OUR PLEDGE:
we’re not pulling your leg, promise
Our commitments for eco-responsible tights
Team skirts, lovers of dresses, this one’s for you.
Tights are part of our everyday. Only problem: a typical pair of tights is polluting to produce and difficult to recycle. And of course, their life cycle is relatively short… tights are fragile little things.
We can’t go on like this. Without further ado, we are acting upon our decisions - with your help - to limit the Gambettes Box’s environmental impact.
ONE STEP FORWARD
Everything we’re doing at Gambettes to reduce our carbon footprint
In 2020, we reduced our carbon footprint by 39% compared to 2019.
Use only recycled materials to produce our tights
Creating all our beachwear using materials of natural origin certified by ethical and eco-conscious organizations.
Recycled and recyclable packaging reduced to the bare minimum.
Twist Again, our used tights upcycling programme.
IN 2021, WE’VE BEEN PRESSING AHEAD
We began experimenting with bio-based tights in April, and we’re extending our Twist Again programme indefinitely, so you can get your tights upcycled throughout the year.
In each of these tabs, we provide more detail on how Gambettes is evolving. If you’d like to be in the know, just click.
OUR PLEDGE:
we’re not pulling your leg, promise
Our commitments for eco-responsible tights
Team skirts, lovers of dresses, this one’s for you.
Tights are part of our everyday. Only problem: a typical pair of tights is polluting to produce and difficult to recycle. And of course, their life cycle is relatively short… tights are fragile little things.
We can’t go on like this. Without further ado, we are acting upon our decisions - with your help - to limit the Gambettes Box’s environmental impact.
ONE STEP FORWARD
Everything we’re doing at Gambettes to reduce our carbon footprint
In 2020, we reduced our carbon footprint by 39% compared to 2019.
Use only recycled materials to produce our tights
Creating all our beachwear using materials of natural origin certified by ethical and eco-conscious organizations.
Recycled and recyclable packaging reduced to the bare minimum.
Twist Again, our used tights upcycling programme.
IN 2021, WE’VE BEEN PRESSING AHEAD
We began experimenting with bio-based tights in April, and we’re extending our Twist Again programme indefinitely, so you can get your tights upcycled throughout the year.
In each of these tabs, we provide more detail on how Gambettes is evolving. If you’d like to be in the know, just click.
Solutions for fighting pollution
The trouble with tights as they are currently produced?
Their production generates a lot of pollution, because they are woven out of a mix of polyamide and Spandex: both plastic derivatives.
They cannot be recycled, because Spandex must be recycled separately from polyamide. And the technology for that doesn’t exist (yet).
Their production generates a lot of pollution, because they are woven out of a mix of polyamide and Spandex: both plastic derivatives.
They cannot be recycled, because Spandex must be recycled separately from polyamide. And the technology for that doesn’t exist (yet).
Our supplier, a family-owned company based in Italy near Lake Garda (remember them?), agrees we should rethink this whole system, so we started searching for solutions together.
Gambettes is changing the game
How we plan to tackle the problem:
RECYCLING
Since 2020, we’ve been presenting you with our first-ever tights woven from spare thread, a raw material that tights producers usually throw away. BAM in your face, waste.
POLLUTING LESS
Spare thread is ALSO less polluting, but doesn’t compromise comfort and shape.
This one is woven from Q-NOVA® polyamide thread produced by Fulgar (for good shape):
- 40% less water and 50% less CO2 during production than classic polyamide
Made using renewable
resources
We’ve mixed it with ROICA™ spandex thread produced by Asahi Kasei (for flexibility):
Produced without chemical
substances
Decomposes without releasing
nocive substances
Well woven and produced using recycled material, our tights are GRS-certified, guaranteeing that at least 60% of the thread used is recycled and that it is as eco-friendly as it is ethical and socially responsible.
Gambettes is changing the game
You won’t feel the difference, but the environment will.
We’re experimenting with future-proof materials
In April 2021, we launched the first-ever tights made from castor bean. This is the best way to reduce the amount of non-renewable material in our tights, as castor bean is a natural and therefore sustainable material that requires little water to grow and is OEKO-TEX® certified.
What about Gambettes
style?
Are we going to lose our signature style for the sake of the environment? No. Sure, these techniques make creating certain patterns more difficult, but we’re working hard to keep every fiber of style. We’ve got a reputation to keep up!
Transportation matters
too
We wouldn’t be eco-friendly if we didn’t factor in how we get your tights to your postbox. As far as production and transport are concerned, it’s best to stay in Europe. Our tights are made in Italy and slipped into their box in Spain: that’s just 1000 km. Most importantly, your tights don’t fly: no planes, that’d be far too much CO2!
Gambettes beachwear
Every summer, the Gambettes Box swaps tights for beachwear outfits.
We cook up 3 outfits (shorts, romper, skirt, dress) to show off your legs.
last tights
tights come back
last tights
tights come back
A 100% green summer forever
We want to reassess what we send you all year round, not just in the winter. Producing summer looks can also require a lot of water.
But as of summer 2020, all summer clothing has been and will continue to be eco-designed. From the packaging to the final product, our summer boxes are created using more natural and biodegradable organic material produced in a manner that is less water-intensive and generates fewer emissions that harm the planet.
Soft and ethical cotton
We’ve created a 100% biodegradable organic cotton product.
100% biodegradable
Production requires 10 times less water
than typical cotton
Grown without pesticides and insecticides
(softer on the earth and on your skin too btw)
Eco-friendly viscose
Viscose is derived from wood cellulose, meaning it’s a natural raw material... The problem is that the production process is very polluting—for the wood pulp to be transformed into fibre, highly polluting solvents are needed. When it's time to dispose of these solvents, they are often dumped into rivers and end up seriously polluting water systems and the groundwater.
To continue designing viscose clothing, which has an edge in terms of being light and flowing, we got our hands on LENZING™ ECOVERO™ certified viscose. The wood used comes from sustainably managed forests. When producing the fibres, fewer and, most importantly, different solvents are used which are in compliance with European standards.
The production process is not yet ideal, but its impact is minimised.
Uses 50% less water and much less fossile energy
is needed for production compared to typical viscose
Recyclable and biodegradable
Produced in certified fair working conditions
What about 2022?
We would like to create 100% made in Europe beachwear to reduce our carbon footprint while transporting our products.
What about transportation?
All of this travels by boat, not by plane,
of course. Environmental impact is
therefore 60 times lower.
MISSION: LESS WASTE
We started counting everything that went into our Box each month: an envelope, a box, a brochure, two cardboard holders for each pair of tights. A little too much, isn’t it? So we decided to reduce things drastically.
The Gambettes expert diagnosis
To eco-design the perfect Box, we needed the opinion of experts.
The Gambettes Club, composed of our most devoted subscribers, gave us their feedback:
Beat it, extra leaflet! We printed the images and editorial directly onto the box (using water-based, recyclable inks). And it's all made in France, including the raw material for the paper.
We’ve held onto the little inserts for the tights so you can keep your tights tidy and easily distinguishable.
A new era for the Box
Life in plastic :
it’s not fantastic
To reduce the amount of waste associated with your Gambettes Box, we’ve changed two things:
1. Streamlining the use of paper: we’ve halved our consumption by removing the leaflet from the box. That’s not to say our photos and texts have disappeared: now we just print them directly onto the box!
2. Being more eco-friendly: we’ve opted for eco-designed boxes that have less of an environmental impact during production and once thrown away. We’ve prioritized 100% recycled and 100% recyclable materials and have chosen recyclable glues and inks and... plastic? We’ve shown it the door.
A new era for the Box
Recycling your Box
All the paper used for your Gambettes is recyclable, so don’t worry: recycling bin and chill. We know you know, but now you can be 100% sure.
Tights: a life cycle
When they tear...
Recycling damaged tights and turning them into new ones would be the dream. Sadly, it's not that easy. In fact, it’s not yet possible to do so for technical reasons (see our "tights" section to find out more). If you dispose of your tights in the household waste, they will be incinerated or taken to the dump... and therefore produce pollution.
So we began racking our brains to find a plan B. That’s when we came up with the Twist Again programme, which we’re running with Provence TLC, a company that transforms tights into granules to be reused in other industries: for instance, to make letterboxes where, who knows, future Gambettes Boxes may be delivered. In February 2020, for example, we saved 2,000 pairs of tights from the bin.
And we are determined to find a long-term solution.
Got any ideas on how to reuse torn tights?
Soon there’ll be a solution for the new tights that you don’t feel like wearing
A swapping scheme for tights lovers appears to be in the making to ensure that no pair of tights ever remains forgotten at the back of your drawer.
Long live your tights
How do you make your tights last? Tbh, it’s sometimes a matter of luck, because anything can cause a tear. And there’s not much we can do. But we’ve got a few tips that can make all the difference from handling your laundry to the art of the washing net… Let us show you!
New life, who dis
A pair of ripped tights doesn’t belong to the trash: it still has potential. You can use it to make hair ties, tawashi sponges… We’ve made a compilation of the best ideas.
