Tag: Sustainable Fashion

Our Goals for 2023

Our mission at Carousel is to create timeless and elegant clothing that not only makes women feel confident and beautiful, but also supports sustainability and ethical manufacturing practices.

As a vintage-inspired ladies clothing brand based in Dublin and manufactured in New Delhi, India, we are committed to using only the highest quality materials. These include Organic Cotton, BCI Cotton and EcoVero, which are grown and harvested in a way that is kind to the environment. We believe that it is our responsibility to protect the planet for future generations, and that starts with the materials we use to create the clothing for our Circus brand.

Sustainable & Ethical

We also believe in the importance of fair labour practices. That’s why we pay our employees a living wage, providing them with the means to support themselves and their families. Our workers are treated with respect and dignity, and we are proud to be able to contribute to the local economy in this way.

In addition to our commitment to sustainability and ethical manufacturing, we also take great pride in our designs. We create our own prints and dress patterns, ensuring that our clothing is unique and special. Our small team draw inspiration from the past, creating pieces that are both nostalgic and contemporary.

We believe that fashion should be more than just a trend, it should be an expression of who you are. Our clothing is designed to empower women and make them feel confident in their own skin. We want to create a community of women who appreciate the beauty of vintage-inspired fashion, and who also share our values of sustainability and ethical manufacturing.

Express Your Unique Style

In short, our mission is to create beautiful, high-quality clothing that is kind to the planet and its people, and that empowers women to express their unique style and personalities. We believe in the power of fashion to change the world for the better, and we are committed to doing our part to make that happen.

As we move forward, we pledge to continue to innovate and improve in all areas – from the materials we use, to our manufacturing processes, to our designs. We will remain transparent and accountable in our practices, always striving for excellence in all that we do.

Sustainable Fashion at ilovecarousel.com, inspired by vintage fashion of the past. A female model dances in the evening sun wearing an organic cotton cardigan, a blouse printed with bicycles and a burgundy corduroy skirt.

This year, we look forward to continue creating a sustainable and ethical fashion brand, which not only makes you look fabulous but also makes you feel good about your choices and the impact you are making. We hope you’ll join us on our journey to make fashion sustainable, unique and empowering at ilovecarousel.com!

The Carousel Team

Cost of Living vs Sustainability

The cost of living has gone through the roof! Has this changed your priorities when shopping for clothes?

We’ve spent the last few years making sustainable changes for the good of our planet. But we’re struggling to shout above the noise of other fashion retailers, despite being more sustainable than our competitors. Has the rise in the cost of living affected your shopping habits? Is sustainability still a priority?

We all know that the cost of living is increasing and we’re all feeling an extra pressure. But has this affected your priorities when shopping? We’re concerned that people are prioritising price over the sustainability of the item.

It seems to us that the sustainable credentials of our clothing is an added bonus and not the motivation for purchasing from ilovecarousel.com. We’ve spent a huge amount of time and money over the last few years making our processes and materials more sustainable. But we’re struggling to be heard above the noise of other online fashion brands. Especially ones that aren’t as sustainable!

We’re feeling a bit disheartened at the moment and we’re looking to start a conversation. We’d love to hear your opinion on the matter of price vs sustainability. Which is more important to you? A dress that has been ethically made using sustainable fabrics? Or a dress that is 30% cheaper?

Let us know what you think via Instagram. We’re genuinely interested to hear if your shopping habits have changed so that we can make the right decisions for Carousel. 

Spring/Summer 2022 Collection

Spring/Summer 2022 Collection Launches at ilovecarousel.com

A sustainable collection of clothing, designed in Dublin and ethically made in our partner factory, Good Earth India.

The Circus Spring/Summer 2022 collection aims to invoke a sense of nostalgia in the wearer. The vintage colour palette brings a softness to the collection. And the retro-inspired prints inject a huge amount of personality into each piece. You’ll find beautiful vintage florals, colourful graphic prints, fun retro repeats and soft classic stripes in the Circus SS22 collection. 

This past year, we have spent time sourcing sustainable fabrics and registering with Lenzing™, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and Better Cotton Initiative (BCI). We are delighted to say that we now only use BCI or Organic cotton, Lenzing™ EcoVero™, deadstock or other sustainable fabrics in our collections. Currently we are also looking at introducing bamboo derived fabrics and Tencel.

We can say with full confidence that we know the manufacturing journey a Circus piece makes from beginning to end. We collaborate closely with our partner factory, Good Earth India. It’s a spacious, modern factory with comfortable conditions for all its employees. The factory adheres strictly to a minimum working age and maximum working hours per week. The workspaces are well lit and air conditioned. There are policies in place to deal with workers safety, protecting the environment, and sexual harassment in the workplace. Good Earth India has recently been GOTS certified to manufacture organic garments. 

A selection of our Spring/Summer 2022 collection is already available to buy at ilovecarousel.com:

Ava Painted Flower Dress –  €75.00 – Size UK 8-16
Jazz Daisy Print Dress – €79.00 – Size UK 8-16
Anna Antique Floral Top – €49.00 – Size UK 8-16
Jasmine Wave Print Skirt – €65.00 – Size UK 8-16
Livia Circle Print Dress – €79.00 – Size UK 8-16

Don’t forget, there’s free shipping to Ireland & the UK on orders over €50. And we’re very excited that we can now offer free returns to our Irish-based customers. Simply drop us an email letting us know your order number and the items you’d like to return, and we’ll generate a free return label for you.

Send your free returns requests and any questions you may have to support@ilovecarousel.com.

The Carousel Team xoxo

Deadstock Fabric

‘Deadstock’ seems to be the new buzz word in the #sustainablefashion circle! But what does it actually mean? We can’t speak for every fashion brand. But when we say deadstock, we’re referring to fabric that already existed and if not used, it may have been sent to landfill.

A simple definition of ‘Deadstock’ Fabrics

We were eager to introduce deadstock fabric to ilovecarousel.com and we decided the best way to do this was to create a brand new ‘Carousel’ brand. This new line of clothing will be made from majority deadstock fabric. There’s a great range of deadstock fabrics available and it actually means we can offer a larger variety of colours and prints.

When we use deadstock fabric, we don’t have to worry about the minimums that usually come with designing and producing our own fabric. We can buy small amounts of lots of different fabrics which in turn, reduces our waste.

Carousel Floral Tea Dress – €59.00 – Made from responsibly and ethically sourced deadstock rayon

There’s a certain amount of exclusivity when using deadstock fabric. Once the fabric has been used and the garments have been sold, we most likely won’t be able to source the same fabric again. So we would encourage you not to wait too long if you fall in love with one of our ‘Carousel’ pieces in particular!

The greatest appeal for using deadstock fabric is that they don’t require any new resources to be made. You can’t get any more sustainable than using things that already exist. Plus we’re giving these fabrics a second life and potentially saving them from ending up in landfill.

Deadstock fabrics are a great option in terms of aesthetics and sustainability. A win-win for everyone we reckon!

If a dress is made from deadstock fabric, are you more likely to buy it? 🤔

Carousel Floral and Butterfly Ruffle Dress – €59.00 – Made from responsibly and ethically sourced deadstock cotton

You can check out our new Carousel range here

What is Slow Fashion?

What is ‘Slow Fashion’?

We use the words ‘Slow Fashion’ a lot when describing our brand and our ethos. But what does that actually mean? Read on to discover the top 5 things that we associate with ‘Slow Fashion’.

1. It’s the Opposite of Fast Fashion

Fast fashion is about making and selling as much clothes as possible, without much consideration to the planet. Whereas ‘Slow Fashion’ is about slowing this whole process down, and providing clothing that people actually need/want.

2. Quality over Quantity

Slowing down fashion is about buying a select few high quality pieces for your wardrobe. Garments that you really love and plan on wearing multiple times.

3. Clothing that People will Wear Over and Over and Over Again

And even then, hopefully be passed on to someone else. ‘Slow Fashion’ is about valuing our clothes and not seeing them as disposable.

4. Unique Designs that aren’t Trend-Based

Trends come and go, whereas ‘Slow Fashion’ is about designing beautiful clothing that people identify with. Classic pieces that you’ll be able to wear in 1, 5 or 10 years time.

5. Responsibly Sourced & Made

Last, but definitely not least, ‘Slow Fashion’ should also be responsible fashion. In order to protect our planet and the people in it, our clothing needs to be sustainably sourced and made.

What do you think of these points? Is there anything you would add to the meaning of ‘Slow Fashion’? Join the conversation on Instagram and Facebook.

We’re a small, independent Irish clothing brand and sustainable fashion is a huge part of our ethos. Fulfilling all of the above points is our main aim when creating each of our collections for ilovecarousel.com. Our Autumn/Winter 2021 collection is inspired by classic shapes of the past with a modern twist. Each piece has been made to the highest quality in our partner factory Good Earth India in New Delhi. You can read more about our ethos and story on our About Us page.

A letter from Tom – the owner of Carousel

Thank you for taking the time to find out more about Carousel and our brand ‘Circus’.

After the last recession it became clear that going to trade shows across Europe and sourcing/curating lines from different brands was not a sustainable business model. With the rise in rents and general cost of doing business I had to step back and take a fresh look at my retail business. Fashion and retail are all I had known since working in Selfridges in the late 80s (makes me giggle when that period is now considered vintage), so a career change was not an option.

“I had to step back and take a fresh look at my retail business”

I did not know at that point that I would eventually have my own clothing brand with agents across Europe selling into indie clothes shops like mine.

I travelled to Thailand and Korea in the early days of developing Circus (2012) sourcing new lines and meeting some extraordinary people. Mostly women running thriving business that took time out to help me get off the ground. I met Kate Chang from Seoul when she was on a holiday in Dublin. She ended up being my agent and translator in Seoul. My many trips to Seoul would not have been possible without her amazing help.

Araya from Fame Fashions in Thailand was also instrumental in helping me export and source new lines in Bangkok. After several years of travelling back and forth to Thailand I realised that it would not be possible to create a brand of my own in Thailand as the logistics did not make sense.

Following an introduction from a colleague at a trade fair in the UK I was introduced to Udayan Kapur. Udayan ran a small family-owned clothing manufacturing business in New Delhi – Good Earth India. Even though Udayan was 25 years my junior we got on from the beginning.

After several trips to Delhi we decided to start a brand together and Circus became a reality. Although I was creative, I had never designed a clothing range. But I began designing lines for Carousel. This was relatively easy as I knew exactly what I wanted in my shop.

The most difficult part was learning to design a range of clothing that appealed to many shops and customers across Europe, and repeat that every season whilst keeping our identity and still appealing to a broad enough customer base to grow. We are still on that journey but really enjoying the learning process.

“Many people have helped me over the years without any benefit to themselves”

I have tried to live by the motto “what goes around comes around”. Many people have helped me over the years without any benefit to themselves. Seeing someone grow and develop is an extremely rewarding experience especially if you have had even a small hand in it.

Carousel and Circus have always taken the more difficult decisions but more rewarding ones since the first day we opened our doors back in 1993. Long before it was ethical or sustainable or the informed thing to do. We will always go about our business doing what we believe is for the greater good and morally correct decision. In the early days this was a personal choice.

Society now demands that the values of a company be authenticated by relevant certification. Whilst this is understandable it is sad that instead of assuming a business does the right thing where possible, it seems to be the exception and not the rule. Hence the need to be more formal about our values, ethics, morality and respect for our employees, customers, and associates.

We needed to make bigger changes to ensure all of our activities were more sustainable… This was much harder than we had anticipated

18 months ago I attended a talk on sustainability hosted by “Thinkhouse”. As a result of this talk I realised that we needed to make bigger changes to ensure all of our activities were more sustainable. This was much harder than we had anticipated. We have finally reached a point where we are happy with all elements of our production.

We registered with EcoVero™, a sustainable alternative to viscose. This took some time before we became certified as a registered brand. We are delighted to be a part of the EcoVero™ family now. We have started working with the “Better Cotton Initiave” (BCI), which supports farmers to grow cotton more sustainably. Our factory has also just recently been certified by the “Global Organic Trading Standard” (GOTS) and we’ll be offering more styles made from Organic and BCI Cotton.

“We will continue to build positively on our values for as long as we are lucky enough to be in business”

I have learned that the only thing you truly own is your reputation. This is something that is earned over time. It cannot be created by a marketing company but only by your actions over a sustained period of time. We at Carousel have always taken the best, fairest and morally correct decision based on what we thought at a point in time. We thank everybody who has been on that journey with us over the years. And we will continue to build positively on our values for as long as we are lucky enough to be in business.

Thank you for your support,

Tom.