We do our best to control the fabrics to obtain most organic and finest quality for creation of unique, eco-friendly designs that are unreproducible (hard to imitate by competitors).

One of the main troubles Minzkou faces is that it’s quite hard to find resources/sellers that solely sells organic or eco-friendly materials and fabrics. It requires so much investigation and research to design what we design  and having to go from places to places to source sustainable organic materials causes considerable hardship to our business due to this shortage.

To illustrate, The Gaia Jacket line of Minzkou are made of about 5-8 different types of yarns.  We go around the shops/manufacturers and detect the products that are more organi; picking threads that contains more of wool and less chemicals for example. Some yarns are thin, some are thicker than expected… That’s the reason why sometimes we start designing the product after detecting the materials . Due to matching different kinds of materials often instead of knitting or threading them with machines, we’d have to go into traditional ways of knitting by hand.  As a result, in mass production if it takes 5-6 yarns to make one jacket, in our case it takes almost 10-15 yarns to create only 1 product. Not even mentioning the extended time periods of producing it by hand. Minzkou’s desire to make unique products with sustainable materials in ethical practices  drags us into different manufacturing process.

All the procedures mentioned above require much higher budget, investigation, quality control for the handwork, research and development but most importantly takes so much time just to give life to 1 single design.

Disclaimer: Minzkou does NOT use “used, vintage” materials in process of producing clothes. We use materials that are absolutely NEW and unused.

Supporting long-term ecological balance by not being harmful and wasteful towards natural resources and being conscious of the choices we make in our business to support regrowth and regeneration for the future human is a never-ending passion for Minzkou. One of the policies we have in the House is to support this motivation is to upcylce.

Minzkou Upcycling Policy & Procedures involves finding creative ways to use textiles in less harmful ways, usually resulting in one-of-a-kind items.

We upcycle discraded or unused materials/garments and design clothes of higher quality than the original version of that material. Here is an example of how we do:

UPCYCLING PROCEDURE

Reference: MYKIZA BUSTIER LINE BY MINZKOU

For Mykiza Line we purchase chunk of fabrics from the manufacturers that won’t be used for any reason and our artisans create threads out of them by cutting the garments into specific size and thickness.

Cutting these fabrics in to yarns by hand into very specific thickness and thinness requires an enormous attention. Moreover, braiding this type of fabric makes the end product very hard to finish so our artisans have to put more effort and time on them while beading. This way instead of making thousands of 1 same bustier, we make bustiers that are similar to each other in different colors and variations that are absolutely unique.

As mentioned above, fabrics that are somehow aren’t useful anymore are being used in the production of Mykzia Collection. These garments doesn’t have continuity. Due to the fact that, we can’t mass produce the tops thus they are always limited in quantity/color ( BUT let’s not get confused again, materials are all new!) Minzkou doesn’t care of stock. We care more for unique designs and how to keep them eco-friendly and unreproducible by competitors. And crazy and bold !

Even though the word “up-cycle” sounds like a more affordable way of production strategy and gives an illusion of “ being economical ”,  the procedure of the Mykiza Collection actually is pricier and requires much more time and effort. Most importantly it costs much more than any other textile production other houses practice. Our passion for a greener world and excitement of designing one-of-a-kind clothes is preventing Minzkou for making big profits that’s necessary for the continuation of our existence as a start-up.

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Fun fact: MYKIZA is the combination of two words: MYKONOS & IBIZA –  located in Spain and Greece, these Mediterranean and Aegean Islands are an absolute inspiration to the House.

• No Real Leather
• No Real Fur
• No Harm

There is no further explanation needed and it’s not negotiable.

Toxic Wardrobes Toxic Souls

Since fast fashion has risen rapidly for the past decade, toxicity level of all kinds in our lives has also been on the rise. When fast fashion is done in unconscious ways, it results in this equation :

Fast Fashion = Disposable clothes + Obliging trends x Women copying other women – Self worth

The Fashion industry has successfully convinced we should be wearing the latest trends at all times at all cost and constant reduction in production costs created what we now call Fast Fashion! In order to sell latest fashion items easily, they are made cheap. Some cheap products often contain harmful chemicals made perhaps with unethical practices (to keep prices low.)

By creating illusion and hype through celebrity/influencer endorsements, new generation is being drawn into a fashion matrix. In this illusion, they make up an avatar with a delusional identity where they copy every action of “the other girl” . This is actually the main problem created by fast fashion and would like to focus on this topic in a Blog post.

We as House of Minzkou want to urge everyone reconsider DETOXING the closet, by choosing more quality products. It’s undeniable that our clothes have significant affect on our psychology and physicality more than anything else.

DETOX THE CLOSET DETOX THE MIND

Notice how a garment can look so wrinkled, shapeless or worn out ? Well, can we say cheap?  To us makes more sense to go to North Williamsburg (New York) swing by one of those famous consignment stores of Brooklyn and buy a vintage pick, at least this way you’re contributing to a community polluting world less. Just because you can maintain a fashion-forward wardrobe without braking the bank, doesn’t mean you don’t sacrifice something else. Buying unquality products you’re not only giving those companies your money but alas, sacrificing the self-worth subconsciously.

How to support Sustainability if you can’t afford?

Opposite of fast fashion is High-end fashion, thus, the question comes to mind If one should be buying expensive clothes to be considered ” environment-friendly ” ?

Minzkou just wants you to reconsider, re-monitor the psychical, mental and psychological effects of these concepts on your well-being so that current shopping choices of wearing disposable clothes can be swapped with a better alternative that’s in good correlation to your budget.

At least, adopting a lifestyle where one can practice becoming less wasteful towards  the environment is a perfect start!

Supporting local businesses that are owned or operated by our neighbors is one of our primary goals as a sustainably conscious business. It’s our highest intention to invest in the well-being of our community and therefore helping them to carve its future is the same as contributing in our mutual future.

Having produce some of the fabrics woven with organic cottons (like the Chevron Set)  that were harvested by local farmers.

Focusing on more traditional ways like handcrafting to support local talents is an exciting choice for us. We search for talented women throughout the countries we work in to handcraft our designs. Additionally, we’ve so far created part-time jobs for over 50 women who have shown extreme sewing/beading skills but never been discovered and employed by other gigantic companies.

We source fabrics/materials from family-operated small manufacturing companies as well as micro businesses who shares same aspiration of serving quality materials.