Nature is our inspiration, our breath, and who we protect.
We have such a love affair that it’s just poetically kismet. Siren Skirts’ designer, Monique Guzmán, was born the same day Earth Day was born, April 22nd. How’s that for a match?
It all started in 2008, with her first skirt, made in her bedroom, to 2011 when she moved into a work studio, branding her label, Siren Skirts, and dove into business. Throwing nothing away, Monique made her zero waste eco fashion designs for women with a feminine touch of sensuality and grace. Being sustainable is second nature to her. Monique was doing sustainable before it was a thing. Before the hype, before mainstream, ahead of her time, making a difference. Nineteen years ago, before social media made climate change a hot topic, Siren Skirts was a pioneer in reducing their carbon footprint.
Throwing nothing away, Monique made her designs zero waste eco fashion for women with a feminine touch of sensuality and grace.
Think about all the brands and manufacturing with their mass production of clothing in the world. All the fabrics that are cut from patterns, where does all the extra fabric go? In landfills! Well, not us. We save every scrap, strip, thread, & notion.
With the saved “trash”, we create new, one of a kind designs for new collections with larger pieces, and smaller accessories with smaller pieces. Yet with the even smaller pieces, we create bracelets, necklaces, belts, earrings, and more. We are always inventing new ways of using everything, finding new artistic useful creations is a fun surprise.
Reducing waste as a brand, and saving every bit of scrap material, is one huge way of being eco-friendly… but there’s even more ways we help. We are slow fashion. We don’t make huge mass amounts of units overseas which contribute to cheap thrills. Inexpensive manufacturing, big corps, terrible work conditions, sweatshops, mass consumerism, and quick sales, are all factors that studies show contribute to more trash in landfills. Alternatively, we hand make each design in our atelier in San Diego, CA. We carefully craft with love and art in mind, and with stories to inspire our clients. Being a small business, we build to our community, and become part of what is important in a worthy society.
Reducing waste as a brand and saving every bit of scrap material is one huge way of being eco-friendly.
There are many other ways in being sustainable. Raw textiles are the first level in question. How does it impact our world? Amount of land needed, pesticides and chemicals used, water usage, and animal treatment are just the beginning. Then there is the printing of the textiles. Where are the inks and dyes from? Are they natural or synthetic? The waste of these processes going into the land or water systems is also a huge issue. Given the scale of fast fashion and mass productions, changes need to happen on a global scale. Large manufacturing and government policies need to change, as well as a change in consciousness. So what do we do as a micro business, slow fashion, handmade brand? We buy from a certified mills that produce textiles that are environmentally friendly. We buy old, last year’s textile stock or “dead” stock and remnant stock that would otherwise end up in landfills. We do what we can and what we have control over. We don’t just get anything, we scour through, hand selecting only the finest textiles in color, touch, prints, and drape. We travel the world many times to pick amazing fabrics. It’s a long process but luxury is worth it.
Given the scale of fast fashion and mass productions, changes need to happen on a global scale.
Lastly, but not without merit, we bring art to the world. We only make one of a kind designs. That means, never duplicating a piece. We give each design a name like a painting. We love combining art & fashion. The names inspire, remind, excite, and make our clients dream. They feel glorious and sexy, and comfortable.
Many say, it feels like they aren’t wearing clothes. Now that’s just scandalous…. and we totally approve. Don’t you?
BE A SIREN.