Our Fabric, Our Brand, Our ECO Footprint.
As a company we are committed to ensuring we operate in an environmentally responsible way, . We are far from perfect, but WE REALLY CARE! We believe that every small bit helps and we are actively taking steps to increase sustainability and reduce our footprint both behind the scenes in sourcing and manufacturing, as well as what our customers take home.
Our aim is to source beautiful, sustainable fabrics that are the premium quality our customers expect.
Every decision we make we consider the impact on the environment. Some of our initiatives include reducing our plastic consumption by up to 70% by not individually bagging our garments coming from our factory. We are working on a biodegradable plastic for the bags we do use.
We are proud to say more than 80% of our collection is made from natural fibres. Below is some insight into the fabrics we use to make your beautiful sleepwear.
Modal
Modal is a soft man-made fibre made from natural materials and is considered to be biodegradable. The manufacturing process is closed loop, which means that the chemicals used in processing are captured and reused. The small amount discharged is considered non-hazardous.
The finished fabric is amazingly soft, durable and washes really well. It is fast becoming one of our most popular sleepwear fabrics.
Washable Silk
Silk is a highly renewable resource with less impact on the environment than many other fabrics. The silk worms feed on mulberry leaves, which don’t require the use of pesticides or fertilisers to grow.
However, to clean silk, harsh and intensive treatments and chemicals are often used, which can pollute the ground water. Producing silk uses a large amount of resources to produce a small amount of silk.
At Papinelle, silk is one of our favourite fabric and we will endeavour to bring our customers beautiful silk that has minimal impact on the environment.
We recently made the move to washable silk on some of our garments so now you can enjoy the luxury feeling of silk with easier care properties.
Cotton
Cotton is a natural fibre and we love making our sleepwear in cotton or cotton blends. However, cotton is responsible for 25% of the world’s pesticide use and is a water hungry crop. We are committed to moving some of our cottons over to Organic cotton and finding the origin of our conventional cottons so we can ensure they cooperate with BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) which aims to reduce pollution by producing clean cotton.
Organic Cotton
Organic cotton ensures that no pesticides or chemical fertilisers are used, minimising the impact on the environment. Papinelle will be moving some of our classic collections from conventional cotton to organic cotton and further increasing our organic cotton offering throughout 2020.
Cotton Modal Knits
Papinelle Cotton Modal Knits are sourced from an eco-friendly supplier called BROS who have invested enormously in infrastructure to ensure their manufacturing processes adhere to the strict Environmental Management System certifications (ISO14001:2004). All cotton components also adhere with the BCI (Better Cotton Initiative).
Recycled Polyester
Conventional Polyester is a non-sustainable synthetic fibre that by all accounts is considered not environmentally friendly. We will always try to use alternatives to Polyester however around 3-5% of our collection contains Polyester. From early 2020 onwards we are replacing some of our conventional Polyester with Recycled Polyester!
Update 10.9.19 - Over the past year at Papinelle, we have been continuing on our journey towards operating in a more environmentally responsible way. We are still not perfect but we do really care so here is an update on a few of our recent initiatives:
- http://www.tortoiseandladygrey.com/2017/01/30/modal-sustainable-textile-another-case-greenwashing/
- Cotton image source http://www.the-dailys.com/