Sustainability

From the birth of Sébastien, we knew sustainability practices in producing each collection would cement the core of our foundation. To live amongst the abundant beauty our world provides us, we must strive to continually protect it. We stand for long lasting luxuries, taking shape in both our product and the way we produce it, with minimal impact processes forever at the forefront. Wherever your journeys may take you, if you bring us along, know that you’ve joined the cause to keep our environment a safe one by supporting the path toward a more sustainable future.

We know we're not perfect but we're striving to be completely sustainable in the future. Everyday we take steps and make choices that bring us closer. Every material comes with pros and cons and we carefully consider our selection process, always prioritising the production process, material's lifecycle and environmental impact.

Manufacturing & People

We design with the intent of creating timeless pieces that you’ll want to keep forever. Through a holistic approach, we see the design process as an ecosystem where all parts are equally important. We strive to minimize unnecessary steps, being considerate in the way we produce, deliver, source our materials and package our pieces.  

Our collections are produced in limited runs, rendering our designs more unique, carefully crafted with attention to detail and cut from superior fabrications of recycled, organic or biodegradable fibers that deliver unequivocal luxury in both look and feel. An effortless quality that stands the test of time. Quality without compromising fit is our utmost priority along with caring for our environment.

All our pieces are handmade and every fabric is intentionally selected. We count on our trusted partners and their skilled collaborators for that. We manufacture our collections in a family run atelier in the north of Portugal, they have an expertise of 20+ years and we love working with them. They respect the environment as much as we do and treat their workers fairly, ensuring they work in a considerate, healthy setting and they’re just great human beings in general. We keep close communication with them plus we get to go there whenever we want, affording us the opportunity to have transparent oversight throughout the whole process or just to take advantage of their expertise. 

Swimwear Fabrics

Completely sustainable swimwear is something that is not available yet as all swim fabrics shed microfibers. Our swimwear is made from yarns of ECONYL®️ regenerated Nylon and Castor oil and is manufactured using conscious processes. Apart from environmentally friendly traits, these materials also offer UV protection, excellent coverage and shape retention. We source them from suppliers in Italy and Spain.

The majority of our swimwear collection is made using ECONYL®️, a 100% regenerated nylon endlessly recyclable. It originates from recovered post and pre-consumer waste like worn fishing nets, industrial plastic waste, yarn discards. This man made waste, if not recovered, would otherwise end up in our oceans and landfills. While our castor oil material breaks down into organic matter (biomass) and biogas; both of these can then be exploited as new environmental resources.

Ready to Wear Fabrics

We’ve recently added Resort wear to our selection. The same sustainable standards will apply, we have chosen to use only organic, biodegradable or renewable fibers produced in a sustainable and traceable way, we'll always know the origins of all materials and how they were produced. Same applies to trims, buttons, GOTS certified dyes or any other accessories we include in our designs.

We will keep working with the same manufacturer in Portugal and as for materials sourcing we'll work with suppliers in the Netherlands, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Germany. Keeping things within the EU to lessen our carbon footprint too. Where possible, we will try and source dead stock fabrics and give it a new life, lessening the waste.


Vegan Silk

Made in Europe, a regenerated cellulose fabric that is made from recycled cotton linter, the fluffy fiber around the plant's seeds. Known as vegan silk due to it's softness, smoothness and doesn't contain any animal-by products. Part of the same family of fabrics as Tencel and Modal, it's an incredibly durable, thermo-regulating, stretch resistant material and dries quickly. It's cruelty free and more eco-friendly than most fabrics as it is made from 100% plant-based materials, which biodegrade naturally instead of sticking around in landfills for up to a thousand years like synthetic clothes.


Organic Silk

Our silk is a pure silk fabric made out of raw silk fiber. This makes it silk at its best natural form. As a natural fiber it will easily biodegrade in the soil when discarded at the end of its useful life and will not pollute the environment like other petroleum-based fabrics such as acrylic. Organic silk farming means that no pesticides, insecticides or harsh chemicals have been used in the production of the silk fiber. It's a lustrous, luxurious material renowned for fluidity that comes from the cocoons of silkworms.


Bamboo

Our bamboo viscose is made from bamboo pulp. It can be broken up and is environmentally friendly. It features strong durability, moisture absorption, softness along with anti-bacteria and deodorization. Even after fifty times of washing this material still possesses excellent function of bacteriostatic. 

Bamboo fiber has the advantages of breathability and coolness. Garments made from this fiber are 1-2 degrees lower than that of normal apparels when worn in the summer. It's made from 100% bamboo and is biodegradable. As a natural cellulose fiber, it can be completely bio-degraded in soil. The decomposition process is eco-friendly and it doesn't cause any pollution or harm to the environment. 


Organic European Linen

The flax from which our linen is produced is grown in Europe and processed there. The natural properties of linen make that it feels cool, which make this fabric ideal for summer clothing. The European Flax® label guarantees no harmful chemicals, and farming practices that value both the environment and the worker.


Tencel™ and Modal

Our TENCEL™ and Modal are produced with sustainably sourced, renewable raw material wood using an environmentally responsible process. These fibers are certified compostable and biodegradable. Thus they can fully revert back to nature, they are also certified by the international standard STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX as containing no harmful substances. TENCEL™ fibers are certified internationally with the recognised EU Ecolabel, an environmental quality label only awarded to products which have a significantly lower environmental impact throughout their entire lifecycle.


Organic cotton from BCI (Better Cotton Initiative)

Our organic cotton eliminates the use of genetically modified seeds and restricts the use of chemicals that harm the environment. The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is a worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibers, including ecological and social criteria. The aim of this standard is to define internationally recognised requirements that ensure organic status of textiles, from harvesting of the raw materials through the environmentally friendly and socially responsible manufacturing up to labelling. Free of banned and regulated chemicals.

Shipping

We ship with DHL GoGreen. Read more about it here.

Online Returns

Online returns come at an environmental cost.

We know sometimes this is unavoidable and you should have the right to do so. Balance is key and shopping consciously is the way to go. We’re here to advise you on fit, sizing, anything you’d like to know really to give you peace of mind before completing your purchase.

Reach out at onlineorders@thisissebastien.com and we'd be happy to help.

Our packaging

We want to deliver beautifully packaged things to you but also want to ensure it's in line with our sustainable practices. All our packaging is fully recyclable and from recycled materials. Where paper is used, it's always FSC certified. From our tags to our mailers, liners, tape, boxes we put extra care into this and we’re continuously researching new ways of improving. Some of our mailers are still made of recycled plastic but we're phasing it out and hope to fully transition to paper in the next months. Small progress is still progress, right?

Buy responsibly & cherish what you buy. If we didn't answer all your questions or you'd like to know more just email us.