Unravelau @ Clean & Unique

Unravelau is one of the featured brands in the Clean & Unique international platform for ethical fashion, textile designers and brands.

By Clean & Unique, 2020

Unravelau is an up-and-coming Dutch sustainable clothing brand, founded in 2017 by Laura Meijering. ¬ The young designer is a woman with a passion for designing high-end clothing with a low ecological footprint. As a child, Laura created stories about an imaginary world in which she lost herself. Unravelau’s stories are not about an imaginary world, they show a harsh reality. If society does not change its take-make-waste pattern of living, the Earth’s resources will run out. ¬ That is why Unravelau tries to only use resources that are not harmful to our planet, but also allow for maximum reuse. Unravelau sets an example by making environmentally conscious decisions one step at a time, all the while learning from the past. “If you want to make a change, start with one thing at a time and try to excel at it. Next, try to make an even bigger step.” Unravelau is convinced that if people start thinking this way, our chances increase of living a lot longer on our planet.

Sourcing
At Unravelau we exclusively use organic and recycled materials for our products. Protecting nature is one of our biggest concerns, that is why we believe in the power of reusing materials. We try to generate the least possible waste when creating a garment by using zero-waste patterns and reusing the waste we do generate (like threads) in other garments. Even the tags on the garments are made of recycled paper and printed with environmentally friendly ink which shows sustainability is implemented in every aspect of the garment.

It is very important for us to know exactly what materials to choose when making a collection, that is why we spend a lot of time on the research of materials before we choose one. We research not only the production process to decide how polluting this is on the environment but we also research if the fabric is biodegradable and how long it takes for a material to return to the earth. Only if we’re certain that a material is the best choice, we use it for our collection.

For our collections we use cruelty free Ahimsa silk, Tencel, hemp, linen and organic cotton. All our materials are being ordered through an agent whose focus is on sustainable textiles and fair work. That way we know for sure that our materials have been made under the right circumstances.

Production
All the Unravelau garments are handmade in our atelier in Utrecht. The atelier is situated in an old school building which gives it a unique feeling. To reduce our ecological footprint, we separate all our trash and almost all the furniture is second hand.