Better Brand: Silfir

Intro

Silfir is a Berlin based online brand founded by Hannah Kromminga, with a great concept. We know that many buyers are looking for more sustainable options when purchasing clothing.

Check out this interesting article for the numbers.

One option is to reduce the amount of clothing purchased, and another is to purchase items of higher quality, as these will last longer. If the brand offers a repair service for its clothing, that’s another real positive.

Silfir has approached this in a unique way. Essentially, they only offer one item on their site, a workwear uniform for women.

It is a minimalistic two-piece suit made out of a lyocell / viscose/ lycra blend.

The suit is produced in a small-scale factory in Northern Portugal.

Keeping production close to home is an important element of more sustainable apparel, as shipping distances are reduced, which reduce CO2 emissions.

They also state the garment is 100% recyclable.

For shipping within Germany and the EU, Silfir uses DHL Green.

Visions and Values

“CONSUMERS AREN’T INHERENTLY BAD, BUT THEY ARE OVERWHELMED WITH THE TASK OF ORGANISING THEMSELVES INTO LIVING A TRULY SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE. IN ORDER TO INITIATE POSITIVE CHANGE IN THE WORLD, WE NEED TO DEVELOP CONSUMER SOLUTIONS THAT ARE ACHIEVABLE  AND INSPIRING.”

We agree with this.

We also do not think consumers are “bad” for buying too much. Essentially, they have been conditioned since childhood to embrace overconsumption.

We see this daily on the TV, on the Web, and in every other type of media, such as Facebook or Instagram.

How many adverts for unnecessary product do you see in your feeds daily? Plenty, if mine is anything to go by.

Similarly, living in a more sustainable manner is also very hard to achieve.

Every single retailer seems to be jumping on the “Sustainability Gravy Train”, but only a small fraction are actually highly sustainable.

In this world of confusion, it is really difficult for the average consumer to know what to do.

This is actually one of the reasons we at Sourcing Playground started our “Better Brand” blog.

To assist consumers by directing them at brands which are striving to be more sustainable than the rest.

Apparel

As already mentioned, Silfir essentially only offers one item of apparel.

The Soft Workwear Uniform.

As you can see, it is minimalistic and offered in basic colors. But do not let this fool you. It is a great item of clothing!

What is also great, is that Silfir offers a repair service. We like this, this obviously extends the item’s lifespan. The repair service is free.

Silfir also offers a recycling program, where customers can send the item back at it’s end of life, and the fabric is recycled into new yarn, that can be reused to manufacture their new apparel.

What is also interesting, is their return policy. We all know that returns of items purchased online is a major problem.

Check out this article, as well as this one. They are real eye openers!

Silfir states that 75% of their customers believe that free returns are not sustainable, so they need to bare part of the responsibility of returning or exchanging items.

The goal is to ensure people buy what they really need.

If you send something back to Silfir, you’ll have to pay for it, unless it is a return due to a mistake on Silfir’s part.

This is actually an extremely uncompetitive practice, with the majority of online retailers offering free returns or exchanges. But it does force people to think before they buy, and not just do it on impulse, which the free return concept encourages.

Silfir has also partnered with New York City-based company Returnity to provide customers with a reusable shipping bag made from recycled plastic bottles. What is also great is that this bag can also be used as a tote bag for everyday use!

Overall, we really like the Silfir concept.

For more, check out their site.