Fast Fashion - Clothes have never been cheaper

Environment and sustainability are on everyone's lips, and according to us, they should be, as the clothing industry is the fourth largest environmental burden in Europe. Fast Fashion is the biggest culprit. In fact, clothes have never been cheaper than they are today, and unfortunately that is not a good thing. In the fashion industry, they say that the seasons are no longer 4 times a year, but 52, one for each week. Environmental costs, low quality and poor working conditions make it possible to produce clothing at a fraction of what it should cost.

We want more clothing joy

Quality, employee welfare and sustainability naturally have a longer lifespan, and then it has the bonus that it provides greater clothing satisfaction. Therefore, it always pays off in the long run to buy good quality, even if the price here and now is higher than the prices of fast fashion. For the small vintage-style brands we carry, it applies that they take into account one or more things that we stand for, and we would like to explain a little more about that here. So you can decide for yourself what is most important to you when you try to join the fight for a better environment and better conditions. It can be difficult to see what is best for the environment, and whether what is best for the environment also takes into account other important things such as working conditions, place of production and animal welfare. That's why we try to tell a little about it here, even if we can't get all our brands involved.

The joy of the unique piece of clothing

No overproduction – no waste
Our regular customers will know that we only take home a few items of each, and unfortunately it happens that customers leave here disappointed because their size of a certain vintage dress was sold out and cannot be ordered home again. It may be comforting that this is actually the core of our and many of our brands' production ethics, namely that we do not overproduce, but that we only produce what is ordered from the dealers, us! In this way, we all help to reduce the huge overproduction of clothing that ends up in landfills every year. In addition, you secure yourself a beautiful piece of vintage clothing that there are certainly not many others who also have.

Sustainability and fair trade from our vintage brands

The core values ​​of most of our retro and vintage style brands are one or more of the following; small production, sustainable materials / sustainable production such as water-saving printing, ecology, working conditions, European production (or for our American brands; production in the USA), durability - expensive materials that last!

Almost all of our brands have limited production. Several of them only produce what is ordered from the dealers and for the brand's own online shop. Virtually all brands are trying to find ways in which they can improve in terms of the green footprint that clothing and shoe production leaves on the world.

New at Mondo Kaos: Swedish Stockings

Innovative sustainable socks from Sweden
Swedish Stockings is a brand that specializes in producing stockings, tights and pantyhose from surplus production and plastic. A big culprit in environmentally friendly production is of course all the fabric residues that go to waste. Swedish Stockings takes them and uses them in the production of their stockings. But it doesn't stop there; their new innovation tights are made from PET bottles, and then Swedish Stockings uses your old nylon stockings to make fiberglass tanks that are used for industry.

You can hand in 3 pairs of nylon stockings (or more) to Mondo Kaos and get 10% off your purchase from Swedish Stockings - then we will send them up to Swedish Stockings so they can be included in their production.

The socks are of the highest quality, manufactured in Italy in an emission-free factory.

EUROPEAN PRODUCTION OF YOUR VINTAGE CLOTHES

It is important for us to make sure that the brands we sell care a lot about fair trade and employee welfare. They all work closely with the factories that manufacture textiles and the finished product (if they don't do it "in house") to ensure the high standard of material quality as well as the final result.

Very Cherry vintage style clothing designed in the Netherlands produced in Poland.

The House of Foxy – Made locally in England and in Europe

Asia – under controlled proper conditions

Brands such as Zoe Vine and Unique Vintage are among those that have chosen to have production in Asia. However, there is still full focus on employee welfare. The clothes are produced in Vietnam and China respectively, under proper and safe conditions, and under strict supervision, so that the employees have the best conditions.

Organic cotton and environmental heroes

Palava - Organic cotton made in Europe

Our international brands with sustainability in focus

Heart of Haute - family business with the environment in mind

A brand that, in addition to employee welfare and local production, also has a different approach is Heart of Haute . They have thought about how to reduce water consumption, which is one of the biggest environmental culprits when it comes to clothing production. By printing the clothes with digital prints, this means no washing and no chemicals are washed into the environment. Teresa and Mandy, who are the women behind Heart of Haute, produce all their clothes in a small sewing room in LA, assisted by two seamstresses.

The way to a greener future

So why are we writing all this? It is to draw attention to the fact that we must also make a choice towards a greener future and new buying habits. If we want to support the brands that are trying to make a difference, we must also look at the overall picture.

It is clear that for small brands it is also about finding a way to make a sustainable production and still keep the prices reasonable. Therefore, it is difficult from the start to make both fair trade, locally produced, organic and small batches at a reasonable price. So it is important to keep in mind that not only do you buy from small retailers who sell sustainably produced goods, but you also help them to continue to follow the sustainable path. At Mondo Kaos, we focus on selling vintage style brands that have these core values, but which also retain the high quality and of course the look that we want to sell and that we know our customers want to find with us.

We are always ready to guide you to a sustainable wardrobe and answer your questions in the store, we look forward to your visit.

Love,

Team Mondo Kaos ❤