Sustainability

Why sustainability matters? Our beautiful planet has suffered the effects of our ways of producing, consuming and living. Climate change is now a pressing issue and taking action has become a necessity. Being more sustainable is not about being prefect but doing our best to change what we can in our daily lives. One way to start is through fashion.

DEFINITION OF SUSTAINABILTIY

Sustainability is a widely used word that can mean everything and anything. That's why we find it important to explain what is our own definition and what we include in sustainability. 
 
There is currently no universal definition of the word sustainability. However, one commonly used definition comes from the World Commission on Environment and Development and appeared in Our Common Future report in 1987: “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs". 
It means that sustainability is what you do now on order to avoid damage for the future. 
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"Sustainability encompasses a wide range of areas"

STANDARDS

We have defined a range of different sustainability standards that accompany each brand. One brand rarely has them all but they are good indicators to know in which areas the brand is making an extra effort. 

  • VEGAN

  • SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • LOCAL AND ARTISANAL PRODUCTION

  • RECYCLING/ UPCYCLING

  • ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

  • LABELS AND CERTIFICATIONS

  • FAIR TRADE

  • CHARITY

WHAT WE PROMOTE

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01

LESS CONSUMPTION

We prone a "buying less but buying better" strategy. We want to offer a new way of consuming. Items that you invest in, that you can enjoy and pass on to the next generation.
You might not know it, but buying quality pieces, even though more expensive, will save you money in the long-run. Fast-fashion promotes over-consumption and we end up spending a lot more than if we would invest in more expensive pieces that are durable and that we will keep for a long time. 

02

DURABILITY

It is important when choosing to add new clothes to your closet to think about how long you will be keeping them. The quality is an important aspect to avoid having to throw new pieces after a few washes. We encourage buying durable items.

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03

SECOND HAND

In order to avoid waste and to support a circular economy, we have introduced ESSCODE pre-owned that offers a selection of second hand pieces.


04

UPCYCLING

We encourage our customers to upcycle their clothes when they have defects due to wears. We will also be offering some tips and tricks to embellish old clothes.  

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05

RENTING

It's a good sustainable alternative to buying. You can find more and more places that offer renting services locally. We will be promoting some of them through our platform.

HOW WE CHOOSE OUR BRANDS

Our brands are carefully selected according to two main criteria:

STYLE & SUSTAINABILITY

 Esthetics are very important to us as well as the values behind the brands. We choose designers that promise style and care both for the environment and the people making the clothes.
Although we do not have the capacity to overlook the production process of each brand, we try our best to choose brands that we feel are trustworthy. There are different ways that this can be determined, for example, through established labels or local production. Sustainability is hardly perfect and our goal is to help those that are addressing these important issues. Part of our selection process is based on subjective elements like trust and we avoid brands that are likely to market themselves as sustainable in order to attract certain types of customers (greenwashing).
Also note that our selection process is in constant improvement and we are open to any suggestions.