Sustainability

Gem The Label is committed to making sustainable, slow fashion and proudly designed and made in Australia in our Sydney studio. We pride ourselves in our sustainable effort, closely monitoring and tracing every aspect of our making process to ensure pieces are sustainable. 

This considered approach is based on our core values of being an Australian, mindfully made, slow fashion label. From this, our sustainable practices can be broken down into a few key areas.

 

Our Materials

Gem the Label prides itself on sourcing materials which fall into the sustainable category. As a base level, Gem The Label uses natural fibres only and where possible, only fabrics which are organic and traceable.

 

All of our fabrics are OEKO-TEX 'Made in Green' and '100 Standard'. This means we have a certification that our fabrics are produced in environmentally friendly and ethical facilities. They are all traceable and undergone rigorous testing to ensure no harmful chemicals were used in its making..​We take that extra step in ensuring our pieces have no traces of anything nasty.

We are always looking at how to continue to improve our fabric and always on the hunt for even more sustainable options to broaden material options for customers. 

  • Elastics

    The elastics we use are 100% biodegradable elastic made from GOTS 48% organic cotton and 52% natural rubber. Fully traceable and ethically made and sourced.

  • Thread

    We sew and overlock with 100% Tencel (Lenzing lyocell). Made from the pulp of Canopy verified, FSC certified new plantation eucalyptus trees (grown in Western Europe + Austria) + processed in a closed loop system and spun in Portugal.

  • Fusing

    Our fusing we use for fabrics which need a little bit more stability, we use 100% traceable cotton fusing with Oeko-Tex 100 Class 2 certification. 

Natural Dyeing Practices

Natural dyeing is the process of creating colour with products which come directly from the environment. Gem The Label has most recently been working with logwood (wood chip) and cochineal (small insect). 

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The natural dyeing process has an element of spontaneity as you never quite know the exact outcome of the dye bath, giving each piece a unique look. There are no harmful chemicals added in this process and all the dyeing is done in house. 

What's Left Collection

Zero Waste

All of the offcuts and scraps of fabric from orders are kept, sorted and when enough has accumulated, made into zero waste pieces. 

What's Left collection

Every scrap is kept

Some pieces featured on the website already have enough to create unique zero waste designs. These pieces are patchwork in order to use even the smallest scraps of fabric. This also means each piece will look completely different to the other. 

To use all the tiny scraps, we have created our ‘What’s Left Zero Waste’ collection, a celebration and ode to every piece we have made here at GTL as each piece from this collection has a little of every order we’ve ever made and sent out. Beautifully unique, each piece is lovingly sewn and overlocked to create new meterage of fabric so that we have no waste here at Gem The Label.

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Slow Fashion

As a sustainable, mindfully made and ethical slow fashion label, our prices cannot be compared to mass manufactured, fast fashion brands which don't value these ethical standards.

Our fabrics are organic, ethically sourced and bought from Australian local businesses and are the best quality you can get. As a result of this, you may find that our prices reflect this. Your purchase from Gem the Label supports many local businesses. 

Our pieces are as affordable as they can be, we don't mark them higher than they need to be to make sure sustainable fashion can be as accessible as it can be for everyone. They are priced according to material, notions, labour and profit to keep Gem The Label afloat for the long haul.

Our pieces are the price they are as they do not exploit anyone in the chain of businesses and people behind them that help make these pieces. From fabric weaving, printing, notion sourcing and pattern making, everything is considered and accounted for. 

Slow fashion can be a hard concept to get our heads around, especially in a world which is saturated with brands which hide exploitation and unsustainable practices behind cheap and affordable prices. Gem The Label aims to be different and stand out in quality, transparency and ultimately ethical practices. 

We are growing, evolving and forever moving forward, looking to a future where slow fashion with ethical making is a standard practice. We are proud to be standing with fashion labels which make this choice for the planet and its protection. 

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