Ethical production has always been extremely important to us at Ayten Gasson and we aim to be as sustainable as possible in the way we run our business. As a brand, we believe that producing designs responsibly doesn't mean we have to compromise on style. We are always considering new ways to make the brand as sustainable as possible, whilst still delivering the luxury standard associated with our brand.
MATERIALS
We always strive to use vintage English lace in our pieces as it highlights the wonderful production techniques that the Nottingham lace mills were famous for and compliments our silks beautifully. We are also able to reclaim and reuse laces which would be seen as wastage to larger companies, as well as vintage laces.
Recently, we have begun working with a lace supplier who really consider sustainability when producing their laces. As well as all laces holding the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certification, they go through a hazard-free dyeing process and are manufactured within GRS certified locations in Germany.
We have also introduced Organic Bamboo Silk, Tencel™, Recycled Cotton Jersey and Organic Silk Satin into our collections and will continue to source sustainable fabrics when designing our pieces.
PRODUCTION
As well as considering sustainability when sourcing our materials, we make sure it is at the forefront of our minds when constructing our garments. From making the most of the fabric when cutting out pattern pieces, to creating eye masks and lavender bags with our scrap fabrics, we are always trying to minimise waste.
We really hate throwing any fabric away, so we collect our smaller scrap pieces to donate to local schools, where they are given a new lease of life in children's art projects!
We also produce our collections in small runs, even cutting and making some pieces to order, so that we don't hold any dead stock.
PACKAGING
As a luxury brand, we have always felt it best to include a free gift wrapping service as standard for all of our non-sale orders.
However, we understand that not every customer may need their orders gift wrapped, and we are also aware that this service may create excess waste, which can be avoided.
We have now introduced ‘Gift Options’ to our website, which can be selected when viewing your cart. Within this feature, you can now choose to opt-out of our gift wrapping service.
Instead, your order will be wrapped in tissue paper and either packaged in a biodegradable postage bag or a cardboard box, depending on the size of your order.
MANUFACTURING
We make all our pieces in our Brighton studio, meaning we can minimise our carbon footprint. Our studio is on the top floor of a beautiful Victorian building, which is close the sea and receives plenty of natural light from large bay windows. The safety of our employees is really important to us, so we are so pleased to have secured such a lovely space for our studio environment.
We are also proud to say that we are a living wage employer, so all of our employees are paid above the recommended living wage and are able to work in a safe environment. Our employees are also entitled to a pension, holiday pay, and sick pay.
We are continuously researching new ways in which we can make the brand as sustainable as possible, but we are aware that this will be a constant learning curve. Please get in touch if you have any suggestions, requests or advice on how we can continue to produce our lingerie ethically.
