Our primary mission at VICENZI is to create and share beautiful, heirloom-quality garments of exceptional value. Here’s how. Our secondary mission is to keep clothing in wardrobes and out of landfills to minimize clothing waste, a problem which has reached 14M tons annually in the U.S. alone.
To put it in perspective,
New Yorkers create 3,615 pounds of textile waste every five minutes. Brooklyn-based artist Derick Melander captured this neatly in his “Into the Fold” installation, commissioned by GrowNYC and Wearable Collections.
We envision a future
in which all clothing is produced, sold, and perpetually resold in a circular, “closed-loop” system to maximize value for manufacturers, consumers, and the environment. Together, we can summon that future now.
We do this by
- producing only high-quality essentials made from regenerative natural resources;
- working with our community base and service partners to keep garments in use until they are ready for recycling (clotheskeeping & repair);
- collecting and re-purposing your garments and their material components to make it easier to give new life to unwanted items.
The VICENZI Closed-Loop Active Wardrobe System
We believe shopping and styling should be an active process. By creating a new system for buying, caring for, and sharing our garments, we will be able to collectively “close the loop” and redistribute resources more efficiently. Plus, it’s more fun to know where your clothes came from, and where they go next!
How does it work?
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We design high-quality garments using premium natural fibers and materials – opting for renewable resources (such as merino wool), and dead-stock (designer leftovers) when and where possible. Garments are produced locally in small batches at a certified living wage factory and sent to customers within 1-2 weeks.
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We practice the art of clotheskeeping and creative repairs. We will offer an expanding collection of online and local resources to help and encourage you to style, wear, and care for your garments. We aim to keep the pieces enjoyed for a range of special functions and for as long as possible. Sign up for our newsletter or follow @vicenzi.design on Instagram for our workshops and care and repair tips.
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We hope you cherish your VICENZI garments for a long time, as they are designed to last for generations to come. However, if a garment is no longer needed for any reason, you can easily return it to us for proper reuse or disposal. Your pre-loved garments will earn you account credits for future purchases. Garments will be restored, then resold or recycled.
This unique end-to-end system is sustainable by design, optimized to keep garments “alive” and utilized as long as possible before recycling and re-creating new garments from the basic raw materials. We want to reward you for your efforts as a member of this system and look for your feedback to help us continue to refine and expand our wardrobe improvement services over time.
Sustainability is an ongoing work in progress and a joint responsibility of all links in the chain. With your help, we can make fashion a less harmful and wasteful industry and ensure beautiful garments will last a lifetime (or more).
Thank you for indulging in our cause. We could never have made it this far without your support on this mission to make shopping and dressing infinitely more fun and interactive.
— the VICENZI team
Originally published October 2017
Designs, projects, ideas ©VICENZI 