1, Where do you manufacture your garments: Sweden and Portugal. We chose to only work with partners within Europe and they already fulfil our high standards and policies around social and environmental sustainability. Read more here.
2, Why starting a new fashion brand in 2021: We can see a huge need in the market to offer responsibly manufactured garments and a slow business model. To be a player in this industry demands a great sense of responsibility and transparency and we want to be all that.
3, Who is the owner of the_wiman: Therese Wiman is the business owner behind the brand.
4, What is the sole biggest problem in the industry from a sustainability perspective: 80% of the negative environmental impact stems from the production of virgin material and the manufacturing process. Source here.
5, What is the biggest challenge for the_wiman from a sustainability perspective: To find and source fabrics that are produced in a good enough way.
6, Which fabrics are sustainable:
- Tencel™ and other fabrics that have been produced in a closed loop (waste and chemical controlled) and from renewable virgin material. One good article on the subject here.
- Fabrics from botanic origin (organic) and those who have been produced in facilities that are run on renewable energy.
- Monomaterial (eg 100% Tencel™) instead of blends. Mono materials are much easier to recycle/upcycle.
7, Why don´t you launch new styles more often: We do not want to contribute to over production. We are, slowly but steady, building a sustainable wardrobe. Each new style are carefully thought through and adds a real need to what already exist.
8, What is sustainable fashion: Best advise is that you use what you already have in your wardrobe. If you do need to buy something new - choose second hand, remake/up-cycled or something that has been really well done.
9, What is your business model: We design and manufacture new garments responsibly (slow) - we also offer to buy back our styles, second hand and up-cycled one offs.
10, How do you minimize your impact from your freight: We only use biologically degradable packaging, no plastic. We do not offer free returns which forces us to think twice before placing an order.