Ethical Lingerie by Jessica Van Twuiver

[Offset Warehouse]

My name is Jessica van Twuiver and I studied Fashion Promotion and Imaging, focused on ethical fashion.

I have always admired beautiful lingerie and aspired to a career that would make a difference. When I learned more about the eco-fashion world I thought this could be translated into beautiful, ethical lingerie.

My project developed over a long period of time but it was on a holiday in Greece when I decided I wanted to do this project and really go for it.

Last year in September we travelled to the island Zakynthos and went to see shipwreck bay and the blue caves. With its green nature, white beaches and clear blue water the island is a true paradise. But the island also has a dark side: Mass tourism, poverty, abandoned buildings and lots of stray animals, and this made me sad and I wanted to do something about it. I realised I could relate my experience on the island with how I feel about the fashion industry: the fashion industry is full of beautiful and desirable products but this industry has also a big dark side. A couple of those things hidden in that dark side are the impact on the environment, the waste it produces, the cruelty of the fur industry and the working conditions of the people who make our clothes.

Before, I didn’t really know why I desired to work in fashion, but that summer I realised I wanted to do something about these problems through fashion.

I started looking into eco-fashion and coupled with my interest in lingerie I developed my idea of an ethical lingerie brand that would be against animal cruelty, to make sure people in the supply chain have good working conditions and fair wages and produce everything in a low impact way for the environment.

The brand Adriëlle intimates emphasises the importance and beauty of fabrics produced without chemicals or pesticides and will allow women to enjoy guilt free shopping. The garments will be locally produced and made out of organic, recycled and low impact materials. The fashion industry is very big and influential and I think if we can make a little difference and start inspire other brands, together we can make a big difference.

The development of the concept was a very time consuming and challenging process. Before I started I did a lot of research into lingerie, retail and consumer trends. I sourced eco-friendly fabrics to create product samples and the main fabrics we ended up using were Charmeuse Satin and Natural draped peace silk from Offset Warehouse.

I sourced eco-friendly bags and gift boxes and of course I also wrote a business plan. I had to collaborate with different people to get product designs and to do a photoshoot so I could create my promotional materials. Even though it got quite stressful towards the deadline, I had a great time working on this project as I was truly passionate about it.