A Sustainable Fashion Brand That Innovates With Fabrics and Resale Program

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I discovered sustainable fashion brand époque evolution last year when a company representative sent me a beautiful wool dress to try. Ever since then, I've found myself peeking at the website occasionally, lusting after the lovely pieces I see.

Époque evolution never fails to impress me with its versatile, minimalist designs that push the envelope when it comes to sustainability. It doesn't sell a broad range of products, but the ones it does sell have been carefully and thoroughly designed, many using deadstock and surplus fabrics. This year, the brand has launched a couple of new collections and a resale initiative that merits mention on Treehugger.

Its latest One Collection features four basic items – a loose V-neck pocket dress, a pencil skirt, a crop top, and a fold-over bathing suit bottom – that are all made with Econyl, a 100 percent regenerated nylon fabric that comes from abandoned fishing nets and synthetic carpets. The items are blended with 35 percent Lycra for stretch. The result is a super soft, wrinkle-free, double-layered material that's even machine-washable.

Époque evolution has also launched a line of seamless organic cotton tops this summer – a racerback tank, a loose mock-neck shirt, and a V-neck three-quarter-length top. The tops contain at least 74 percent organic cotton, with the rest being recycled nylon. Apparently "seamless" is a special knitting technique, in this case done in Portugal, that reduces the number of seams and the waste generated in production. 

Last but not least, the company has launched a resale program where clients can buy and sell used époque pieces. While that may seem like a narrow audience, I suspect the brand has a loyal following, and with its items not being exactly cheap (and frequently selling out on the website), this is a good way to keep items circulating among the people who know and love its clothing. Plus, any efforts to extend the lifespan of clothing is important from a global perspective:

"If everyone bought just one used item over one new item this year, we would collectively save 25 billion gallons of water, 11 billion kilowatts of energy, 449 million pounds of waste and 5.7 billions pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. Every purchase matters."

For anyone wanting to invest in higher quality clothes, I do recommend époque evolution as a great place to look for smart and stylish basics. As for the cost, which may strike many readers as exorbitant, I think we've become too accustomed to assuming clothes should be dirt-cheap. The problem is, if we're not paying the true cost to manufacture something, someone else is – and that's usually an underpaid garment worker in a faraway country. I wrote last year (within the context of ethically-sourced cashmere),

"If we want to improve our fashion habits, then we must wear things over and over again – and the longer we do that, the smaller an item's overall footprint and its price-per-wear. So, the more durable (and beautiful) an item is, the better the investment." 

Époque evolution's clothes are certainly built to last – and to impress, year after year. You won't be disappointed. 

View the full line at Époque evolution.