Social Responsibility & Sustainability
Gigi & Palmer is a brand that is proud to be New Zealand designed and ethically made. Our goal is that both our clothes, and the wonderful people who help bring our designs to life, are treated with love and care. A strong commitment to social responsibility, and deep respect for craftmanship, is what drives the G&P team.
At G&P, we believe every single person who contributes their craft to creating something should feel connected to the end product, and each customer should feel connected to the products they buy.
We want every customer to be able to treasure any item they purchase from us for years to come. We aim to give our customer the experience of styling the same G&P garment across various seasons of their life, while never losing that feeling of excitement every time they pick it out of their wardrobe. That is a beautiful experience which can so often be lost in the midst of our fast-fashion culture. We’re here to recreate it.
Below is a list of the actions we take, from production to sale, that realise G&P’s commitment to ethical production, supporting our community, and reducing the impact of our brand on the environment:
- Majority of G&P items use natural or recycled fibres that are either ethically produced or deadstock and all our size tags are made of woven recycled polyester.
- We sew our garments here in NZ in our little studio.
- The paper used for our swing tags and thank you cards come from either sustainable tree farms or recycled sources.
- All our packaging is sustainably sourced and compostable.
We always want to be reflecting on our culture and our plans and make sure we are going in the right direction and doing as much as we can at each stage of business. At Gigi and Palmer, we value ethical fashion and sustainability. However, it shouldn’t stop there. As we grow, as our customer base grows, and as more talented people become part of our little family, we will continue to place diversity at the core of how we campaign and how we structure our office.
We know that as humans we aren’t perfect, and G&P is still figuring what diversity means for us as we’re a small team at the moment, but we already are trying to have diversity within our image photos and what it will mean for us in the future as we expand. But we are committed to learning and growing!
When sourcing fabrics, G&P searches for ethical, sustainable and socially responsible manufacturers. However, the reality is that we are currently still a small (but growing!) business. As such, it is difficult to find sustainable fabric manufacturers who service orders of less than 10 metres. We are constantly researching and in talks with suppliers, and many are trying to make minimum fabric orders more attainable.
Where we can’t order fabric that aligns with our social responsibility ethos, we order “deadstock” fabrics. Deadstock fabrics are those that are either end of line, or the excess left over from large or cancelled orders. It is not always clear whether this fabric has been sourced ethically and sustainably. However, by giving these fabrics a second chance, G&P is saving them from otherwise ending up in landfills or being destroyed in harmful ways. So while we’re working towards being able to be a fully sustainable, ethical and socially responsible business, we can eliminate some of the wastage caused by the fashion industry along the way.
Our processes are not yet perfected, but we are working to grow our business into one that cares for every person along the supply chain, and your purchase can helping us achieve this dream.