Faith and sustainability are at the core of LA-based fashion brand Gracemade.
Founded in 2016 by Jasmine Rennie, the idea behind Gracemade was to create a fashion brand through which women could simultaneously express their personal style while honouring their faith. While each Gracemade garment is imbued with modesty, it is also modern and on-trend, filling what Rennie thought was a gap in the market.
In addition to its faith-based mission, Gracemade has another mission in mind: sustainability.
That is why the Los Angeles fashion brand creates the majority of its pieces out of deadstock fabric sourced locally from the LA area. For those that don’t know, deadstock is a term used in the fashion industry for products that are no longer for sale. In essence, Gracemade upcycles these leftover or unwanted garments that would have otherwise been dumped into a landfill, and turns them into beautiful new items of clothing.
Further, when it isn’t possible to create a garment using deadstock, they make sure to incorporate natural fibres like linen, organic cotton, hemp, and Tencel. Take their “It Is Well Hemp Tee,” for example. This cute graphic t-shirt is made out of a blend of 60% hemp and 40% organic cotton.
When it comes to manufacturing, Gracemade is all about small-batch production done locally in Los Angeles. As far as they see it, there are several benefits to creating their products at home. The first benefit is that it allows the brand to oversee the working conditions, which enables them to ensure the safety of their workers, as well as that their workers are being treated with care and respect.
In addition, producing all garments locally allows Gracemade to contribute to the local economy while simultaneously reducing carbon emissions by limiting transportation. Lastly, small-scale manufacturing helps Gracemade avoid overproduction and eliminate waste. Any wasted textiles they do have are recycled or resold to other brands.
All Gracemade packaging is made out of recycled materials, and they make sure that all incoming packages they receive are recycled when possible.
Finally, Gracemade is dedicated to philanthropy and donates 50 cents from every sale to Life Impact International, a charity that rescues children who have been sold into prostitution or child slavery, and who are victims of abuse, abandonment, or extreme poverty.
All images in this article are courtesy of Gracemade.
