Sustainability Q+A with Les Gamins
Les Gamins
INTERVIEW WITH VERONIQUE NGUYEN
FOUNDER LES GAMINS
WHAT IS THE LES GAMINS ETHOS?
Les Gamins was born with the idea of creating simple but beautiful basics for babies and toddlers at an accessible price point. We strive to provide high-quality, everyday pieces that look good, feel good, and won’t break the bank to replace as our little ones inevitably outgrow them every few months.
We put a lot of thought into every piece we design. We don’t make a new collection every few months and we stay away from trends, keeping the focus on styles that are classic and seasonless.
Every piece has been thoughtfully crafted for everyday comfort and play and is produced with love and care for both the product and our planet. We use the softest, highest-quality materials, and use natural and organic fibers where available. All of our products are sustainably produced with small-batch, local manufacturers. Our goal is to offer a curated collection of refined and functional essentials that can be worn over and over, withstand the test of time and play, and be handed down with love.
WHERE ARE YOU LOCATED, IS YOUR WHOLE TEAM THERE?
We are located in Brooklyn, NY. We’re a small but mighty team! Most of our team is based in NY and LA but we have talented freelancers that work with us from all around the country.
WHERE ARE THE COLLECTIONS PRODUCED? ARE YOU ABLE TO CLOSELY MONITOR YOUR PRODUCTION?
The collection is all produced in LA and all of our fabrics are also sourced locally. We frequently travel to LA to work with our manufacturing partners.
WHAT WAS YOU PROCESS IN SELECTING YOUR FACTORIES AND HOW DO YOU ENSURE YOUR MANUFACTURERS ARE MEETING BEST ETHICAL PRACTICES? DO THEY HAVE ANY CERTIFICATION?
It was a long process of speaking and meeting with multiple manufacturers all throughout the US. We knew we wanted to work with domestic manufacturers so that we could more closely monitor quality and practices. Production can be very challenging but we’re lucky to be working with wonderful, dedicated manufacturers.
WHAT KIND OF FABRICS DO YOU MOST USE? ARE YOUR FABRICS GOTS ORGANIC OR OEKO-TEX CERTIFIED?
We use the softest, highest-quality natural materials, and use organic fibers where available. The majority of the fabrics are milled in the US other than a handful of specialty fabrics we use for smaller capsule collections. About 90% of our collection is now made of GOTS-Certified organic cotton and we are continuously working on growing this number.
CAN YOU PLEASE TELL US ABOUT HOW YOUR FABRICS ARE DYED?
Our fabrics are mostly garment dyed using low impact dyes impact fiber-reactive dyes in a closed-loop system where water is continually recycled in LA.
HOW DO YOU SELECT THE FABRICS YOU USE AND WHERE DO THEY COME FROM?
We just use a handful of high-quality fabrics which we’ve taken a long time to source. The majority of our collection is made of 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton that is milled in the USA.
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOUR OVERSTOCK OF MATERIALS AND FABRIC SCRAPS?
We only use a handful of materials so we don’t have much overstock. We try to use any leftover material for samples and lab dips. We are looking for ways to further reduce any wastage by re-using fabric scraps but they are currently recycled.
CAN YOU PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR PACKAGING FOR SHIPMENTS TO CUSTOMERS?
We use minimal packaging. Our product does not come in polybags and orders are all wrapped in recycled kraft paper and shipped in recycled kraft mailers. We also don’t have any hang tags except for wholesale orders.
DO YOU USE INDIVIDUAL BAGS FOR INDIVIDUAL ITEMS WHEN YOU SHIP TO RETAILERS? IF YES, ARE THEY RECYCLED AND/OR COMPOSTABLE?
No - we don’t use polybags when shipping to wholesalers. The product comes shipped wrapped in recycled kraft paper.
DO YOU USE RECYCLED PAPER FOR YOUR HANG TAGS, POSTCARDS AND MARKETING MATERIALS?
Yes, we use recycled paper for both our hang tags and postcards. We don’t include hangtags on products unless specifically requested. Lookbooks are all digital.
DO YOU WANT TO SHARE ANYTHING ELSE WITH OUR READERS ON YOUR EFFORTS IN SUSTAINABILITY AND ETHICAL PRACTICES?
The average American throws away approximately 80 pounds of used clothing per year. Textile waste is one of the fastest growing waste products in the At Les Gamins, we do our best to produce timeless, high-quality pieces that can be worn over and over, and handed down. But even the most durable and beloved pieces eventually wear out, or fall victim to one-too-many spit-up stains or scraped knees. We’ve relaunched our WEAR SHARE RECYCLE program to encourage everyone to hand down lightly worn clothes to families in need and recycle those well-worn pieces in order to keep them out of landfills. Customers get 15% off their next purchase by emailing us a photo of their donation receipts.
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Last updated January 2022
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