NICHE BRAND âAMOUR VERTâ
Amour Vert is a womenswear sustainable fashion brand. The founder and designer is Parisian Linda Balti, along with her husband Christoph Frehsee, Balti moved to United State in 2009 and began creating Amour Vert when she saw a real need in the marketplace for reasonably priced, fashionable and eco-conscious clothing. The company opened their first store in San Francisco in 2011.
What is their vision? A fashionable and environmentally conscious woman. Their style ranges from casual and fun to elegant and classy. Amour Vert design and produce all of their collections with the attitude of the modern woman who should not have to give up their style for sustainability to look and feel her best. âYou shouldnât sacrifice style for sustainability,â says the founder.
Linda Balti and Christoph Frehsee were working in the defense industry. Balti designing and developed fighter-jet simulators for a French defense company, while Frehsee produced land-mine-clearing machinery with his company, Minewolf Systems. Balti never expected to work in a fashion industry "I wasn't a little girl dreaming of being a designer," said Linda Balt. But their lives changed when Frehsee and Balti discovered that fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world after big oil, neither could have imagined one day they will manage over a fashion label at the front of the eco-conscious movement.
Balti and Frehsee founded Amour Vert in 2011, a sustainable clothing brand whose name translates to âgreen loveâ in French. They hope it will be transform and change the way garments are produced. "I felt like this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," says Frehsee. They figured out how to hugely change to reduce waste in this generally wasteful industry and reduce the environment footprint of manufacturing to develop ethical, sustainable and affordable products where there were none.
Christoph Frehsee and Linda Balti, Founders
Branding
Amour Vert sell the brand to many retailers and very successfully through Nordstrom to Fred Segal and Satine, Amour Vert also opened their own store in Hayes Valley. They also make sure that the furniture is locally made, for example; the floor is a reused floor from church in Oakland. Running a sustainability brand Amour Vert also give customers cotton tote bags, which are reuseable.
Amour Vert is officially in Bloomingdales and collaborated with Gwyneth Paltrowâs Goop on a line of T-shirts in 2014. Amour Vert are also working on a collaboration with Blake Lively, an American actress and celebrity. They are working on a collection of tops and dresses. The products will be sold and promoted on Blakeâs own site (http://preserve.us). Lily Kwong, an actress and model, currently named Amour Vertâs director of brand strategy, creatively directed Amour Vertâs fall 2014 lookbook and collaborated on the âlivingâ plant wall. Kwong hosted an event to celebrate the opening of Amour Vertâs pop-up shop inside the store to help and promote the brand to the world, âIt just felt like a call to action,â says Kwong.
Amour Vert have a âBuy a Tee Plant a T(r)eeâ campaign which makes them stand out from the crowd. It is a good opportunity for customer to help and support the environment and be a part of them. âWe believe there are many good reasons for planting trees, but the most important thing for us is that we use wood pulp in the development of some garments,â Balti says. The option allows a tree to be planted in North Africa with every purchase of an Amour Vert T-shirt T(r)ee collection, they also partnered with American Forests, the oldest national nonprofit conservation organisation in America. They have so far planted 27,000 trees from California to Florida, aiming for their highest goal of 100,000 by the end of 2015. âOur ultra-soft t-shirt are made directly from wood fibers, so planting tree is out 360-degree way of giving back.â says the founder.
Strengths Amour Vertâs unique selling point is they focus on ethics and sustainability and are willing to change a fashion industry to be aware about environment. Building a relationship between customer and the product by telling a story where the products are manufactured, âWe like to say we are committed to making the world a greener, more beautiful place, one garment at a time.â said Frehsee.
Weaknesses Despite the companyâs strength it also has some weaknesses, for example they do not shipped internationally, they are currently only offering shipping to the US and all orders are ship from their warehouse in San Francisco. Their challenge is that many fashion brands in the market already have sustainability collection and philosophy. Social media can be a significant impact and support for the brand to promote more about the company as today people tend to watch events through their phone rather than their eyes.
Product
Amour Vertâs first collection came out in 2011, the founder started by researching not designing. Balti met some people who were running a fabric mill in Los Angeles, and together they started mixing fibers. The result was an organic cotton and bamboo blend that they now use frequently. Following that Balti researches and sketches the designs for each collection and works with a pattern maker and dressmaker in their sample shop. Amour Vert creates clothes for a long life circle.
Their iconic and bestselling item is Breton stripes, the characteristic colour block pattern with basic colour palette. The design is inspired by a uniform for navy sailors. What is important about Amour Vertâs products is that the garment are specially produced with loving care in the San Francisco and almost all of their manufacturing is done in factories within a 20-mile radius of them and source only the best quality organic and sustainable fabrics from around the world.
Where do they manufacture? All Amour Vert garments are put together in San Francisco, where the company works with nine factories, "the relationship with the factories, and seeing our production get bigger so that we can give more work to the factories and employ more people." says Balti. After the fabrics are blended they are sent to Oakland for cutting. Each piece is improved for the highest yield. Even the transportation system is environmentally friendly. The couple found a trucking company that ships wines from Napa to Los Angeles but drives back to Northern California empty, so they contracted them to use the wasted miles to carry fabric.
What fabrics do they use? Amour Vert chooses the best organic and sustainable fabrics globally specially engineered textiles and produced fabrics to be soft, flattering and long lasting. "I really wanted the fabrics to reflect our commitment to sustainability and reducing waste," says Balti. For shipping fabric, Amour Vert uses ocean freight, even though this can slow production. They use low impact dyes and adopt a zero waste. Also to reduce waste, the garments will be cut from the same sheet of fabric. Furthermore they found recyclable bags to use for shipping. Â Here some examples of their iconic fabrics.
- Tencel and Modal, breathable, soft and completely carbon neutral both have a gentle, luxurious and a perfect drape that make the softest t-shirt. These fabrics are engineered from renewable eucalyptus and beech trees.
- Certified organic cotton 100%, cotton and cotton blends are durable, smooth and have a sensuous finish that feels soft against your skin. Their partner is an organic cooperative in Peru.
- Recycled polyester 100%, recycled material and are spun to be extra soft and flattering. Although polyester is nonrenewable, it is recyclable and adheres to their zero waste design philosophy.
What are their price points? Amour Vert key consumer is an independent professional women who is conscious about waste and environment, a women who is willing to pay for quality with attention and consideration to detail in clothing. Amour Vert tends to produce the best quality of clothing. The founders Linda Balti and Christoph Frehsee are environmentally conscious. However, they are also conscious of a realistic price point; most pieces are less than ÂŁ140 ($200). The eco-fashion industry is growing and more farmers and manufacturers are making sustainable practices possible and even more cost efficient. Amour Vert make everything in California, therefore they have to find ways to stay price competitive in spite of higher wages and higher fabric costs which Amour Vert have with their sustainable fibres.
Amour Vert can be found in about 350 stores, largely in United States. As well as internationally, such as Japan, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Mexico and the Virgin Islands. Amour Vert are normally grouped with Joie, Diane von Furstenverg, Parker, James Perse and Amanda Uprichard. At the start they had a long consideration about whether they should even have âeco fashionâ on their labels. Eventually, Goldman who works closely with the stores that carry the brand has found that customers are pleased with Amour Vert because they has a great story. Even though the global consumers tends to know about environmental issues, they are not persuaded to buy more because of the sustainability of the products. Amour Vert resolve and cure the situation by making a stylish design products at a reasonable price to inspire consumer to purchase eco-friendly fashion products. Amour Vert has to approach PR and marketing to promote the brand and engage with the consumer.
Today, social media and magazines become an important communication medium and significant for a fashion brand to promote their company. Amour Vert has been featured in numerous of magazines such as InStyle, Elle, Vogue, Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan. Amour Vert has received most of the positive comments about their brand concept philosophy, âWhen it comes to sustainable style, it doesnât get more chic than these incredible separates from Amour Vert. This fab line has something for anyone.â says Emily Popp from EOnline.com. There appear to have rarely information about the negative press. Amour Vert future plan is to develop menâs and childrenâs clothing and eventually look into home decoration and furniture. "Thereâs always more opportunity; thereâs always more to do," Frehsee says. Their goal is to build a fashion first 21st century lifestyle brand. Their approach to change the fashion industry, to build a company that outline a generation.
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