Happy New Year!

We at Kalilo wish happy New Year to our partners, customers, and everyone out there. The world is a beautiful place and although we are all different – cultures, beliefs, religions, languages and etc. we have a lot in common. This diversity is rather strength that unites us to have a common voice to fight issues that are bigger than us and affect not only us – humans, but the planet we live in for now and also for the future.

The hopes

Hope the year 2020 unites and brings us closer – even more. Hope this is the year where slow becomes the new norm and our voracious need to consume does not compromise our planet and the needs of the future generation. Remember that the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the planet – although it will be hard to change that in a year’s time, hope we make some changes in the year 2020 even if they are small. Hope more and more embrace slow fashion to create a wardrobe that lasts long - not a wardrobe that’s built on fast fashion trends that harm our planet. Hope we start asking questions and consider who makes our clothes and how. Hope we consume because we chose to consciously and not because we can.

The resolution

Instead of having a list of all the things that we will do in the coming year, we thought it would be nice to list the things that we will never do whether it is 2020 or 2050. This is a pledge to our customers. Years will come and go, but in the list below are some things that you can always expect from us.

• We are not/will never be a fast fashion brand and do not follow fashion trends. Our focus is on and always will be on longevity - timeless, classic and thoughtful design.
• We do not/will never have seasonal collections – we add new items time to time. We will always prioritize quality over quantity.
• We do not/will never use synthetic fibers in our clothing – less than 10 % of our clothing have care label tags made from synthetic material, by the end of 2020 all our clothing will have care label tags made from natural fibers: cotton or silk.
• We do not/will never use toxic dyes in any of our clothing. We use AZO free dyes.
• We do not/will never position ourselves as a sustainable fashion brand, but as a slow fashion brand that is passionate about handmade clothing made from the highest quality natural fibers. Sustainability is a very broad term and it is hard to work with every aspect of it, however we work a lot with sustainability and it is in our DNA. We know that there is a lot more we can do with sustainability and that excites us. We will take on different tangible initiatives focused on sustainability in the year 2020 and further.
• We do not/will never have a large inventory. We only produce in small batches – the biggest batch we have done so far is 20 for Scarf Iname. We are committed to promoting moderate consumption every way that we can.
• We do not/will never have stock clearance/end of season sales – well we do not have big stocks to clear after-all.
• We do not/will never promote senseless consumerism – no Black Friday, Cyber Monday or Single’s day sales.
• We do not/will never work with big suppliers who mass produce in big batches – we only work with carefully vetted small suppliers and believe in building strong personal relationship with them. We have come up with a questionnaire focusing on different areas – sustainability, ethics, social impact, vision, environment and etc. It helps us to get to know them better, where they are currently and where they are heading. By the end of 2020 we will publish responses to this questionnaire from each and every supplier we work with.
• We try not to use plastics in our product packaging – each and every Kalilo product is neatly packed in a cotton dust bag. The shipping cardboard box we use is recyclable and made from FSC certified and responsibly sourced material. The tape used (in case needed) for outer packaging is made from 100% recycled plastic. Hang label thread is OEKO-TEX certified 100% cotton.
• We do not/will never use low quality fibers – we want our clothing to last long and to be re-used as much as possible whether given away or second hand, keep the circularity of our clothing going. We fully understand that classic designs made from the highest quality fibers have a good chance of having decent second hand value.