Plain Tiger Spotlight: 1 People
Danish DNA
By Renee Fortune
The time has come to debunk a popular misconception; which is that creating simplicity is simple. In fact, ask a creative in any industry and they will tell you that creating simplicity – stripping something down to its most rudimentary form, is a complex process.
Creating minimalism takes time, attention and a sense of discernment that resists the temptation to “add” and embraces the inclination towards “removing the fluff.” It was Leonardo Da Vinci who said, “simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication.” Perhaps he moonlighted as a fashion designer.
This approach to fashion – the slow, considered, minimalist approach – embodies the brand philosophy behind 1 People. Its founders, Jonathan and Rea Tjoa Algreen, identified an emerging need for “fashion without the fluff,” or fashion that wastes not and therefore, wants not. Quite literally.
1 People produce sustainable, minimalist capsule collections that have an endless potential to be mixed and matched with other items. Theirs is a collection of wardrobe staples, from blazers and blouses to tailored shorts and long-sleeve shirts. There’s something about each piece that says, “quintessential.”
Part of 1 People’s minimalist sense of style can be attributed to its Danish origins. Another part can be attributed to the growing demand for sustainable luxury – an aspect on which the brand never compromises.
To meet their goals, each product is evaluated according to a “Sustainability Score,” which takes into account the sustainability of how the raw materials for that item were recycled, how manufacturers along the supply chain treat waste and which chemicals were used during production. This score is communicated to customers in favour of a more transparent fashion production process. 1 People also supports a CO2 reduction programme to offset emissions created by the transportation of raw and finished materials as well as its general operations.
1 People collect all its fabric waste from in-house production and from its manufacturers. This waste is sorted into colours and when a certain amount is obtained, the team arranges for the respinning of the fabrics at a mill in Java, Indonesia, producing new yarn and fabric from the leftovers. Every detail is considered.
As COO, Molay Ghosh explains: “With fast fashion creating so much waste that cannot be reverted back to earth; and since our planet only has limited resources, we certainly think a sustainable and circular approach in the fashion industry is very much needed to preserve our planet for the next generations. Someone has to drive the change the world needs, and we want to be one of the pioneers in adopting a way of thinking that combines style and sustainability.”
Some of the fabrics which have become synonymous with the 1 People aesthetic include Piñatex®, a plant fibre fabric woven from discarded pineapple leaves, with a texture that mirrors the characteristics of leather. Another innovative textile used by the brand is TENCEL™ Modal fibre, which is extracted from naturally grown beech wood by an environmentally responsible integrated pulp-to-fiber process, that is self-sufficient in energy and recovers co-products from component parts of the wood.
These flexible, durable and sustainably produced fabrics are at the cutting-edge of the slow fashion industry and are the building blocks of a new way of doing business. 1 People is on a mission to bring about change, for good.
‘People and Planet’ are at the core of everything that 1 People represents. It is a brand that is committed to giving back more than it takes – a sentiment that underpins what we at Plain Tiger believe to be the future of fashion.
The 1 People shopper is independent, conscious and goal-oriented. Success is whatever she wants it to be and she owns it proudly. She understands the change-making ability of her money and she’s discerning about how she spends it. She is a woman of the world – a new world, just beyond the horizon.
