HIGH RISE FULL LENGTH RECYCLED COMPRESSION LEGGINGS DAYBREAK

The Brand Story

Girlfriend Collective was founded by wife and husband team Ellie and Quang Dinh. The idea for Girlfriend came when Ellie couldn’t find sustainable, minimalist activewear and Quang was researching fabrics made from recycled plastic.

Quang had already been in the business of fashion, creating a sustainable denim company in 2005 and setting up a factory in India following fair trade principles. His company was affected by the financial crisis in 2008 but during that time he learnt how to build content online. This knowledge enabled the duo to start Girlfriend Collective as they shared their story online.

Girlfriend are built on transparency. They use a certified factory in Vietnam and more sustainable materials to make each item. Their leggings and bras are premium in fit and feel, and minimalist in design. They were so confident in the quality of their product, that when they launched in 2016, they gave away free pairs of leggings to get the word out. We can’t wait for you to try them on.

Made in Vietnam

This garment was cut & sewn in Hanoi, Vietnam in an SA8000 certified factory. 14 pairs of hands and eyes make each pair of leggings. Workers are paid fair wages, provided with free catered lunch, free health check ups every 6 months and health insurance.

SA8000 is an independent social certification that assesses factories against a variety of ethical criteria. These include; safe working conditions, no child labor, workers having the right to unionise and that "wages shall be sufficient to meet the basic needs of personnel and to provide some discretionary income".

Recycled Plastic Bottles

Recycling polyester makes good use of plastic waste, reducing the plastic that ends up in landfill. Girlfriend source their recycled plastic from Taiwan. The recycling facility is certified by the government meaning there is accountability about how much recycled plastic is brought into the facility and how much leaves. This is important, as some facilities may lie about where their plastic is from, as it can be easier to buy new plastic bottles, then recycle them, selling them as "recycled" plastic to brands, completely defeating the purpose of recycling.

Dyes

Girlfriend use eco-friendly dyes and there wastewater is sent to a treatment plant where it is cleaned before it is released into a stream, avoiding dirty dye water ending up in rivers. The left over dye mud is then recycled to use for paving stones.

How can Girlfriend improve?

We’d like Girlfriend to provide more information about working conditions in their recycling plant and knitting factory.