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Made for the Mindful.


Each Lilabare piece stems from our mission to design beautiful, functional clothing that benefits the makers & its’ wearers. Sourcing post-production industry excess that is borne of ancient spinning & dyeing techniques, we bring each piece to life in Kenya alongside small scale artisans in our atelier in Nairobi.

We have calibrated a list of six factors that contribute to the rehabilitation of the fashion industry, all explained below.

Head on over to our shop to see individual statistics on each piece you buy from Lilabare.

+ RECYCLED FABRIC

Our first step towards cleaning up our industry is consuming that which we have already made. Cleaning up this industry waste is the first step into moving towards a fully circular fashion production model: we have to use all our existing resources in order to make room for new ones. We source textiles from manufacturing excess, to make sure no resources end up in landfill. Our designs are inspired by what we discover (you’d be amazed at the incredible qualities that some would have otherwise thrown away!)

Once our fabric arrives at our atelier & sampling unit in Kenya, we monitor it closely and use every inch possible. We use the excess that we create when cutting garments in reusable packaging, pocket squares & garment trims.

Currently, our average percentage of wasted fabrics per collection is <3%.

The best of human legacy is worth preserving after all.

+ WATER PRESERVED

With each killogram of fabric we recycle, we are also making use of the resources that went into the creating the textile. We calculate the amount of water preserved based on cotton averages, which is our most used textile.

It takes 2720 litres of water to make an average tshirt, which weighs about 250 grams.

+ HANDCRAFT PRESERVED 

The inherent qualities of fabric are greatly determined by the level of craftsmanship that goes into a textile. Also, breathability and comfort only comes from the best quality textiles: organic, handspun; touched by humans. In order to keep textile craft traditions alive, our first priority is to buy handcrafted fabrics with a story.

Our current collection, The Amani Edit, uses 90% handcrafted textiles, each of which have a story and heritage behind them.

We also implement the use of "non-textile handcraft" - each piece features a detail of handcrafted brass with a story... sometimes more.

+ TAILOR SKILLSETS

We run a small atelier unit in Kenya, our homebase, that exclusively seeks to employ tailors with potential to expand their technical knowledge, who would otherwise not have access to the skills required to make a Lilabare garment. With each collection, we train our team on different aspects of design, textiles, and quality standards. We seek to empower our team with knowledge, and increase their value as a specialised professional.

We also train our team on waste-minimizing techniques consistently in our zero-waste (and plastic-free!) workshop.

+ ORIGINS 

Each element of your Lilabare garment is carefully selected from within our sustainable parameters. Handcraft & industry waste, and our inspiration, comes from around the world. We like to make sure that we know the stories of each individual who has worked on every element that we work with, and we trace each material to its origin.

Creating using waste & handcraft.

Check out how we produce sustainable fashion from our home In Kenya, using recycled and handcrafted materials.

 

Special thanks to CNN for following our journey.

#imadeyourclothes

This is Ben, our Master Tailor. He is responsible for turning designs & concepts into actual garments. When he first joined, he was "used to doing just a few designs, but now I know so much more which is exciting. I feel supported at Lilabare, and I know I am well taken care of here".

To us, knowing that our team is cared for and feel appreciated is necessary in order for us to celebrate our work every day. If you have any questions about our team, please ask us!

You can also check out the Sustainability tab on each of our collections, which calculate the direct impact the clothes make on the environment.

LILA (n.) [Sanskrit] "a way of describing all reality, including the cosmos, as the outcome of creative play".


BARE (n.) "raw, natural, naked."

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