An honest accounting of our materials, our makers, and the things we are still working to fix.
We don't use the word "sustainable" as a slogan. The fashion industry is the second-largest polluter in the world, and a small American atelier is not going to fix that. But we can — and do — make a series of small, specific choices that add up.
We work with five mills. All five are in Italy or Portugal. All five hold either GOTS, OEKO-TEX, or Responsible Wool Standard certification. We publish the name of every mill we use on every product page.
Every Evelyn & Iris piece is cut and sewn at our studio in Nauvoo, Alabama, by four full-time makers who are paid a living wage and receive full health insurance. We do not outsource. We are not the cheapest atelier in Alabama. We make our peace with that.
Orders ship in 100% recycled kraft mailers from EcoEnclose. Hangtags and tissue paper are FSC-certified. We use no plastic poly bags. Our shipping carbon is offset through Carbonfund.org at $0.18 per order (it's on us).
The single most sustainable thing you can do with a piece of clothing is wear it for ten years. We make that easier with free lifetime mending — buttons, hems, small holes, lining repairs. Email us and we'll send a prepaid label.
We don't yet measure our scope-3 emissions, our linen and silk supply chains are less transparent than we'd like, and we still print a small paper return label with every order. We're working on all three.
If you spot something we should be doing differently, please write to us at general@ei-ls.com. We mean it.
