INTERVIEW #7 ELVIS & KRESSE
“We have prevented more than 200 tonnes of material from ending up in landfill and have donated more than £150,000.00 to charity.”
Can you tell us more about Elvis & Kresse and why did you start it?
Elvis & Kresse is a pioneering sustainable luxury brand which was established in 2005 with the sole purpose of rescuing London’s damaged, decommissioned fire-hose and preventing it from going to landfill.
What is your sustainability profile?
“Our products are made with rescued materials and 50% of the profits are donated to charity.”
We are a certified social enterprise and one of the founding B Corps in the UK. Our products are made with rescued materials and 50% of the profits are donated to charity. We are radically transparent, with an open workshop and open book accounting with our stakeholder partners. We run on renewable energy, offer a range of highly paid apprenticeship programmes and work experience opportunities (we are a living wage employer). We don’t generate or use in our processes any single use materials, like polybags, and even our packaging is made in house from rescued materials.
How are the products produced?
We run two workshops, both our own, and between these two sites we undertake all of the work associated with the production of our goods. This includes everything from the collection, cleaning and processing of materials through to the design, manufacture, packaging and distribution.
What has been and are the major challenges?
There have been almost too many to mention! The fire-hose was such a challenging material to work with, we had to develop our own techniques and equipment to transform it into a usable textile. But the technical hurdles were just one thing, we also had to convince the wider public that disused fire-hose could be a luxury material. As we now rescue more than 15 materials these technical and communications challenges have only increased!
What has been and is the largest gains?
We have prevented more than 200 tonnes of material from ending up in landfill and have donated more than £150,000.00 to charity. We have hosted more than 50 young people for work experience and have offered more than 10 apprenticeships. We have also taken a leadership role within the industry, to show that it is possible to be successful without damaging the environment or exploiting its people.
“We had to convince the wider public that disused fire-hose could be a luxury material.”
What do you think needs to change in the fashion industry to make it more sustainable?
We need the entire industry, and indeed the entire global economy, to make it illegal to degrade the environment or exploit its people. In the UK we are asking for the Companies Act to change, to reflect that shareholders are not more important than the planet or its people.
What do you believe is “greenwashing” and what can producers and consumers do to avoid it?
“The most sustainable clothes are the ones you already own so look after them, and find ways to reuse them.”
Greenwashing is when the talk of sustainability, purpose and ethics is not matched or exceeded by action. Consumers can avoid it by looking for logos which are well respected like Fair Trade, B Corp Certified etc. If there is no third party auditing, it becomes incredibly difficult for consumers to easily separate the companies who might mean well from the companies who are actually delivering. My best advice is to ask lots of detailed questions, if no answers or only weak answers are forthcoming, there is an issue.
What would you advise consumers to do who seeks to create a sustainable closet and lifestyle?
This is actually a lot simpler than it looks, just buy less. The most sustainable clothes are the ones you already own so look after them, and find ways to reuse them. Your first option when requiring something new should be to buy second hand - make use of ebay - and if you must buy new then look for the logos and ask questions!
