OUR ETHOS
OUR ETHICAL AND SUSTAINABILITY ETHOS
At Emperors’ we work hard to live by our core values, we believe that the fashion industry should be transparent, sustainably produced and inclusive in its representation of every part of society.
We are always striving to do better to lessen the environmental impact of our clothing production. We provide a safe + supportive working environment for our employees. The Emperor’s Old Clothes’s brand practices + the responsible clothing we produce are all designed to be as sustainable, inclusive and as accessible as possible.
We always try our best but don’t claim to be perfect on any of these fronts and value constructive feedback from our customers, followers + peers.
SOCIAL IMPACT
WHO MAKES YOUR CLOTHES
Sustainable fashion isn’t solely an environmental issue – it’s a societal issue too. Fashion is so firmly embedded within our everyday lives, we all want to look and feel good in the clothes we wear.
However, as consumers when we buy and wear clothes from fast fashion brands who exploit the predominantly Black and Brown female, garment workers they’ve outsourced their production to in previously pillaged countries we are complicit in their exploitation. A huge proportion of garment workers are paid far below a living or even minimum wage, many forced into labour, often in unsafe working environments breaching their basic human rights. Whilst our business model is very different here at The Emperor’s Old Clothes, we work to raise awareness of these issues + advocates for massive change to collectively create a more fair and equitable fashion industry.
So, who makes our clothes?
Every one of our garments is created on site by our small team in our Brighton + Hove studio in the UK. We pay our team members a UK living wage and invest in our local community with free sewing traineeships to encourage the continuation of our craft.
We believe in inclusivity and responsible advertising.
This includes being transparent about who makes your clothes across our marketing. It is also means catering to people of different sizes, ethnicities, genders, ages and abilities and representing people within these different intersections in our marketing too. We don’t claim to be perfect at this by any means – but we are consciously working towards these goals. If you don’t see yourself represented we would love your feedback.
TEAM INTERSECTIONALITY
The Emperor’s Old Clothes is a LGBTQIA+ owned brand and made up of a team of individuals who span lots of different intersections. This includes but is not limited to queer, non-binary, ace, fat, Black, neurodiverse + chronically ill team members in their 30s to 60s.
We strongly believe that sustainable fashion is for everyone! Every person should feel comfortable, accommodated + able to express themselves via their wardrobes… And be able to know that every person that has had a hand in creating those clothes is treated with respect, able to work safely + have their unique identity be celebrated in their place of work.
As much of the world descends harrowingly further into fascism we stand in solidarity with all our LGBTQIA+, particularly our trans customers + community, our Black + Brown customers + community and our disabled + fat community as we work together towards shaping a world where everyone is cherished, celebrated + treated equitably.
PEOPLE OVER PROFIT
UK LIVING WAGE
We are so proud to be a living wage employer in the UK.
This means that each member of our team is paid the living wage or higher for Brighton & Hove. This includes our sewing machinists, marketing + customer service, studio assistants and models.
Unusually for our industry we also ensure that our core team are salaried. This means no zero hour contracts, no being paid ‘per items sewn’. We set an hourly rate and have clear contracts in place so everyone knows where they stand. This may seem obvious for those who work 9-5 but this is very unusual in the fashion industry, especially in garment production.
'CONSUMER CHOICE' VS FINANCIAL ACCESSIBILITY
The positive impact of the fashion industry can’t just be left down to ‘consumer choice’.
It’s not a choice if you don’t know what is happening behind the scenes of the products you buy, it’s not a choice if you’re not catered to because of your race, size, age, gender, disability, and it’s not a choice if the ‘ethical’ options aren’t made more affordable or at least more financially accessible.
We are working to make our corner of sustainable fashion as financially accessible as possible for our customers without compromising on our living wage ethos or the quality of our products. We have long offered interest-free in-house payment plans so customers can spread the cost of their design your own garments across 2-6 months rather than having to pay in full up front.
We also offer an ‘Emperor’s Resale’ service where customers can buy + sell their pre-loved Emperor’s garments as well as our sample garments for a reduced rate. It is important to us to help take responsibility for as much of the lifecycle of our garments as possible – its called ethical fashion for a reason!
In small or big steps these ‘choices for consumers’ are things that as brand owners we can each affect within our individual businesses + together as an industry. In all of these ways + more we are doing our part in trying to change the future of fashion.
ACCESSIBILITY
ADAPTIVE DESIGN
We work alongside our customers + community to develop adaptive garment features. When designing your garment with us you can choose your preferred combination of garment features in order to make sure your clothing is as comfortable, accessible + adaptable to your individual needs as possible.
Examples of adaptive design include:
Crotch reinforcement for those who experience thigh chafing
Elasticated dungaree straps for those who are ambulatory or permanently seated
Hidden zip fastenings for those who experience mobility issues getting in + out of crotched garments + for those who need extra access for ports etc
Side zip fastenings + attached shoulder ties for those who are breast-feeding or chest-feeding
Fully elasticated waistbands for those who experience large fluctuations + bloating
All of these garment features + more are offered within our standard garment design process.
We are also on hand to discuss + offer ‘off-menu’ alternatives for those who have more specific requests.
Examples of previous ‘off-menu’ features include:
A ‘seated fit’ for wheelchair users where the seat of the garment is fitted to a seated rather than a standing position
Small concealed gaps in pockets for tens machines wires to be fed through
Slanted pockets on the legs of dungarees for one of our customers that uses a wheelchair so that the contents of their pockets doesn’t fall out when seated
We are always designing + developing more adaptive garment feature options – if you have any requests or feedback please get in touch
NEURODIVERSITY
We work hard to try to make both our designs + our design process as accessible as possible in every way that we can. As a small brand with many neurodiverse team members + a large neurodiverse community base we know how inaccessible + overwhelming new processes + activities can feel.
Here is a (non-exhaustive) list of accommodations we can offer our neurodiverse customers:
Sensory needs –
Fabrics – we appreciate that certain fabrics can cause sensory discomfort + that this is very individual, so ordering a non-refundable garment online without physically feeling the fabric can create a massive barrier. Our customer service team is on hand to take extra photos + videos of fabrics as per requests, we can also send fabric samples in the post – please don’t hesitate to get in touch to discuss your needs
Garment finishes – we 100% understand that certain garment finishes can easily become sensory nightmares. If you would prefer – for example – not to have any labels in your garments, to have covered seams or have cotton facings for the insides of your wrist cuffs etc – please don’t hesitate to get in touch to discuss your needs
Communication –
We offer communication via email, Instagram direct messaging, live chat on our website + video zoom calls. If you have alternative communication type preferences for keeping in touch with us during the garment design process eg. voice notes, pre-recorded video messages etc then please don’t hesitate to get in touch to discuss your needs
Clarification –
If something isn’t clicking + you want more clarification about the differences between our garment styles, about how a fabric will behave, about which garment features are + what would be most suitable please ask! We totally appreciate designing your own garments can feel overwhelming, especially when it’s your first order, or you are going for different garment type. We are very much here to handhold as much as you need + to answer as many questions as you want to throw at us so please don’t hesitate to get in touch to discuss your needs
Flexibility –
We know many of the struggles that come along with neurodiversity so this is just a note to say if you have booked an appointment with us, owe us body measurements or just need to reply to a message from us + on the day you don’t have the capacity to do so for whatever reason we understand! If you feel able to let us know or have a friend/loved one who can message on your behalf that you can’t make your booked appointment that appreciated – no other explanation beyond ‘I (/they) don’t have capacity today + will rebook’ is needed. If you don’t feel you can reply to a message then we understand + look forward to hearing from you again when you feel able / have more spoons.
As we said this list is non-exhaustive – the bottom line is that we are here to help make the design process feel as accessible as possible so please reach out to us.
If you want to get more of a feel for who we are + what we’re like check out our @emperorscloth Instagram account including Instagram live broadcasts by our team (on most Mondays at 5.30pm UK time + either Thursday 5.30pm UK time or Fridays 4pm UK time) – you can find our entire back catalogue of live videos in our video feed too
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
SUPPLY CHAIN
Running a business sustainably is at the heart of what we do and that means working in a radical way to minimise our environmental impact.
We work with limited amounts of vintage + deadstock fabrics because we are dedicated to using up what already exists rather than adding to new textile production. We are working to make our entire supply chain including haberdashery + packaging materials as transparent as possible, working with local manufacturers where we can to lessen the overall carbon footprint of all our products.
ZERO FABRIC WASTE
We have a strict zero fabric waste policy in our Brighton studio.
All our garments are made from end of roll fabrics, the remnants created during the cutting of our garments go to making our accessories and the tiny leftover scraps are either donated to local craft projects, textile recycled or made into scrap kits so you can take part in the handmade joy and get crafty at home.
We are proud to offer reusable soft packaging to provide an innovative circular packaging system. Want to know more?
