Lights of all
Our Ethos
Lights of All is a purposeful clothing brand for people who value nature and their connection to it. We help you feel and look your best while being gentle on the earth.
From start to finish, and long after, we focus on having a gentle impact on the earth. From the styles we design, the way we make them and how we ship them to you. We believe deeply that no one should be harmed for fashion.
Design
Our approach to design and production is filled with intention and purpose, not only directed to making beautiful garments but also to lower our impact on the earth.
At Lights of All our goal is to create things that will make you feel comfortable, confident and more like yourself. We also want you to love what you buy and wear it for years to come, so each collection is designed with the previous ones in mind, so that your newer LOA styles will match with your previous ones.
Fabrics
Our core fabrics are Organic Cotton, Oeko-tex Linen and Tencel. We also use Hemp, Linen and Recycled Polyester from time to time.
We only use these materials because they are proven to be the best options when it comes to water usage, non-toxic chemicals, and the safety of the people who work to create them. When looking for organic materials we look for GOTS or Okeo-Tex certifications.
Included in the Global Organic Textile Standard, are regulations on dyes, water usage, chemical usage, worker's rights and facilities and even more. Because of the extensive range of regulations and standards, it is our preferred and most trusted certification.
Production
Production consists of turning the designs into garments. This is the longest process and the one with the most potential for waste.
Here is how we create clothing:
We only use undyed, recycled paper for our patterns and we recycle every last bit of scrap.
As for the sampling, cutting and sewing itself, the fabric remnants from the cutting room are saved and used to make patchwork bags, scrunchies or other small items. The pouches are given free with any purchase!
Paper
We work with a Montréal based paper maker, Ateliers Retailles, who takes our fabric scraps (those too small to make into bags) and past prototypes and repurposes them into paper.
You can learn more about Ateliers Retailles here.
We will always chose the earth-friendly option, every step of the way. We do not cut corners and we are passionate about making this world a cleaner and safer place for all. From the dyes we use, the fabrics we chose, what we do with our waste, we always have the wellbeing of our planet and those that inhabit it in mind.
Shipping & Packaging
Orders are shipped in either a compostable mailer or a reused box. You receive a free cloth pouch with your purchase, instead of wrapping your items in tissue.
Our business cards/hang tags are made from t-shirt scraps from the fashion industry - no trees harmed in the making! You can read up on the process here.
We limit our use of paper and plastic anytime we can so we decided not to send out any hand written notes or extra items in your orders, however you can expect a personalized email from Katia once we see that your order is delivered.
Giving Back
As part of our goals and efforts to make the world a better place for all animals, we donate 5% of our profits to Cedar Row Sanctuary, located here in Ontario.
Cedar Row Sanctuary is a family run animal sanctuary, founded in 1999. "Cedar row has saved many animals from slaughter, and helped many humans make the connection to the animals that end up in the food system. The sanctuary helps show that there is no difference between a piglet who enjoys having her belly rubbed, to a piglet that ends up being slaughtered for bacon. The Pooles believe if one spends time with the rescued animals at Cedar Row they will be forever changed."
Product Care & End of Life
More Garment InformationWash Cold, Hang Dry.
These two together prolong the life of your garments. When you tumble dry your clothing in the dryer, you are adding friction (rubbing together) which creates pilling. And for items that contain spandex, the heat actually breaks the spandex and makes them lose their stretch and resilience over time.
How about when your garments are no longer wearable? Big stains that won't go away? Holes that cannot be repaired? Now, expect the end of life of your garments to come in decades (because LOA clothing is made to last). However, when the day does come, we want you to be prepared.
Natural Fibres & Semi-Natural
Linen, Organic Cotton, Cotton, Hemp, Tencel
For garments made from these fibres, simply shred them and you can compost them! Our garments are made using non-toxic dyes and are safe to be composted. They will take a while to decompose so, shred them as small as you can and dig around/spread them so they aren't all in the same spot. This works for home compost, however, our cities and towns are not equipped with the infrastructure needed to compost clothing yet. So feel free to do this at home.
All Other Fibres
Recycled Polyester, blends including Spandex
Other garments we sell, which include Recycled Polyester and a blend of Spandex with Hemp & Organic Cotton cannot be composted.In these cases, clean the items (even though not wearable) and donate them to a local Value Village- they not only accept wearable garments, but ones that are not wearable are sent off to recyclers who repurpose these materials. They use them to make things like car stuffing and insulation. Just be sure that the items are still clean and in a bag.
Where We Can Improve
There is too much clothing on this planet. The average person buys too much clothing and does not keep it for long, resulting in mountains filled with unwanted clothing, mostly sent to the global south. As a sustainable brand creating new clothing, we exist as an oxymoron. The most sustainable thing to do is to wear what already exists in the world. This is our daily existential crisis. We also believe so strongly that offering high quality garments made from the best earth friendly materials that make people feel good about themselves is a good thing. We also know how hard it is in general to find well fitting and comfortable options for our plus-sized friends, this makes us even more driven to deliver the best fit and best quality to those who are often excluded.
We plan to combat this in the future through a reselling program. We want to keep the responsibility of the garments we make, even when you don't wear them or want them anymore. We are starting to test the waters with our LOA Second Hand, launched in June 2023. We will continue to test this and slowly work toward a plan to offer a reselling program to take back your no longer wanted LOA styles to find new homes for them.
As a part of our community we would love to hear from you if you have more ideas of how we can make this world a better place for all. Feel free to message us at info@lightsofall.com with your thoughts.