Ok, you have an idea. Maybe you have even gone out and started to source fabrics. But, how do you turn your idea into reality? Well, simply put the answer is the tech pack. And as always virtue + vice is offering an in-depth guide for free.
Ok brands, I hear you. You all want to make your clothing the best quality ever. You want them to be able to last for years and maybe even be passed down from generation to generation. But, how do you actually make that a reality? A lot of brands claim they offer top quality - but do they really? The secret- is having a good garment quality control procedures in place. This is often a step most forgotten about by new fashion designers because tbh it is the least fun or glamorous. But, I would argue it is the most important in creating a high-quality product. So, here is a reference, as always for free, of everything you need to check, test, and assure, in order to create the best product ever, complete with a garment quality control checklist to make things easy.
From basic budget backpackers hostels to sleeping in the actual chambers of past Mahrastha this list of the best hotels in Jaipur has something for everyone.
ALL OF MY FAVORITE PLACES TO EAT, SLEEP, SIGHTSEE, AND SHOP. This is a 3 part series of posts where I dive deep into all of my favorite places to hang out, eat, and stay. This week I'll give you my honest review of the best hotels in Jaipur.
This week we are going to take everything that we have learned, along with some new knitting info and determine what is the best white t-shirt on the market. It turns out all you need to know are the very fundamentals of knitting to figure out if you are buying a quality product or garbage that a marketing team made you think sounded fancy.
Woven fabrics interlace two sets of yarns at right angles. The horizontal width-wise yarns are weft yarns or pick yarns. And, the vertical yarns in a piece of fabric are warp yarns or ends.
It may sound counterintuitive, but the secret to manufacturers and brands incorporating more sustainable and ethical practices while increasing their bottom lines may be to produce less and to produce slow(er) fashion.
Thinking about starting a career in fashion? This is everything I wish someone had told me about jobs in the fashion industry.
Back in 2004 when I was applying for colleges and trying to figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life, I didn't realize that there are jobs for all different personalities, talents, and abilities in the fashion industry. For some reason, I thought “designer” was the only job in fashion. I have never been particularly artsy, and don’t know how to sew, so working infashionnever felt like a real option.
I had the opportunity to visit Poland in September on a trip sponsored by The European Union and Polish Investment & Trade Agency. And, not only was I was blown away by their manufacturing capabilities, but the country as a whole. Poland is probably the best-kept manufacturing secret in Europe right now. So, now the secrets out, Poland for manufacturing is where you need to be.
Yarns are the often forgotten about secret to creating more sustainable fabrics and garments. By understanding them we can create garments that will last longer and perform better, here's how...
Rayon was the first synthetic fiber, and originally consumershatedit. It wasn't until the invention of nylon, which made women's nylon stockings a possibility that the world became obsessed with synthetic fibers and faster fashion.
How did one little fiber change the fashion world forever? We'll get to that. And, talk about how other synthetic fibers continue to shape fashions hottest trends.
Before you buy that discounted, to good to be true cashmere, educate yourself on some of the worlds most sustainable and rare luxury wool in the world. Cashmere, yak, camel wool, guanaco, mohair, alpaca, vicuna, angora, shahtoosh.
New to the fashion world? Welcome :) To help catch you up to speed, virtue + vice is offering free mini-courses. We will be releasing a new chapter bi-monthly. The courses will take you from the very first step in the fashion supply chain, textile fibers, all the way through to the finished product in stores. Our first crash course is TEXTILES 101. The second topic of TEXTILES 101 is Natural Plant Fibers.
Sham Shui Po is a fabric market located in Kowloon and is one of Hong Kongs best-kept fashion secrets. Designers looking for deadstock - Sham Shui Po is your holy grail. Basically, it's where Chinese mills, from fast fashion to high-end, sell off their deadstock.
New to the fashion world? Welcome :) To help catch you up to speed, virtue + vice is offering free mini-courses. We will be releasing a new chapter bi-weekly. The courses will take you from the very first step in the fashion supply chain, textile fibers, all the way through to the finished product in stores. Our first crash course is TEXTILES 101, which answers, what are textiles, and how do we know if they are sustainable or not.
The first topic of Textiles 101 is WHAT ARE TEXTILE FIBERS? And, why are they important in sustainable fashion design? Get ready to learn everything there is to know about the very first step in designing a product.
India as a country, has a rich tradition of textiles. Today, Jaipur in Rajasthan and Ahmedabad in Gujarat have become international hotspots for handloom and khadi Indian made fabrics. Textiles are a living history book. They are a window into a countries history and culture. To understand the importance of Khadi, first, we need to explore its evolution. The art of handloom and Khadi has helped India to gain independence and shape it into the country it is today.
Move over organic and fair trade, the newcomer to the sustainable and ethical fashion scene is clothing made by harnessing the power of astrology. The health and wellness area is seeing a growing market in apparel thanks to biodynamic farming.
Joining the movement can often feel like a daunting and expensive undertaking to newbies. After doing your first bit of research you probably learned our closets are packed with unsustainable plastic fibers, toxic dyes, and in many cases slave labor.
This week I am exploring and celebrating three new fiber technologies that deserve the spotlight and are still relatively new to the market. One of them is even an alternative to plastic! Welcome to the future...
We are always trying to cut down on our plastics use. But, sometimes plastic is needed. GASP! While it pains us to package each garment in plastic, unfortunately, because of the rough shipping process it is actually more sustainable... Here's why.
Call me jaded, but recently I haven't been able to get through a fashion industry or environmental doc or article without getting super heated about dramatized, exaggerated, and at times even falsified information.
Charity shirts... While we at virtue + vice fully support raising awareness for important causes like cancers, human rights, and saving the world, the way we promote that awareness is most likely doing more harm than good.
Popularized by Liva Firth of The True Cost, the 30 Wears Campaign challenges you to ask the question “will I wear this 30 times?” before making a new purchase.
Sustainable fashion asks the question how was something made and how can it be made better? How can it have a smaller environmental impact? How can our business help and progress local communities? It asks the question, are we making this the best way possible, and how can we do better?
why is transparency important to revolutionizing the clothing industry? By demanding transparency in the clothing industry, we are telling companies that we will hold them accountable for how they choose to make their products.
We hear the terms ethical, sustainable, socially conscious, and transparent thrown around a lot today. But, what do they really mean? Often used interchangeably, they all do not mean the same thing.
Is your clothing contributing to non-biodegradable plastic waste? If it's made out of polyester or other petroleum-based fibers the answer is yes. read our guide to performance-based alternatives
Today, at virtue + vice, we are still inspired by Gandhi. We believe that by using alternative manufacturing methods to create jobs, we will reduce environmental impact, and add value to the communities in which our beautiful and lovingly crafted clothes are made.
