What feels better than filling your life with products you love, knowing they were produced with ethical and sustainable processes? Not much, in our humble opinion. We live in a world that becomes more complicated daily. Climate change is a huge and under-resourced issue. And simultaneously, we’re still trying to climb out of the last few years of the pandemic and the job uncertainty that came with it. These may not be issues that KIM+ONO can fix all on our own, but they are important issues for us to consider when we think about the kind of impact we can make in our small corner of the world. From sustainability of our products to taking care of all our artisans and workers, we want you to feel confident every time you slip into one of our silk kimono robes that the process to create that handcrafted product was done with the utmost care and thoughtfulness. Learn more about our sustainable fashion processes below.
As a company founded by two sisters who happen to be women of color, we highly value transparency and sharing the steps we take to reduce our impact on the environment, and increase our impact on positive working conditions for our team. So today in the journal, we’re sharing our steps toward sustainability so you can have a better understanding of our company’s intentions. We hope that this breakdown helps you feel the intention and care woven into each and every piece of your favorite kimono fashion.
At KIM+ONO, we are always looking for ways to increase our creativity and sustainability efforts, hand in hand. We know that as we create beautiful handcrafted women’s and men’s kimono robes for everyone in your life, how we make those pieces will impact the environment all around us. That’s why we are acutely attuned and committed to reducing our carbon footprint and switching to more sustainable practices and packaging wherever possible. You can be sure that by shopping with KIM+ONO, you are helping to create a more sustainable consumer ecosystem with every silk kimono robe.
REDUCE: We are doing our part to reduce waste, which is the number one impact we can make as a company. As much as possible — and in ever-increasing ways — we offer both products and packaging that you can reuse, with the goal to completely eliminate one-use products as soon as we can. We have successfully begun reducing the use of plastic bags for packaging online orders as well as our brick and mortar store. The hope is that you aren’t throwing out reems of plastic from just one order.
REUSE: We are proud of our reusable materials and packaging. You can repurpose most elements of our packaging for your own personal use. Our silk kimono robes are packaged inside an unbleached biodegradable cotton bag. While it is indeed biodegradable if you decide to throw it in the trash, the best way to use this drawstring bag is for storing small items at home — perhaps kitchen utensils, kid’s crafting, or even your makeup! It can also be used as a travel bag when vacationing with your favorite kimono fashion. Our charmeuse kimono robes are placed inside a frosted bag, which is a great container for any wet materials (i.e. if you’re headed to the beach with your kids) or even for storing and prepping food.
RECYCLE: With most of the materials that are left after reduction and your ability to reuse them, you can recycle them! All of our gift wrap supplies in store and online are made of paper products and offer you the option to either reuse or recycle the supplies after gifting. Our San Francisco store only uses paper bags, which can be reused and recycled as well.
Beyond your experience of our products and packaging, we’re working at reducing our environmental footprint behind the scenes at our store and headquarters as well. We know that these small changes, when added up over time, amount to a positive impact on our local environment. One such example of this effort is our hot/cold water filtration system at the sink in our office so that our team can stay hydrated all day long. We all bring in our favorite reusable water bottle so we’re not using plastic or paper cups and reducing our impact. Another example is that once our kimono styles arrive in San Francisco from international import, we reuse every scrap from our shipment cartons! We utilize cartons for inventory storage and throughout needs in our fulfillment center. The printed paper that comes in those cartons is reused for note-taking and other administrative needs, and then recycled so they can be recreated into other useful purposes elsewhere.
One way we reduce our carbon footprint and support the arts worker is to include local vendors’ goods in our wellness product lines, which you can find in our brick and mortar store. This reduces waste and emission of transportation and it also supports our local community as we bounce back from the pandemic. We extend this prioritization of our artisan workers to our team in China’s Silk Village as well. As the global environment shifts (especially with international shipping during the pandemic), we have worked hard to keep providing the same level of quality in every product we make. As the needs and demands of the handcrafted production process changes due to increased demand, new styles, and international shipping challenges, we will always accept our producers’ price increases in order to support a spacious, non-smoking, healthy work environment for our artisans as they work to produce our silk kimono robes. As business grows, often so do the obstacles, but one thing we will never forego is our artisans' health and safety. We are a people-centered family business and we know that our artisans and employees are the most important part of what we do. We will always accept price increases so that our team is taken care of and can do their work in environmentally safe and healthy spaces.
We are always doing our best to find new opportunities to become a more sustainable business and reduce our impact on the environment, and offer you options so you can do the same. Our hope is that our products and processes not only make your day a little lovelier, but make your world lovelier, too.
