Kaila Tyndall
Head of Product, Kit and Ace
These days, it’s easier than ever to keep up with the latest and greatest fashion trends, thanks to fast fashion retailers who churn out low-cost clothing to meet consumer demands. But by encouraging consumers to buy more in order to stay on trend, fast fashion is causing an epidemic of overconsumption.
Retailers like Kit and Ace are combatting this trend by limiting the number of garments you need in your closet. “Our goal is to create pieces that are timeless in design, high-quality and multi-use,” says Kaila Tyndall, Head of Product at Kit and Ace. “We want our clothing to take you from day to night, from your morning bike commute to the office, to after-work drinks with friends.”
Overconsumption is a key contributor to the sustainability dilemma, which affects every corner of the fashion industry. From procuring the raw materials to producing the garments, fashion leaves behind a significant environmental footprint. Water consumption is a big challenge — currently, there’s no global legal standard to how much water can and should be used when producing textiles. While high-tech, advanced mills (like the ones Kit and Ace uses to produce its signature Navigator collection) can limit the use of water consumption, they come at higher costs that fast fashion retailers simply aren’t willing to pay.
“As a company, we’re working to get all of our raw materials to meet a high standard,” says Tyndall. “Our Navigator line is milled in Switzerland and the fabric is Bluesign® approved.”
Bluesign® is the highest standard of criteria for ensuring sustainable fabric manufacturing such as water and chemical use. Many companies use repellents for waterproofing their garments, which contain harmful chemicals such as fluorocarbons. These chemicals then seep into the soil once garments are discarded, damaging the ecosystem. As a solution to this issue, Kit and Ace uses ecorepel® technology in their winter version of the Navigator line.
“We apply ecorepel® at the fiber level in our winter Navigator Collection. It’s a paraffin finish that works just as well as any repellant coating, if not better because it’s embedded into the garment and can’t be washed away,” Tyndall explains. “When the garment reaches its final destination, we know that our repellant isn’t leeching into the soil.”
