RESPONSIBLE LUXURY

RESPONSIBLE LUXURY

Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) are disproportionately targeted and effected by the destruction of our environment, global climate change, and unethical working practices.

As a result of Environmental Racism, our communities tend to be concentrated in areas experiencing greater environmental harms and more susceptible to natural disasters exacerbated by climate change.

Additionally, the impacts of racism and colonialism have left many communities of color exploited for little to no pay to fuel the fast fashion machine.

At De Essentia, we are on a mission to the leave the world better than we found it. De Essentia not only serves as a visual representation of the magnificence our community has and can achieve, it is also a mechanism for us to blossom even further. This belief lies at the core of every decision we make, from our designer partnerships to our packaging and everywhere in between.

Below we've outlined our approach to responsible luxury, how we've risen to the challenge thus far and our goals moving forward to continue to grow into our calling.

Slow Fashion at De Essentia.

We believe great things take time. While fast fashion is cheap, it comes at a steep cost to the planet, the workers and our communities. That is why we built De Essentia on slow fashion principals.

We purposefully carry low volumes from our design partners and sell many of our items via pre-sale to ensure each piece finds a loving home and avoid unnecssary overproduction.

This means it takes a little longer for your order to reach you, but its a wait well worth it for unique, high quality clothes that you will cherish for years to come.
Sustainable & Ethical Sourcing
We strive to ensure each of our Designer Partners share our commitment to creating and sharing ethical and sustainable fashion.

During our vetting process, we inquire into our designer’s production processes, material sourcing, and distribution systems to ensure alignment with our sustainability goals.

Our goal is for each of our Designer Partners to, at minimum, meet Good On You sustainability standards for “Good” brands.
Our Packaging
We have taken great care to design our packaging with the Earth and people in mind.

Our Thank You Cards

We commissioned Cherie Byler of Cache Letterpress, a small printer in Fort Collins, Colorado to custom print our seed paper thank you cards with our logo. These adorable cards are our gift to you for supporting us. Seed paper is made out of 100% post consumer recycled paper and is embeded with wildflower seeds. You simply plant the note in ⅛ in. of soil, water & keep it moist then watch them bloom just for you. Learn more about how to plant your card here.
Our Inserts
Part of what makes De Essentia so special is our focus on introducingyou to new designers to support now and forever. So when it came time todesigning our packaging we wanted to make sure we were able to shareour designers' stories with you, but in an environmentally friendly way.That's why we chose 100% post-consumer recycled cotton paper from ourfriends at Legion Paper.

"The cotton used to manufacture the papers isnot the cotton used in clothing, but rather the linters - a byproduct ofthe textile industry that may otherwise be discarded and end up in alandfill. This recovered material is salvaged and used to create ourcotton papers. Recycled cotton, from discarded garments for example, isalso available further reducing the impact."

This allows us to operatein a truly circular manner within our fashion ecosystem.

Our Ribbon

Green
Wesource our plant dyed silk ribbon from Shy Myrtle, a small ribbon shopin Onega, Kansas. We love plant dyed ribbon because it allows us toenjoy all the vibrant colors nature has to offer while avoiding toxicdyes and chemicals associated with the synthetic dying process.

Black
Weuse ribbon and a wax seal to keep all our notes to you together duringshipping instead of an envelope to save paper. Our black ribbon is fairtrade, hand-dyed recycled chiffon silk sourced from India by Honey Silksand Company. A local North Carolina ribbon and textile studio we love.

Our Gift Boxes

Unfortunately we have not yet found a gift box that meets oursustainability goals. For now, we source our signature black gift boxesfrom Chinese manufacturer Geotobox. While the magnets in the boxesprevent them from being easily recycled, we appreciate that their qualityallows them to be repurposed in a variety of ways. Because our box isunbranded it is perfect for re-gifting in,using a memory box, or reliablestorage.

If you know of an ethical and eco-friendly gift box manufacturer please send us a referral! We're always working to improve.

Our Shipping Boxes

Our shipping boxes are from Eco Enclose a US based environmentallyfriendly packaging supplier. They are made from 100% recycled content,with 95% coming from post-consumer waste. Each box is also curbsiderecyclable and compostable (however recycling is preferred).

Tape and Such

We also source our shipping labels (100% recycled andrecyclable,including the backing, plus recycling friendly adhesive) andour kraft gum tape, which reduces the amount of tape needed to seal ourpackages and is 50% recycled fibers and is 100% recyclable, fromEcoEnclose.

We Are Always Seeking to Improve

While neither of us are sustainability experts, we both are committed to ensuring De Essentia leaves a legacy of positive change in our communities and world. If you have any thoughts, feedback or recommendations regarding our ethical and sustainability efforts please, feel free to reach out to us. We are always happy to hear from you.

info@de-essentia.com