sustainability is infused in our entire production lifecycle
The Commitment To Sustainable Values
The challenge the fashion industry, and ByJGK, faces is the integration of sustainability values into our entire production and sales processes. The elimination of all hazardous chemicals, without limiting the clients’ creativity or compromising on quality, is a difficult challenge that can only be faced by innovative companies, whom also adopt the best available technologies. ByJGK is at the forefront in the search of solutions that reduce the environmental impact, to offer our clients and customers the best environmental, social and transparency standards.
At its core, slow fashion advocates for ethical manufacturing with respect for our planet and the global population. Unlike industrial fashion retailers, slow fashion companies hire local artisans and rely on eco-friendly fabrics, as a way to preserve the craft of clothing construction and promote conscious consumerism. Slow fashion is rooted in redefining the strategies of clothing design, production, consumption, use, and reuse or recycling efforts.
Do good. Look good. Feel good.
Social Responsibility
The global fashion industry has a huge problem with pollution, waste and human rights abuses. Like you, we care for our planet, people and animals, and we want to live in a world that’s sustainable and fair.
Embracing our organic silk and jersey, natural fabrics created by artisianal small-batch craftspeople in Italy and Bulgaria, our products combine a love for quality goods and sustainable practices as luxury and practicality are celebrated and embodied.
Reduce Waste
We limit each production either made-for-order, or very short runs, and we repeat runs when demand dictates. Careful pattern placement minimises wastage during production, and any older stock is repurposed into either smaller items or – more often – samples and new pattern designs, so that each piece of silk is carefully utilised.
Ethical Tailoring
It is essential that our products are tailored in a principled manner, the alternative is just not an option for ByJGK. Committed to always using ethical tailoring units, ByJGK products are designed in Bulgaria and made using only Fairtrade tailoring units, located in Sofia, Bulgaria. By partnering with Fairtrade units, we, and our customers can have peace of mind in the production and wearing of our products.
Eco-Friendly Material
We believe in the production of “clean” fabrics, refusing to use dangerous substances (such as Chromium VI, Heavy Metals, and Paracloraniline) in the production of our organic silk and jersey.
We will continue to work to guarantee our customers, end consumers and the global community that even the most innovative requests on the market are met in compliance with the most stringent existing standards, represented not only by DETOX but also embraced ZDHC and AFIRM.
Certifications
We decided to commit to not only the principles of “slow fashion,” and ethical production, but also to the elimination of all hazardous chemicals in our fabrics, choosing only those fabric suppliers that follow the most rigorous current standards, including those defined by Greenpeace’s Detox Campaign. We continue our commitment by working with suppliers that adopt the 4Sustainability Chemical Management protocol for the implementation of MRSL ZDHC. You can browse our sustainable fabric certifications below.
Since 2015, our fabric has been GOTS certified. GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) is recognised as the most important standard for sustainable production of garments and textile products made of natural fibres from organic farming such as organic silk, cotton and organic wool.
According to GOTS it is possible to certify:
- textile products (containing at least 70% natural fibres from organic farming)
- manufacturing activities (dying, printing, …)
- chemical products for textile industry.
The GOTS certification is issued by ICEA (Istituto per la Certificazione Etica ed Ambientale – Institute for Ethical and Environmental Certification), a non-profit consortium that inspects and certifies several thousand companies that carry out their activities in respect of individuals and the environment, protecting the dignity of workers and consumer rights.
For more information: www.icea.bio/global-organic-textile-standard-gots/?lang=en
In 2019 our production and fabric also obtained the OCS certification.
OCS is promoted internationally by Textile Excange and for its release is needed an environmental declararion verified by a third part. The verification:
- Validates the content of natural fibers from organic farming in textile products (both intermediate and finished);
- Guarantees traceability along the entire production chain of raw materials, intermediate products and finished products.
OCS certification is issued by ICEA (Institute for Ethical and Environmental Certification), a non-profit consortium that controls and certifies several thousand companies that carry out their activities in respect of man and the environment, protecting the dignity of workers and consumer rights.
For more information: https://icea.bio/en/certifications/non-food/biological-and-sustainable-textile-products/organic-content-standard/
Since 2021 our fabric has been GRS certified, recognized as the most important standard for the sustainable production of textile products with recycled materials.
The standard recognizes the importance of recycling for the growth of a sustainable production and consumption model, with the aim of promoting the reduction of resource consumption (virgin raw materials, water and energy) and increasing the quality of recycled products.
The Global Recycle Standard guarantees:
- – Products containing at least 20% pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled material;
- – Manufacturing activities and processes through which the recycled material is used to make intermediate products (for example: yarns and fabrics) or finished products intended for the consumer, which use models and management procedures that comply with the established requirements.
For more information: https://icea.bio/en/certifications/non-food/biological-and-sustainable-textile-products/global-recycled-standard/
Since 2020 our fabric sourcing is also FSC certified.
The FSC® brand identifies products containing wood from forests correctly and responsibly managed, according to rigorous environmental, social and economic standards. The origin forest has been independently controlled and assessed in accordance with these standards (principles and criteria of good forest management), established and approved by the Forest Stewardship Council®.
For more information on the Forest Stewardship Council, please check out their site here: https://fsc.org/en
Market needs and our own vision of sustainability have pushed us to seek solutions for an even more sustainable production.
Following this path we want to give our contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations.
We guarantee a better quality of waste water derived by our production processes and we are working on collaborations to make this one of our strengths.
With these objectives in mind, we have built a structured path for the adoption of the Chemical Management Protocol 4sustainability which implements the MRSL ZDHC (www.roadmaptozero.com) with a structured method and periodically measures the level of application in a transparent manner.
Since 2018 our production is Seri.co certified. This is a trademark of the Centro Tessile Serico, issued through TUV. Seri.co is a certification system that ensures quality, health and safety requirements for the textile product and for its production system.
In order to protect Italian silk textile production and its internationally recognized quality and creativity tradition, this certification is granted exclusively to companies producing their fabrics in Italy.
- Product quality: Seri.co guarantees that the quality characteristics of the product comply with strict specifications that ensure correct behavior under stresses and maintenance treatments.
- Product health and safety: Seri.co guarantees that the fabric/product does not contain and does not release substances hamful to the customer’s health. Therefore it certifies that the product meets market requirements that give full confidence to the consumer.
- Company quality: the current market requires products to be manufactured in compliance with precise ethical, social and environmental codes; Seri.co integrates some of the most important principles of quality management systems (ISO 9001), environment (ISO 14001), safety (OHSAS 18001) and social responsibility (standard SA 8000) to guarantee a quality product with controlled properties.
For more information: www.textilecomo.com.