We aren't gatekeeping
Clingy was born from the dream to create in a way that minimises harm to people and planet. It's easy to be overwhelmed by the scale of destruction in the fashion industry. We were inspired to be part of the movement that shifts the way that the industry operates. We believe transparency is key in making a difference.
Material selection is one of the most important ways that we can reduce the impact of our designs. We sure aren't perfect but we continue to strive to operate in a way that honours the resources that we use.
We hope the level of detail below is useful to better understand your Clinger but to also inform and inspire you if you are trying to create in a different way.
Fabrics
We carefully source materials based on the following priority:
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Second-life garments or textiles that are unloved or destined for landfill. This is post-consumer textile waste i.e. it has been used for it's original purpose and discarded.
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Deadstock garments and fabrics. Garments and fabric lengths of various quantities that are overproduced or unsold that often end up in landfill. This is pre-consumer textile waste as it never reached the consumer.
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Recycled or innovative materials that are repurposing waste and minimising the use of precious resources and emissions in the process.
- When new materials are used we preference natural fibres that are sustainably farmed as they have less harmful emissions, use fewer toxic chemicals and minimise the use of precious resources. This is all dependent on the particular material, location and farming practice. We strive to continue to learn more about our supply chains. As much as possible we aim to avoid using "new" plastics.
Fabric Sourcing & Partnerships
Organisations like Thread Together are leaders in redistributing overproduced garments for charitable purposes. When certain items are supplied in quantities beyond what they can use they partner with designers to up-cycle the garments and create new products. In 2024 Clingy partnered with Thread together to turn overproduced business shirts into Clingy bags. We donated 10% of the sales of these designs back to Thread Together to support their mission.
Circular Sourcing is another great organisation that is leading the conversation around circular design in Australia. Beyond research and education they offer a marketplace for fabric mills and designers to resell overproduced or deadstock fabrics.
Zips
Our Zips are custom made, mechanically recycled PET and metal YKK zips sourced via ingwe. After a lot of research we realised it was almost impossible to find zips that didn't contain new plastics. Even metal zips with organic cotton tape contained plastic cord. This is why we opted for recycled PET zips as a preference to using new plastics. We chose to use YKK zips as they are regarded as the highest quality in the industry. Placing a custom order is expensive. With an MOQ of 100 our zips cost $4 -$6 each.
Fabric Printing
Our labels and printed fabrics are digitally printed with a water based pigment ink by Next State Print. They are a registered Ethical Clothing Australia manufacturer.
Packaging
Finding the right packaging for these lovely Clingers will be an ongoing journey.
Today our bags are wrapped in tissue paper with custom sticker labels, placed into a custom calico dust bag by noissue.com.au and packed into a recycled Kraft mailer, scribbled with free hand illustrations.
Our shipping labels and custom stickers (printed on the same labels) are thermal printed but we believe the sticker backing contains plastic.