In the past ten years, sustainable fashion has become an important topic of discussion and has grown organically into a movement. When Olyinka Lingerie was conceived, it was our goal to produce beautiful sustainable garments that were healthy for your skin, made with natural organic materials, produced ethically, and built to last. The world has caught up: it's ditching fast fashion and focusing on protecting the Earth. Valuing sustainability is a priority now — and it's about time, if you ask us.
Fashion is one of the fastest-changing industries, and fast fashion has the potential to severely damage the environment. Just imagine what happens to all the unbought clothing from past seasons. For those who don't know, it forms huge piles of synthetic fibres — mountains of waste left in landfill and floating in the oceans. This type of pollution is just as bad as the plastic kind.
Image: Gantas Vaičiulēnas
Polyester was invented in 1941 and takes up to nearly 200 years to decompose — which means some of the first polyester garments ever made might still be sitting in landfill or drifting in the oceans. This issue is directly related to consumer demand for variety and diversity in fashion.
Our consumer society is always thirsty for new products. In such a fast world, no one wants to fall behind. This is why sustainable fashion is increasingly the preferred choice — it offers the opportunity to be both on trend and environmentally friendly. With eco-fashion, your classiest outfit can also be good for the planet. And that's what we call a win-win.
Lingerie has undergone a symbolic transformation throughout history. It started purely as a basic utility, then progressed to an object of sexual desire, and today it has adopted the role of a powerful tool of female empowerment. It makes women feel desirable — not under the male gaze, but for themselves.
And as lingerie has an important role in our lives, we have an important role in the healthy life of this planet. So why not combine both? Here are our top five reasons to choose sustainable lingerie.
1. A Healthier Alternative
Sustainability is important, but when it comes to undergarments you first have to look for materials that take proper care of your intimate parts. Synthetic materials tend to trap moisture, which encourages the growth of bacteria and causes all types of infections. Not only that, but synthetic clothing tends to contain many chemicals used during the production process — from the pesticides used in cotton farming to the carcinogens in clothing dyes. Most inorganic clothing dyes contain formaldehyde, which can be absorbed through the skin after prolonged contact. In contrast, sustainable lingerie crafted with organic cotton and non-harmful dyes is the best option for a breathable piece of clothing that fits the health needs of every woman.
2. Planet-Friendly
Pollution is a huge issue. Oceans are overflowing with waste and many landfills are as big as small towns. Fast fashion is partly responsible. Synthetic fibres have a decomposition period of up to 200 years — incredibly long. According to The Guardian, 85% of the human-made material found on shorelines were microfibres, matching the types of material such as nylon and acrylic used in clothing. Plastic isn't the only big pollutant.
And even setting aside human-invented fibres like polyester — which is made from petroleum — natural fibres can be harmful when farmed conventionally. Conventional cotton crops account for 24% of the world's insecticides and 11% of the world's pesticides, despite taking up just 2.4% of the world's farming land. If you want to take care of the Earth, sustainable lingerie is the way to go: you reduce waste pollution by choosing slow fashion, and decrease the use of harmful chemicals.
3. Sustainable Fabrics
We've established that conventionally farmed cotton is harmful — but that leaves the question of what materials are left. Paper knickers? You'd be surprised: there are many alternatives to traditional cotton and polyester produced in a nature-friendly manner. There's linen, organic cotton, bamboo, silk, hemp, modal, and others. In most cases they're farmed without pesticides or chemicals. Some are not only unharmful but beneficial — hemp's growth is healthy for the soil (thanks to a process called phytoremediation), and it requires much less water than cotton. Some fabrics are made from recycled synthetic fibres, like econyl, which is recycled nylon. There are always alternatives; we just have to look in the right places.
Image: Gantas Vaičiulēnas
4. Ethical Production
When we speak about fast fashion, the quantity of clothing is almost unmeasurable. Think of all the fast fashion stores you know, and how every time you visit you see completely different clothes. But who produces that? As the demand for quantity is immense, some fashion brands go to inhumane extents to keep producing enough — child labour and exploitation in poorer countries, overtime for very little money in unacceptable conditions. Brands do it because it's cheap and usually goes undetected. In contrast, the main principle of sustainable fashion is that it should be organic and non-harmful — which means no mass production, no sweatshops, and no exploitation.
5. A Deeper Connection
Lingerie is important. Throughout history its meaning has transformed, but today we're demanding more sustainable, comfortable, beautiful lingerie — a tendency that helps both us and the planet. Unsustainable fashion, by contrast, is harmful, uncomfortable, unhealthy, and unethical. When you buy organic undergarments, you connect both with your most delicate self and with the purest materials on earth. You have a choice. Help yourself and help the planet.
Want to know more about how we honour these values? Read our fabric and sustainability promise.
