There’s nothing better than being cozy during the holidays — with a sustainable twist.
Pangaia, a materials science company that creates sustainable clothing that burst onto the scene when celebrities like Bella Hadid, Kourtney Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and Justin Bieber flocked to its luxury lounges, uses dyes made from fruits, wildflowers to fill puffer coats and peppermint for odor control.
“In 2020, we made sustainable tracksuits, which of course were the perfect outfit for working from home. It was a time when people were spending a lot of time online and direct-to-consumer was growing,” Dr. Amanda Parkes, fashion scientist and chief innovation officer of Pangaia, tells PEOPLE.
“If you contextualize how amazing nature is, in a beautiful and inspiring fashion item, it will inspire people to learn more.”
A shot from Pangaia’s 2023 holiday lookbook.
Pangaia
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Inclusiveness and sustainability are sewn into Pangaje’s DNA. Pan means “everything” and Gaia is the goddess of the earth.
“I also really love our recycled cashmere, which is also quite reasonably priced. It’s all recycled and we’ve worked really hard to make it as soft as virgin cashmere, which is hard to do,” she says.
With an inclusive size guide (genderless ranges from XXS to XXL, with a children’s line), Pangaia’s signature is a small block of text on the garments — logo without logo, à la quiet luxury.
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A shot from Pangaja’s latest lookbook.
Pangaia
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“We call it our trademark transparency,” Parkes tells PEOPLE about the meaning of the lines. “Each block of text says something about what the garment is made of, or how it’s made, or what’s special about it, to make it sustainable. It’s literally about wearing your heart on your sleeve, like, ‘This is me, this is what I’m made of.’ It was a way of having something that could be identified. How to get to the heart of the question “What should you know about this?” And I just put it out there.”
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Close-up of Pangaja’s “trademark transparency”.
Pangaia
Pangaia is mostly produced in Portugal, which Parkes says keeps careful metrics on its water and energy. The company produces its favorite, animal-alternative flowers in Italy, and sources its denim nettle from the Himalayas, among other carefully selected sources around the world.
“We really need to get serious about climate change and carbon,” says Parkes. “So I’m trying to make fashion a model within that.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education