"We never use the word sustainable" - a deep-dive into one of the members of the Sustainawear Community

Gai+Lisva and the art of getting of the hamster wheel

“We never use the word ‘sustainable’ because the term is impossible to define. ‘What does it mean to be sustainable”? Bettina Jensen, CEO and Brand Manager at Gai+Lisva, asks the rhetorical question when we meet for a talk about the company, she started in 2008.

From hamster to elephant

“There are no criteria on what it means to be sustainable today; anyone can claim that they are sustainable. Our approach is simply, that we want to act responsibly. This means making responsible choices concerning the production process, the materials we use, transportation and packaging. We use the phrase ‘fair production’, which is about having a fair collaboration with our suppliers”, Bettina explains.

Gai+Lisva has always been a responsible brand in the sense that they have always worked with quality products in natural materials and focused on having fair relations with their business partners and suppliers. However, two years ago they realised that they didn’t want to be part of the fashion industry anymore; they wanted to be part of the clothing industry instead.

“Fashion is basically about creating new trends over and over; something which again creates an increased consumption. In other words, we wanted to pump the brakes, get off the hamster wheel and start making slow fashion. The ‘How to eat an elephant’ programme has really helped us in this process. We have always in some sense worked responsibly, but with the elephant, we were able to work structured and get the basics sorted first,” Chief Sales Officer at Gai+Lisva, Jørgen Holtegaard Eskesen, explains.

Traceability is king

“We are very conscious about the fact that we can never be truly sustainable, but we can act in a sensible and responsible way using the knowledge we have, and we can make conscious choices on how we source our products and how our organisation is built. We aim for traceability in the entire value chain. We want control over all processes, “ he continues.

This philosophy corresponds well with the fact that 70% of Gai+Lisva styles are produced in Europe, and it’s easy to get the European suppliers to sign their code of conduct. “However, sometimes they just want to know and understand what it is they’re actually signing, which is completely fair,” explains Bettina.

Production in Europe and high-quality conscious materials; those things make the price go up, and Gai+Lisva is not in the low-price segment.

“One recurring dilemma when it comes to sustainability, as we see it, is that many consumers still look at the price tag first when looking for a top for Friday night outing. We need to communicate very clearly to them why have we chosen this path, and why they should too. Why should they choose a style that’s made from recycled materials and produced in Portugal instead of Bangladesh?” Jørgen says.

A liberating feeling

While previously making 85 styles a year, Gai+Lisva now releases two annual collections with a total of 35 styles, and the aim is to narrow this down even further. Their collections are not based on fashion or colour trends but on the natural changing of the seasons, with NOOS as a large part of their assortment. New collections only consist of new designs with well-considered, basic styles that can be worn for a long time.

They used to always be on the look out for new trends and constantly feeding Instagram, which is never satisfied by the way, so this new approach has given them a much-needed breathing space. Instead of creating new collections all the time, they can now work on the existing styles, refining them and making them better.

Their design philosophy is based on what they call ‘Nordic Calm Clothing’, which is essentially about using natural materials, focusing on calmness and aesthetics in the designs and creating styles that are Nordic and minimalistic in calm, natural colours.

“Our choice to slow things down means that we can now really work in-depth with our collections, instead of always chasing something new. The consumers use our products over and over, which is exactly what we aim for. We don’t need to develop new styles all the time. It’s a very liberating feeling”, ends Bettina.

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