We agree that ethical fashion has its shadier areas where it is sometimes easy to get lost. It is a subject in movement, which is constantly being rethought and deepened, recognizing the fervor of the commitment of its actors. Once launched, we could talk about it for hours, sharing our references, our findings, our inspirations, our desires...
It is with the desire to transmit the alliance between our passion for clothing and our belief in a more beautiful world that we have written a lexicon of the sinuous vocabulary of ethical fashion.

 

 

 CARBON FOOTPRINT

This is an indicator that measures the impact of a person or an entity on the climate. It is calculated from the greenhouse gas emissions generated by human activities. For an object, it is to take into account all its footprint related to its life cycle.

For example, for a cotton garment, it is necessary to take into account: the production of raw materials, the supply of cotton, the spinning and weaving of cotton, the making, the distribution, its use (in number of washes), its end of life (collection, sorting), and the transportation between each stage.

At Adalma, we try to reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible. If you want to know more, we detail our actions related to our approach in the tab "our commitments".

DEAD STOCK

These are huge quantities of ordered fabrics that have never been used, that lie dormant in warehouses. There are a variety of reasons why they are not selected for design: minor quality defects, customers dissatisfied with the color, end of roll of past collections of fashion houses...

This dead stock is one of our most valuable sources of raw materials.

DOWNCYCLING

Downcycling is the action of recycling a material or a product in a quality or utility lower than the original one. For example the recycling of a plastic of quality in a plastic of lesser grade. It can also be called decycling or under-cycling.

ETHICS

"It is the art of constantly asking questions in order to find what, at the time, seems to be the right answer. - The good goods

FAST FASHION

Fast fashion is a disposable fashion. It is embodied by brands that have set up a system of ultra-fast renewal of their collections (more than 4 collections per year). Its beginnings only go back to the early 2000s. If it offers debatably low prices, in less than 25 years this way of thinking about fashion has had a disastrous record on environmental (from manufacturing to waste generated) and human (modern slavery, sanitary) points.  Today, we even see the arrival of ultra-fast fashion brands on the market that have an even more devastating impact.

MATERIAL / NATURAL FIBERS

These are the fibers of plant or animal origin. To name a few: cotton, leather, linen, hemp, silk, wool ... They are fibers that allow the simple and natural breathing of the fabric, which well maintained, allows the durability of a garment and its biodegradability at the end of its life cycle. This is a plus when they come from organic agriculture.

At Adalma, these are the fibers that we prefer, and that we favor above all others for our collections.

MATERIAL / SYNTHETIC FIBER

As its name indicates, it is a fiber obtained from synthetic material. To spare you the multitude of quadrisyllabic molecules that can come into play depending on the fiber you are hoping for, these chemical compounds come almost exclusively from hydrocarbons. In other words, a garment made of essentially synthetic material is plastic in the same way as a plastic bottle. These fibers may be resistant, but they do not allow the fabric to breathe, which means it must be washed more often, and thus degrades more quickly.

At Adalma, we avoid using these materials as much as possible, or we use them exclusively for their very specific properties in minimal percentage (elastane for elastics).

OFF-CUTS OF MATERIALS

These are all the remains of raw materials after the end of production, often too small to continue producing the pieces that are designed from them.

It is with our scraps that we make our accessories: bob, scrunchie, ...

OVERPRODUCTION

The overproduction means the fact of producing more than we need. Within a company, overproduction can be justified from an economic point of view to lower its final costs by making economies of scale, but from an environmental point of view it makes no sense when there are no reasoned logistics behind it.

At Adalma, we believe that it makes no sense to overproduce. We try to make the best use of the materials we use in a collection. This is part of our choice to produce in small series, with numbered pieces to reflect the intrinsic value of a piece.

RECYCLING

In the common sense, recycling has as objective to transform a waste into raw material ready to use, thanks to a process of revalorization. Upcycling and downcycling are more artisanal forms of recycling. Clearly, recycling is giving a beautiful life to our waste. 

In our upcycling approach, at Adalma we participate in the revalorization of textile products and supplies.

RESPONSIBLE COURIER

Couriers handle deliveries over short distances, often in urban areas.  When we talk about responsible couriers, we mean environmentally responsible.

We favor bike couriers, so our short-distance deliveries are carbon neutral.

SEEDED PAPER 

This is a paper made from recycled fibers. It is biodegradable, set with flower or plant seeds, so that it can bloom at the end of its first life cycle. 1 - Soak the seeded paper in water overnight. 2 - Plant it 2 cm deep. 3 - Water well the first weeks. 4 - Admire the first shoots.

Most of our cards are made of seeded paper.

SHORT SUPPLY CHAINS

Short supply chains are often mentioned for agricultural products. The principle is the same for all production chains, the logic behind short supply chains is to reduce as much as possible the intermediaries between the producers and the final consumers. The less intermediaries there are, the clearer the traceability of the product is, and the fairer the price will be. This approach also allows us to reduce our carbon footprint.

SLOW FASHION

The key word of Slow Fashion is to slow down the pace of production and consumption, at a pace that must be more respectful of the environment and humans. Built in mirror of the word "Fast fashion", slow fashion is a reasoned alternative to it. It is still evolving, looking for solutions to the drifts of modern fashion.

SOCIAL STANDARDS

Social standards are derived from international and territorial labor laws, they provide for the normality of working conditions. Today, international laws are not restrictive enough, so normality is relative depending on the place: social standards are not the same in the United States, in France and in the countries of South East Asia (main home of textile production factories). Wages, work environment, safety, contracts, the logic induced by globalization plays with these differences to lower the costs of the goods produced.

At Adalma, all our production, from design to sale, respects the social standards of French law because all the companies we work with are located in France.

SUSTAINABILITY

The sustainability of a cloth refers to its life span (long), and its environmental impact (low). A durable part is often made from natural materials with robust properties.

With the materials we choose, and the garment care tips we give you with each order, we try to make our garments as durable as possible. On the manufacturing side, the know-how of the Parisian workshop we work with ensures the high quality of our piece.

UPCYCLING

From existing clothes or textiles, upcycling is the action of transforming them into new pieces with a higher value. Clearly, upcycling is to sublimate the existing.

At Adalma, we are fascinated by this method of design. It is the creative side, the inspiration that is born differently in us with each textile, object, that makes us shiver. In our collections you can find upcycled pieces according to our finds in the seasons.

VINTAGE

This is a broad term for anything that has a story to tell. Your grandmother's pearl necklace, that monocle in an antique shop, the 70s denim bomber jacket at Freepstar, the Courrège pleated miniskirt, the lace from the 20s found at the bottom of a leather trunk, a walkman... Any object that symbolizes the atmosphere of an era that has passed.

Vintage, in all its forms, is our primary inspiration at Adalma.