Earthchild clothing has launched it’s first recycled concept store at the V&A Waterfront.
Some of the environmentally-friendly features in the Earthchild store include:
- LED lighting
- nontoxic paint
- the store is aluminium free
- the wooden floors are FSC Certified, assuring that the boards have been made with sustainably managed timber
- recycled boards and upcycled pallets, which present interesting features in the store, such as dried cement, drawings and paint
- recycled shop fitting from their previous store
- my favorite element – 100% recycled handmade hangers by Tendai. Local wire artist Tendai and his colleague Yolande Snyders were recruited for the job of making the store’s 3000 wire hangers. The hangers were handmade out of recycled wire by Tendai which he sourced his wire from scrap yards in and around Cape Town.
- organic cotton – although it would be nice to see more in the way of natural fabrics/reused materials in the clothing itself.
While there is a big board in store outlining all the recycled concepts, it would also be nice to have more information about where the clothing is made and the story behind the people making the clothes. At Live Eco we feel it’s important that consumers are made aware about the story behind the making of their clothes – who made them, where they were made and whether they were paid a decent wage. And as a consumer it is also your responsibility to ask these questions of brands, but until the mainstream consumer becomes more conscious, the onus is also on the retailers to educate their consumers.
That being said, it is a great initiative from Earthchild and we applaud this emerging brand on taking a big stride in the right direction.
