Madia & Matilda – Nico Jumpsuit £119
In the wake of #whomademyclothes #fashionrevolutionday I met for coffee with Shalize Nicholas founder of Madia & Matilda a sustainable fashion brand based in the Cotswolds. Here’s what she had to say:
Q: Why did you start Madia & Matilda?
On 24th April 2013, 1129 people were killed and 2500 injured in the Bangladesh disaster, when the Rana Plaza building collapsed. This struck a chord with me and made me question: is this an industry I want to work in, where people get harmed? Can I do something that would help in the future of fashion?
Q: How is your brand sustainable?
Looking good doesn’t have to damage the precious world we live in. At Madia and Matilda we are passionate about sustainable clothing, so we use one-off precious textiles, defective and recycled fabrics for our collections. We use garments that have been sent to textile recycling centres, and we also use end of roll fabrics that would have otherwise been wasted and thrown into landfill sites. All our clothes are made here in the UK, in Nailsworth at our studio. We want to bring back skills in textiles to the UK and prolong the longevity of fabrics through upcycling. We think transparency is really important.
It’s this transparency that meant on #fashionrevolutionday seamstresses at Madia & Matilda were proud to say “I made your clothes”.
Shalize’s wish to make her range sustainable doesn’t mean she uses second-rate fabrics. She showed me some of the fabrics she had bought, she had some gorgeous vintage fabrics in lovely muted pastel tones.
One of my favourite items in her collection is the Elodie loose fit crop top £42 (pictured below) made from fabric that was an end of a roll that would have otherwise been thrown out.
Madia & Matilda – Elodie Loose Fit Crop Top, £42.
Q: Why do you think we need to change our shopping habits?
Our love of fast fashion, buying clothes we may only wear a few times creates a huge amount of wastage. An estimated £140 million worth (350,000 tonnes) of used clothing goes to landfill in the UK every year*. Also the use of man-made fibres has doubled in the last 25 years, which means there is double the amount of harmful chemicals being used.
Q: Fashion in its very nature is constantly changing and evolving, so can fashion ever be sustainable? How do you manage this at Madia & Matilda?
I employ a reactive approach to the range, throughout the season I will add in extra pieces as trends change to keep the range current. But, at the same time I don’t want it to be to trend lead, it’s difficult to keep that balance. I am constantly making garments so my ideas are constantly changing and developing, but at the same time I want the range to be classic and timeless. The key element to Madia & Matilda designs are that they are items that are always in fashion, unique products to invest in and wear over and over again.
Q: What are your top tips for having a sustainable wardrobe?
It’s all about being mindful of the clothes you buy, research the company you are buying from to find out their ethics and process. I like to call it conscious fashion #makingbetterchoices. On a practical note care for the clothes you own, and try not to buy too many dry clean only garments, as it releases harmful chemicals into our world.
Q: I love your ethos of “buying less but selecting well” but where would you recommend people buy clothes of good quality that will last, when we live in a world of throw away fashion?
A few high street brands are jumping on the band wagon, such as H&M Conscious. There are also some smaller online businesses like Gather & See, or Wolf & Badger.
For more information on Madia & Matilda please look at their website www.madiamatilda.co.uk