DCA - Turning Waste Into Fashion

DCA Izzy Recycled Dress Coming soon SS16

At Deborah Campbell Atelier, we have a story to tell, we want to shape the world we live in for tomorrow. Our story is to create fashion that is sustainable, accessible and the norm.  One way we are doing this is through the launch  of dresses and tops made from Newlife fabric, an Italian yarn manufactured from recycled plastic bottles.

This pioneering technology is relatively unknown. The fabric is soft to touch, has a satin finish and drapes well. But is the consumer ready for garments made from recycled plastic?

Is recycled fashion a thing of our future? A sustainable circular economy is certainly a no brainer, right?

Well may be? But do people really care?  Are there too many barriers to buying fashion made of recycled plastic? Barriers such as higher price, feel and aesthetics? At DCA we are on a mission to find out.

Firstly lets answer the question what does sustainability mean?

'Using resources in a way that does not impoverish our planet for future generations'. DCA care passionately about being responsible for how we make our clothes. Best practice is at the heart of what we do.

Recycled Isabelle  Indigo Dress £155 http://www.deborahcampbellatelier.com/collections/dresses

An independent boutique owner I spoke to recently said “customers like to think they care about sustainability but when it comes down to it they buy what they like with little regard for how or where it has been made”. And a friend commented, “I don’t care about sustainable practice because I cant afford to care” Indeed a few friends have been surprised to hear that clothes are not made by automated machines.  When I explain that a person usually a woman hand operates a sewing machine to make our clothes, they are quite amazed.  It is a highly labour intensive industry as well as the 2^nd highest polluting after oil,with little regulation and welfare for the workforce.

In general I imagine most consumers do not think beyond the rail of garments they see in stores, and I appreciate that view, because at some point I am sure we are all guilty of not thinking beyond how our products arrive in stores, take computers and phones as an example. And this is part of the problem.  I became more informed and started to care about who makes the products I buy, about 5 years ago, but I don’t know where or how all the products I buy are made. Can I imagine a future where what I buy has a transparent supply chain? I hope so.

 

DCA Isabelle Recycled Top £125 http://www.deborahcampbellatelier.com/collections/tops

At DCA we have 3 rules of best practice.

•          We design from the heart, we focus on what we love and gently nod toward trends. We fuse modern art with fashion to create our prints. Our belief in individual design and offering styles that cannot easily be replicated drove us to create our signature indigo print. This print is cut so each dress or top is individual and customized. So no dress or top are the same.  

• Made in Britain. We love to support our economy and are proud to work with local businesses and communities. 

• DCA is a sustainable business, our best practice is to design and make responsibly. We do this by making locally to save on carbon footprint and support the UK economy. We buy fabrics that are biodegradable, recycled and organic. We print digitally using inks free from hazardous chemicals and a method which saves significant amounts of water, energy and materials.

Designing responsibly and sustainably is harder than traditional ways of working in fast fashion where best practice is difficult to monitor. AT DCA we know the people who make our clothes and we know where our fabrics are produced.  We are not perfect, and believe we can still improve.

Can the consumer really be held to account for buying without concern? Is it up to the industry to inform the consumer of best practice? You would think this is a valid point, yet so many retailers shy away from informing the consumer of their best practices, fearful that they may be accused of “green washing” using best practice as a marketing tool. So damned if they do and damned if they don’t, how has it come to this? “Surely we can do better”

The film the True Cost which I backed on Kickstarter, is a must watch if you are in any doubt about what is written here. The key to best practice is to first understand the challenges of the industry and the True Cost identifies many reasons why we must act now. Watch the trailer here now.

Buy the True Cost movie on Itunes

Help us at DCA be part of the change, support our small British business by telling us your views on recycled fabric and our range. We would love to hear from you.