Łódź fashion firm making a splash with new tights made from old fishing nets and marine waste
A Łódź-based fashion firm is putting the fishnets into fishnet stockings quite literally with a new range of tights made from recycled fishing nets and marine waste.
Hitting the shelves this month, the latest project from Gabriella, a brand specializing in tights and stockings, has quickly won a slew of press and admirers.
The company’s ‘now! ocean’ line, seeks to address the problem of maritime waste and pollution.
Founded in 1996, Gabriella have since grown into a domestic powerhouse with an ever-growing reach abroad.
Keeping pace with the times, the brand has been on the frontline of research and development, and made headlines last year after premiering the world’s first eco-friendly tights made entirely from recycled fibres.
Marking a new chapter in the production of hosiery, as well as a fresh direction in the company’s fundamental philosophy, the now! ocean range is a timely response to the problem of marine waste.
Named among this year’s “must-have” items at the 2021 Łódź Design Festival, according to the judges, the tights stood-out not just because of their eco aspects, but also on account of their aesthetics:
“Their look and comfort do not differ from top-quality products, but innovative technology is their super power,” wrote the adjudication panel.
Plucking the discarded nets from the Baltic Sea, Gabriella then sends them to facilities in France and Italy to see them processed into high-quality fibres before being transported to the firm’s factory in Łódź where the materials are transformed into super-smooth tights.
“The carbon dioxide emission to the atmosphere during production is 80 percent lower and water consumption is reduced by 90 percent,” they continued.
Now, they’ve gone a step further with their ‘now! ocean’ line, a range that has sought to address the problem of maritime waste and pollution.
According to Gabriella’s brand manager, Sebastian Krajda, the latest line is not a novelty, but rather part of a consistent strategy: “Thanks to technological innovations, fashion can be more environmentally friendly,” he says.
Marking a new chapter in the production of hosiery, as well as a fresh direction in the company’s fundamental philosophy, the now! ocean range is a timely response to the problem of marine waste.
With up to 12.7 million tons of plastic ending up each year in the sea, these catastrophic figures have been further supplemented by the issue of so-called ghost nets.
Ten percent of profits from the now! ocean line will be donated to the MARE Foundation, the only Polish NGO focused exclusively on the protection of the marine ecosystem.
Accounting for at least 10 percent of all marine litter, millions of tons of abandoned fishing nets end up in the ocean each year; posing not just a pollution threat, they’ve also proved a lethal hazard to the fish and mammals that get entwined in their netting.
Gabriella, however, have handed these discarded nets a new life, plucking them from the Baltic Sea before sending them to facilities in France and Italy to see them processed into high-quality fibres.
Then transported to the firm’s factory in Łódź, the materials are subsequently transformed into super-smooth tights.
Founded in 1996, Gabriella has been on the frontline of research and development, and made headlines last year after premiering the world’s first eco-friendly tights made entirely from recycled fibres.
According to Gabriella’s brand manager, Sebastian Krajda, the latest line is not a novelty, but rather part of a consistent strategy: “Thanks to technological innovations, fashion can be more environmentally friendly,” he says.
“The now! ocean line is simply a continuation of the action we undertook last year when we produced the world’s first tights made completely from recycled material.”
But it is not just the tights themselves that are eco-friendly. Packaging, too, has been the subject of attention with the tights sold inside packs made from recycled paper. Foil, meanwhile, has been substituted instead for a compostable equivalent made completely from plant sugars.
Hitting the shelves this month, the latest project from Gabriella, a brand specializing in tights and stockings, has quickly won a slew of press and admirers.
Neither does Gabriella’s commitment to the environment end there. Affirming their mission to help the ocean, 10 percent of profits from the now! ocean line will be donated to the MARE Foundation, the only Polish NGO focused exclusively on the protection of the marine ecosystem.
In a statement released to the press, the MARE Foundation praised Gabriella for their ongoing eco efforts saying: “We believe that raising public awareness is a very important stepping stone for change, so we educated and encourage people to make conscious decisions that benefit the environment.
“We are delighted that another Polish brand now wants to help us protect the Baltic Sea.”
