(WE) L💚VE YOUR CLOTHES

In addition to the message that children's clothing conveys, we also find the ecological and ethical aspect very important. That is why we have chosen sustainable materials that are ethically manufactured when compiling our range.

Sustainability means to us:

• of natural origin (for example, no plastic is released during washing, recycling, and in the worst case scenario, throwing it away),
• organic cultivation as much as possible,
• colored with ecological paints : safe for your child, nature, and the people who made the clothes,
• of good quality so that the clothing lasts a long time,
• fairly made with fair wages and good working conditions for the makers and of course without child labor (our clothing is made fairly in India, the United States, Portugal and Turkey, our accessories are made fairly in the United Kingdom, Thailand and Bali).
• timeless designs that are not discarded en masse at the end of the season: the arrival of new designs does not mean that the clothing of the past season or year has to lose value, after all, they have been worked on just as hard.

But a more sustainable origin does not necessarily ensure a sustainable life of the clothing. Due to the short life of many clothes, the clothing industry is not exactly a green industry. That is why, in addition to the "reuse, refuse, repair" principle, we are also a strong supporter of the "wear, care, share, repair" principle.

WEAR
Children love to crawl, scramble, roll and romp. Our clothing is designed for this: practical, comfortable, high-quality and colorful! We also like to buy "on growth": trouser legs or sleeves that you can roll up, adjustable waists, dresses that fit well from below the knee to above the knee, ...

CARE
With proper care, our clothing will last an extra long time. You will find washing instructions with every article and thanks to the Love Your Clothes campaign you will find some tips here (the more extensive, British campaign can be found here ). The general rules are:

• 30°C is often enough to wash clothes (non-delicate underwear and stockings are of course allowed at 60°C for good hygiene),
• washing at a low temperature ensures better color retention and spinning at a low speed reduces pilling,
• use an ecological detergent,
• you can easily omit fabric softener,
• drying on a drying rack gives your clothes a much longer life.

Colorful children's clothing on the drying rack also provides a cheerful note in the house or in the garden.

The dryer is often more ecological to use for non-clothing (such as towels) as it can be spun more easily at a high speed without much damage, so that the dryer also consumes less because the laundry is already drier at the start.

SHARE
Our offer consists of quality and mainly unisex clothing, which makes it super convenient to share and pass on! Pass on your clothing to friends, family, acquaintances, sell it at second- hand fairs or online or go swishing .

There are also several local organizations that offer material assistance to (underprivileged) mothers, where you can donate wearable clothing: Moeders voor Moeders (Antwerp, children's clothing up to 14 years), Baby-Nest (Ghent, children's clothing up to 8 years), Nasci (Brussels, children's clothing up to 14 years old), MamaStart (Bruges, children's clothing up to 12 years old). Bringing clothing that is too small to a container or having it picked up is also an option, but then it is not always clear whether it ends up properly, Charlie Magazine wrote an interesting article about this. In Antwerp, De Collectie is already trying to process, recycle and sell as much collected clothing locally as possible, for the time being this should be successful for about 50% of the collected clothing.

REPAIR
Children's clothing leads an intensive life and can (or will ;-)) wear out even with the best care. A lint remover can sometimes work wonders! You can easily camouflage small holes or stains with iron-on patches, for larger work you can go to professional seamstresses, or to a sewing or repair cafe . Comfortable clothing with an indelible stain or irreparable hole can often also serve as pajamas in addition to play clothing! If there is nothing you can do with your garment as a whole, you can fortunately still upcycle or recycle the worn-out clothing (or have it done), into a cheerful garland, for example.