G-Gee’s Circularity Initiative
Circularity basically means that the life cycle of a garment becomes a circle instead of a straight line – see image below. At G-Gee’s, we believe in taking responsibility for the products we create, forever. We encourage that the clothing we produce that is no longer fit for use is not thrown out but re-sold or up-cycled. There’s a number of ways that this can happen.
Do it yourself
Fix-It
I’m all about repair, you can even do it yourself! I have dedicated a day to it called “Fix-it Friday” to show the different ways you can repair a garment – check it out on my Instagram here. If you’d rather outsource then I can provide this service or there are for sure a number of local tailors that are just a google away.
Re-Sell
If for whatever reason your G-Gee’s garment is no longer fit for purpose but is still in great condition, then it can be a great way to make a little bit of extra money. There’s lots of online platforms or usually local markets in your area where this can happen.
Return to G-Gee’s
Up-Cycle
You can return to G-Gee’s to be up-cycled into something new! You can choose whether this is for yourself (amount charged will be according to time taken) or for me to up-cycle and re-sell at my creative fancy. For your trouble, you’ll receive a 10% off voucher for each return (and the satisfaction of knowing you’re looking after our beautiful planet!)
Re-Sell
If you know that your garment will just sit there in the “to do” pile forever, then I am happy to re-sell your G-Gee’s garment for you. There will be 30% deducted from the sale price for my time, postage and fees for the platform I use on top of that as well. Then the rest will go to you!
G-Gee’s Up-Cycled
New life is breathed into unwanted or unwearable garments otherwise destined to landfill with G-Gee’s up-cycled range, creating unique and desirable pieces at a great price.
Each design is as unique as the garment that it came from, and I often find in the making process a story unfolds in front of me. This might be the slightly eccentric designer coming out, but I find the garments and clothing have a personality and attitude that is revealed to me as I work on them! Therefore, a name has been given to each design to honour the story or history that unfolds as it is made. Check out some examples of some I’ve made on my tiktok video below.
My specialty is restoring damaged vintage pieces with some creativity to a wearable condition, this enables all sizes to be catered to as well.
G-Gee’s Made New
Sourcing Fabric
At the moment in NZ there are very few companies that are transparent with who made the fabrics and trims they provide and how they were made. This is definitely a work in progress and I am currently building on relationships with two local NZ companies to help develop this further. More to come on this. Where possible, I use cotton thread that is op-shopped or given to me.
Fibres
As you may have heard already, polyester is just another form of plastic. This means the fibres are strong and sturdy helping your clothes to last however it also means our clothes often are around in the world much, much longer than we are. This is why it’s so important to make wise, thought-out choices about the clothes we buy and why. Some more tips on this in my blog on a sustainable wardrobe, check that out here.
G-Gee’s has a focus on organic, natural and recycled fibres where possible, however some polyester has been used. As I learn and grow so do my processes and so you will see less use of polyester in recent times. To start to mitigate the use of polyester and non-biodegradable fibres I have developed the circularity initiative, as described above.
The Little Things
Labels, tags and packaging
It’s the little things that count. The cotton labels I use in my garments are NZ made by a small local business. Tags and any promo materials used are all printed on recycled paper. Packaging is either up-cycled or biodegradable – even the packaging tape I use is cellulose and biodegradable.
Waste
I keep all my scraps (much to my sewing room storages’ dismay). I re-use the fabric scraps for masks, bags and patches to mend, or other projects. At times I advertise on my local free pages and give them away to starter sewers needing something to practice on. The tiny scraps I keep and use as well – I have used these for padding in packaging, also to stitch together in creative ways to make garments. The leftover thread I have been keeping for a lady who has requested it (I’m not sure why, I should really ask her!). Thread spools I give away to local ECE centres for “loose play” and to those who use them for crafts. I even keep courier bags that I receive, to re-use in sending out my garments.
