Fashion is one of the biggest industries in the world. It is also one of the most resource intensive and in fact the second most polluting industry after the oil industry. And with fast fashion trends, clothes are becoming cheaper and cheaper, and people are buying more than ever before, with around 100 billion items manufactured globally every year.
One local fashion brand trying to do their small part for sustainability is O.N.E. founded by Xenia Wong in 2016. Originally specializing in handcrafted genuine leather bags, the company was reborn in 2020 with a whole new focus after Xenia and her partner Simpson decided to go vegan in 2019.
“We became an entirely vegan brand focusing on sustainability in the fashion industry. All of our bags are produced with vegan materials, materials that do not have animal products. And at the same time, these products are made from materials that are at least 50% recycled, mainly from plastic bottles, and other recycled post-consumer recycled fabric,” Xenia explains.
Avoiding any use of animal products, many of O.N.E’s items, including handbags, shoes and other accessories, are made from Vegan microfiber leather which is 55% Nylon and 45% Polyurethane.
“The polyurethane is basically recycled plastic bottles,” notes Simpson. “They take the bottles, crush them up, grind them into pellets, and then create fabrics from them. This microfiber leather is actually the most durable, and probably the most common type of vegan leather used in luxury leather products, and when compared to animal skin, it’s about 60 to 70% less damaging to the environment.”
Given that this microfiber leather still uses plastic, albeit mostly recycled, Xenia also hopes to use more organic materials in the future.
“There are some more novel vegan leathers like those made from plants. For example, there’s a cactus leather from Mexico,” she comments. “And then there’s a pineapple leather called Pinatex and also an apple based leather. And there’s a very innovative leather called mycelium leather where they use fungus which is fermented and cultivated in a way that resembles animal skin. This type of leather has been used by brands like Stella McCartney, and other big name fashion brands. Going forward, we are looking to launch one collection that is made from this mycelium leather, which is basically 100% biodegradable.”
Xenia originally studied hotel management but soon realized that she preferred to follow her passion for design. She designs all the products herself and partners with a company in China to manufacture them. And making products that are environmentally friendly is fine, but they also need to be attractive to her customers.
“We want our products to resemble or replace traditional genuine leather products. To do that, we have to create products that basically match the functionality, the durability and the texture, the feel of genuine leather products,” notes Xenia. “We want to cater our products to people who aren’t vegan, who aren’t necessarily very environmental or sustainability focused, but people who have heard about sustainability and are getting more concerned about it. So far, we’ve been able to attract a lot of new customers and retain most of our old customers who previously only really cared about genuine leather, but have now become educated.”
Educating the public is also a goal of the company, and their new flagship store is the perfect place to do this.
“The store is not only a place for people to buy our products, but also a platform for us to educate customers on veganism, sustainability and the concept of slow fashion. We have an experience area where every customer can pick and customise a keychain that is made from scraps of leather leftover from production, and then at the same time, we can have a discussion with them about how important trees are to humanity and the planet, and why we choose to be a vegan brand to exclude animal products.”
As part of their dedication to sustainability, O.N.E also commits to planting one tree for every item they sell by working with an NGO in the U.S. called One Tree Planted.
“They take money from donors and partners and then plant trees in different areas that are affected by deforestation. They also create jobs in indigenous communities like in the Amazon rainforest.”
The couple have also pledged to donate 10% of their after-tax profits to animal sanctuaries around the world. Currently they are supporting Farm Animal Rescue Sanctuary in Queensland, Australia.
“The fashion industry, which is primarily animal based, actually represents about 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the world. If you replace animal-based products with plant-based products, you solve a huge chunk of greenhouse gas emissions, so vegan fashion actually forms a major solution to address the climate crisis,” comments Simpson.
“Our end goal is to replace animals in fashion, simple as that. We believe that there’s no need to use animals for luxury or fashion. There’s no need to compromise anything when you switch out from animal-based fashion to non-animal-based fashion. We’re looking to use innovative materials to replace animals in fashion and educate the public in doing so. Every customer that chooses to buy from us, has opted to not lead to an animal being killed for their skin. And so, in a sense, the more products we sell, the more animals that we can save,” Xenia concludes.
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