Vy&Elle
Vy&Elle has been around for the last several years, but they have really hit their stride lately and you can now find their bags in stores everywhere. The company was officially founded in 2002 by a trio of friends (Nicky Freegard and Robin and Jeff Janson) who were always devoted to producing eco-friendly products. The original idea started as an eco-textile company who would import organic cottons and silks from Tibet, but thanks to a pile in a salvage yard covered with vinyl tarps, Vy&Elle was born. A play on the word “vinyl”, the idea just seemed to make sense to the team. They had a material that was readily available by the ton and was ripe for a recycling overhaul. The material also came in tons of colors and patterns, so it was always vibrant and unique.
The company is based in a restored 100 year old warehouse in downtown Tucson, Arizona and manufacturing is done both domestically in Tucson and internationally in China. They produce bags for all types of stores from high end specialty boutiques to museum stores to grocers. The bags are age and gender neutral and because every item is unique, everyone will be able to find something they like, which was Vy&Elle's goal all along. They are always adding to their line at the rate of around ten to fifteen items per year. This spring they will be launching an entirely new bag line using recycled soda bottle (RPET) fabric which means the bags will be composed of 95% recycled materials!
We had a chance to talk a bit more with founder Nicky Freegard about Vy&Elle's philosophies and goals and here is an excerpt from our discussions.
1. Most designers can trace their design philosophy back to a particular influence whether it is a particular designer or a need they saw unfulfilled, what would you say was the real influence for your company?
As a designer, there are many elements of influence and inspiration. As an environmental designer the inspiration comes from the ability to tell the story of recycling through a piece/design and to effectively impact the consumer to look at the material in a new light, with a new perspective and with thought. Essentially my inspiration is to make the customer think outside the box. My influence and drive as a designer comes from educating myself about the negative impact industrial waste is having and how we can effectively implement change in the arena. We don’t claim Vy&Elle is saving the environment by recycling billboard, but we do hope that we are stopping some from hitting our landfills and asking questions about alternative solutions for the billboard industry as a whole. By addressing these issues we are seeing a trend toward responsible waste solutions occurring at the corporate level which is were change needs to be occur. Companies want to be responsible green citizens now. It’s been a while coming, but this is definitely a positive trend occurring because of a new perspective created from telling a story and looking at things in a different way. As with all industrial designers, we have a responsibility to challenge perspectives and the practice of producing hazardous waste materials. I believe the impact is through the mass market at this point in our cultural history, because America is driven as a consumer culture and it’s the purchasing power of everyone that impacts our environment.
2. What is your company's stance on using organic, sustainable, fair trade, and recycled goods? Not just from a design perspective, but business practices as well.
It is extremely important to consider all aspects of our footprint and sustainability during manufacturing and our impact both globally and locally. We are not organic by any means (other than what we eat in our kitchen at the studio), billboards are made from PVC – we are recycling industrial waste (100+ tons to date). We are often asked why we produce in China because of the transportation and emissions impact, human rights etc. After studying this at length and discussing this strategy on a deeper level, it became obvious that there were several issues we faced. Because our focus on Vy&Elle success is in offering a larger market and ability to reach thousands instead of hundreds, we looked at several countries to maximize our ability to produce quality goods at a fair price with certification and the knowledge we are creating employment without negative human rights impacts. China not only offered the best quality manufacturer for the material we work with, but also the best and smartest production scenario. We looked at transportation impacts, which did not even shadow the impact that the billboard would have on our local environment by being placed in our landfills, and we reviewed best ways to minimize transportation to keep In line with minimizing our impact and overall footprint. We then reviewed pricing, and while I think the general opinion is that China is cheap to produce, it really isn’t if you are working with a good factory. The factories we hire to manufacturer our goods are all fully certified and workers are paid on a fair basis. When we reviewed our Fair Trade options, we could certainly develop them but volume would be greatly impacted, thereby eliminating our chance to offer larger production scenarios in a timely manner. We continually review manufacturing within the USA, but we have found that US factories use China for many of the fabrics, trims and finishes, and so far are not willing produce the quality and complexity of the items we are making overseas. I would love to hear from a US factory that was actually interested in working with us on this. We have just started working with a small factory here in Tucson that hires refugees from countries such as Iraq, Afganistan and war torn zones and are hoping to develop this into a larger part of our business throughout 2008. We will be launching this line in New York this February along with our new items for Spring/Summer. We want to bring it home, but at this time have found no perfect solution to the manufacturing practice and price of making items in the US. We continue to work and improve on this as we grow and understand our business.
3. If you could change something about the apparel industry from a business perspective what would it be?
There are so many changes needed. From industrial waste to runoff pollution, from injustices to workers, lack of human rights issues both domestically and offshore. Bringing back a local market, domestically made products and fabrics, and not relying on a global market is most definitely the way of the future and I believe that this change will have to happen over the next few years because of the oil crisis we face and the global economy. As the US Dollar weakens, and oil production drops worldwide (thereby increasing the cost of all goods), and with the rise of capitalism in China – their prices will go up and our economy is going down – I see a great deal of imbalance in our industry and as the consumer becomes more aware and a demand for greener products increases, so our global market will change. I do hope to be put out of business on this project in the future due to the fact that billboards are not being made out of this material. As a designer and business owner, it is important to understand that change is necessary. One thing for sure is it will, and hopefully, through demand, it will be for the better.
4. And then from a consumer perspective, what would it be?
The consumer is where it happens. Changing our buying habits, choosing greener more sustainable or recycled products for every day use. I’ve been doing eco-design for 15 years now, and the change in awareness between then and now is remarkable. When I started Earthworks people thought I was crazy, and now it’s a acceptable lifestyle product to buy organic sheets, and live a more organic recycled lifestyle. Its actually now necessary to recycle. Its been fantastic to see this change, albeit a long time coming and a long road ahead.
5. Do you feel that media in general does a good job showcasing up and coming brands from around the country and the world?
There are a lot of media opportunities for showcasing products from around the world, and we try to participate with all opportunities presented to us. You can have a great product, but if you don’t get your product out there to be seen, then you are just one of many products lost in a very large market. Choosing the right media outlets, attending the right shows, talking and networking all help, but it is ultimately the product that tells all. If it is interesting and has a great story, then the media will find it and seek it out. If its another vinyl bag or another plastic item, it becomes much harder to create interest – unless of course you are a named designer or brand. I think that we have been extraordinarily lucky with the media, both through our own contacts and word and mouth scenarios in showcasing Vy&Elle. Its one of those products that has a story and it’s a fun story to tell.
6. With the social networking craze in full swing, is your company doing anything to take advantage of this and have you seen any benefits if so?
It takes a lot of time and energy to run a small business and we play our part as much as possible to put the word out there. Our business has most definitely been built on a loyal customer base and “word and mouth”. We’ve built Vy&Elle as a grass roots company from the start – we started as a $30K investment with 5 styles – today we offer over 40 styles and keep building and diversifying our outlets. Vy&Elle is definitely building from the product up and running with the best opportunities we are handed, thereby opening more and more doors as we grow. There is no doubt social networking does play a crucial role in building our brand, but it is just one part of many in the bigger picture. We play an important part in maintaining the success of this project because we believe in what we are doing and we work hard to make it happen – having key sales teams in place, a great National Sales Director with a lot of great energy makes a huge impact and this is our networking system.
In February 2008 , Vy&Elle commenced the 10% Give Back campaign, where 10% of every item purchased will be donated to the Nature Conservancy and the Red Cross. We applaud their efforts and their products and hope everyone out there will keep them in mind next time you are looking for a new bag.
