This Local Fashion Label Takes Sustainability Seriously

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We all know that the fashion industry is one of the world’s biggest polluters, users of resource and contributors to landfill, so increasingly consumers are demanding that their favourite brands take steps to minimise their impact.

One home-grown fashion label that’s taking the issue of sustainability seriously is Ginger & Smart. Known for its modern and playful luxury aesthetic, with bold prints and bright colours, the label was founded by Sydney-based sisters Alexandra and Genevieve Smart.

Ginger & Smart And Sustainability

From the beginning, Ginger & Smart focused on using high-quality sustainable materials produced and constructed by considered manufacturers. The brand’s goal is to create timeless, well-crafted pieces that can be worn time and time again, for minimal impact on the environment while still offering much-loved casual, work and special-occasion pieces.

Ginger & Smart’s social responsibility mandate—front and centre on the sleek website—states that the brand is a committed advocate of socially responsible business and that they “believe that sustainable fashion can influence both environmental and also social change... and bring awareness to sustainability in general.”

The mandate also mentions the brand’s respect for Mother Nature and a desire to protect her.

Sustainability, Ethical Trade and Giving Back to the Community

The three pillars of the brand’s responsible purpose are sustainability, ethical trade and giving back to the community.

The label goes into encouraging detail about all three, and the sustainability blurb explains how sustainable fashion starts with sourcing raw materials and using production processes that are thoughtful about the environment, and ends with choosing quality over quantity for a considered wardrobe that eschews trends and will last for years.

Eco-Friendly Practices at Ginger & Smart

Ginger & Smart’s focus on sustainability goes as far as its boutique fit-outs, where renewable energy, smart design, and “refresh, reuse, recycle” are front of mind.

When designing new-season lines, the brand designs with specific textiles in mind, ones that are sourced from renewable resources, require limited energy, water and harsh chemicals to process, and can be washed infrequently and at lower temperatures.

On the website, the brand elaborates on the preferred fabrics which include:

Tencel
Recycled polyester made from plastic PET bottles
Sustainable organic cotton
Viscose
Cupro (a blend of renewable cellulose and cotton linter, the silky byproduct of cotton)
Linen
Hemp
SeaCell
Silk

Ginger & Smart also focuses on upcycling fabrics wherever possible, using surplus fabrics in new designs to limit the amount of waste. the brand also tries to purchase materials made in the same area as its production facilities, to limit the air miles created by the clothes.

When printing and dying, the brand chooses digital printing, which uses less water, ink and energy than traditional rotary screen printing, and chooses natural botanical dyes over synthetic dyes wherever possible, looking to flowers, fruits, vegetables and spices for colours.

Ginger & Smart’s Sustainability Rating

However, despite Ginger & Smart's stated goals around sustainability, the respected ethical fashion rating website Good On You gave Ginger & Smart an average rating.

Good On You notes the brand’s use of eco-friendly materials, low-impact non-toxic dyes and waterless digital printing, but says there’s no evidence that it tries to reduce packaging.

Ginger & Smart also gets a rap over the knuckles for its use of leather, wool and exotic animal hair and its non-disclosure of where certain stages of production happen and a lack of evidence of a living wage for workers.

Still, we’re big believers that intent is the first step, and Ginger & Smart are clearly taking sustainability seriously. And since we also love the brand’s love-now-and-forever fashion, we’re big fans.

To see more from Ginger & Smart, keep scrolling to see some of our favourite pieces.