Attire is a brand that I came across a few years ago that is focused on being open about the costs and production of its clothing.
Xenia Adonts is a fashion influencer and the owner and founder of Attire. As she was becoming more and more successful, she was approached by several brands about doing a clothing collaboration and she decided that she couldn’t say yes. She found she would have little creative freedom, she wouldn’t be able to have a say about where the material came from and she decided she didn’t want to put her name on something she didn’t agree with. After this, she decided to start Attire The Studio.
Her main focus was creating transparency within the brand, therefore the factories used are disclosed each item has a cost breakdown, showing material, labour, and transportation costs and the margin that the business makes.
The origin of the yarn is made clear, with their mills being in Italy and Portugal. All their items are plastic free and the materials are 100% natural and 100% biodegradable, Xenia makes it clear that these are things that are important to her when focussing on sustainability. She talks about how difficult it was to find fabrics that had known origins, even when going to textile markets and talking to suppliers.
Something I particularly like about their designs is that they are not too trendy, and are all pieces that would stand the test of time. This must be intentional, as Xenia talks about her beliefs that clothing shouldn’t be worn just a few times, something I agree with. The pieces are not cheap, however, when you look at the price breakdowns you can see the value. I also don’t think they have to be cheap, the issue is that the majority of brands whether high or budget fashion are not sustainable so I think Attire can still be a great brand even if it is on the higher end.
I think it would be so beneficial if more brands adopted this open approach to their product life as I think a lot of the time people just don’t think about the journey their clothes have been on before getting to them. If the website showcased it more, maybe people would stop and think before buying items that they don’t need. I think the reason this isn’t happening is that the product journeys for many businesses are immoral and would massively affect their sales.
I love the clothes, I love the transparency and I love the values it embodies. I probably won't be buying any Attire items any time soon, but I would look at buying some staple items when I am not a poor student.
Attire website: https://attirethestudio.com/en-gb/collections/all-items
Attire story: https://attirethestudio.com/en-gb/pages/about
Comments