A new sustainable knitwear brand, &Or Collective, is debuting this week.
Founded in Vancouver, Canada, by co-chief executive officers and founders Kristen King and Katie Greene — who cut their teeth in brand strategy and marketing roles at L’Oréal, Aldo and their own agency, August — alongside Kara Lynne Wark (creative director of brand) and Rosa Halpern (creative director of design), the emerging brand is looking to be the next go-to conscious, contemporary label for, “all your and’s and or’s,” Greene said.
The debut collection offers an assortment of women’s and men’s “anytime essentials” designed by Halpern (the entrepreneur and designer behind the customizable leather and lifestyle brand By the Namesake). The entire line is made up of technical knitwear, chosen for its innovative manufacturing process said to reduce waste to 1 percent; both men’s and women’s current styles were noted to be recyclable and made up of responsibly sourced yarns (natural and recycled synthetic materials such as GOTS-certified Italian organic cotton and Lycra).
Looks from &Or Collective.
Courtesy of &OR Collective
“For us, technical knitting was the missing piece. We had the theory around, ‘OK, inherently creating a fashion brand is not sustainable, but people will continue to wear clothing. So how do you evolve that industry?’ It was like this aha-moment. The biggest thing for us is how we look at textile waste — cutoffs are a huge part of that. We’ve also got overconsumption in general, as well as overproduction. The other hugely beneficial aspect of technical knitting is that you can have a very low minimum and then reproduce,” Greene told WWD.
To add to their goal of being a “zero-to-landfill” brand, &Or has partnered with circularity program SuperCircle to eliminate clothing waste by offering customers the ability to recycle their garments (both branded styles, as well as select non-branded pieces for an e-commerce credit).
Looks from &Or Collective.
Courtesy of &OR Collective
Styles within the 10-piece capsule include single-pleat shorts; boxy T-shirts (cropped and full-length); reversible ribbed tank tops and floor-length, and high-waisted ribbed skirts. The assortment, priced $130 to $300 in shades of navy, black, ivory and tan, is available exclusively on the brand’s e-commerce website.
As the brand grows, the team plans to venture into unisex styles, jackets, pants and other substantial pieces that will continue to exude &Or’s anti-trend geared ethos of simple and elegant “anyplace essentials” with the guiding principles of ease, comfort and best practices at the forefront.
Source: WWD