivors of domestic abuse);
• we attend the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights each year;
• we only use shopping bags from unbleached recycled paper;
• we only serve fair-trade organic coffee (NO single use cups!);
• we recycle & compost in our office;
• we installed green lighting in our new boutique;
• we use sustainable and recycled packaging to ship our articles bought online;
• our cleaning products are bio and bought from a local farmer’s market online (farmy.ch).
• we avoid plastic (our hangers are metal or sustainably farmed wood).
• all our shop furniture was bought second-hand!
• we vet every single consignor and every single item – no counterfeit items here! We know the provenance of our articles.
• and ultimately, all our actions contribute to a circular economy.

For more info or media contact, please see our contact page here.

(Photo of Davos by Flyout (GFDL)).