B.e Quality, Back to Basics Slowfashion for a Sustainable Lifestyle
We live in an era of programmed obsolescence, and the society we live in drives to change and renew the objects we possess at a frenetic pace. The fastfashion is a great example of this.
The impact this has on the environment pollution is huge. It has also an important impact on our behaviour and our wellbeing.
For this reason it is more important than ever to come back to basics, and eliminate the superfluous to have more time, space and energy for the things that are really important for us.
With B.e Quality we produce Womens’, Men’s & Newborn refined basics, that transcend fashion trends. It is an excellent alternative to fastfashion, focusing on sustainable and high quality garments to last over time.
Founder
Pilar Morales is a Textile Engineer that has been working as Quality Control and Production Manager, mainly in Italy for luxury and mass brands. Part of her work was travelling around the world to follow the productions in Asia, East Europe & North Africa.
‘I was seeing the other side of the coin of the fashion world. It was humanly really hard for me to work with many of these realities. Asking people who was not living neither working in human conditions to improve the quality, or even asking them discounts’… So she decided not to be part of it and create B.e Quality, her own brand based on Respect. Since then she works with her values and the quality of life she desires for everyone.
The brand
B.e Quality is Slowfashion, the passe-par-tout pieces that we wear the most. As for its refined simplicity, these pieces are easily worn with jeans in a casual look, or with elegant pieces for a more sophisticated look.
Affordable Luxury is a phrase that best describes B.e Quality: it uses the best quality on all aspects.
B.e Quality was created on 2010, based on Responsible and Sustainable production.
As raw material B.e Quality uses exclusively the Organic Pima Cotton. It is one of the finest cottons in the world. Not only because of its extraordinary softness, but also for it’s higher quality. For winter products we use only the peruvian Baby Alpaca, the finest alpaca fibres that are also anallergic.
The manufacturing is made in Peru applying tailoring techniques that make the difference from mass products. The manufacturing sites are Wrap certified, which includes fair wages, good working conditions, no child labour, etc.
We have developed also the Natural Plant Print technique on our garments. This is a print that transfers to our garments the pigments of the leaves, flowers and even stems of the plants. Every garment is unique and is completely hand made.
Once you wear a B.e Quality garment, you will experience on your own the special effect it gives to you the choice of the best quality on all aspects including the respect of nature and of workers too!
Challenges
Challenges we face are many, starting by building a commercial structure & communication in a world that is still not ready for sustainable brands. Specially because many ‘low cost fashion’ brands are selling very cheap fashion, with strong communication campaigns. And like in a hypnosis, people is tempted easily to buy and has no problem on discard those products in a short time. Not knowing the negative impact these brands make in the environment and in the society where the production is made.
It is clear that small companies like ours need to have a structure that allows a slow growth. Many sustainable brands we met in this our brand’s life, are not able to continue their work, as their costs are higher than their incomes. For sure working in a fair and sustainable way implies higher costs. Organic cotton is more expensive than conventional cotton. In addition, paying fair wages is obviously increasing the cost of the garments. This makes it more difficult to be competitive in the era of ‘low cost fashion’.
As a matter of fact, we need to be very cautious, creative and flexible on each step we make to grow our business.
Opportunities
Given these challenges, an important part of our strategy is to inform why it is important to choose better, and consume in a more responsible way. It is good for all of us, for the environment and for the people producing our garments.
We have a monthly program live in Instagram with a stylist in Madrid to talk about what is behind the scenes of the fashion world called, La Moda, Una Mirada Diferente and other more talks about sustainable fashion we are making you may find them on our Youtube channel.
Our goal is to make more people be aware of the importance of their choices every time they go shopping. The power we have ‘buying’ is stronger than any other action we can make, as it is directly ‘sponsoring’ the kind of industry or product we buy from. So, if we would like to see more often a fair and respectful product, we should support the producers.
A great difference our B.e Quality products make is thanks to their high quality. Today many even expensive and famous brands are using cheap materials and cheaper sewing techniques, so our products are easily understood to have a superior quality. Many clients are tired of spending money on products they have to throw even after the first washing. In fact, ‘cheap is expensive’ applies perfectly to this aspect. It is beautiful to see that a quite a group of clients are even in their 60’s and 70’s. They recognise immediately the high quality as they were used to those standards in their younger years. And nowadays they hardly find it.
As a consequence, we have many clients that return after the first purchase, maybe buying the same product in another colour. This is a beautiful confirmation of the choices we made regarding the quality of our products are right. And we will continue on this direction.
Advise
We have still a lot to learn and cannot consider ourselves yet as a ‘successful case’, we are still on our way.
Open to Learn
One thing we can say helps a lot to whoever starts a new project is to have a humble approach and be opened to learn. How many business plans have been changed on the way? almost all, as during the real experience we see many things we thought would work in a certain way, are not like that.
Purpose
Having a purpose other than having a successful business is key for us. We believe that we can change the world also through our everyday work. Imagine if each of us can go to work and make a little positive change in the society (on the clients’, on the colleagues’, on the suppliers’ lives) or / and in the environment.
This has an immense effect on our sense of fulfilment, on the way we face the difficult moments, on how we find solutions that work better for all the involved parts.
We are very aware of the environmental and social damages the fastfashion industry is bringing. We are making our little contribution to transform the fashion in a more fair and respectful industry.
To know more about B.e Quality, visit www.be-quality.com
Sleep specialist
Using the acquired academic and professional experience, I advise patients with various complaints about mental health - depressed mood, nervousness, lack of energy and interest, sleep disorders, panic attacks, obsessive thoughts and anxieties, difficulty concentrating, and stress. In my free time, I love to paint and go on long walks on the beach. One of my latest obsessions is sudoku – a wonderful activity to calm an unease mind.
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