neemic

Fashion and sustainability have a complicated relationship and, at times, they seem to be destined to an inevitable break-up. This is why it is important to promote and encourage NEEMIC, a Beijing-based designer brand with environmental and social sustainability at heart. Founded by Amihan Zemp and Hans Martin Galliker in 2011, NEEMIC combines natural materials and organic fabrics with traditional techniques, simple cuts and a careful attention to details to create understated yet luxurious garments which are the perfect combination of style and sustainability. We talked to Hans to find out what does it take to manage an environmentally-friendly fashion brand in contemporary China.

Why did you found the brand and why did you decide to establish it in China?

We noticed that there weren't many environmentally-friendly brands with cutting-edge design so, by setting ours up in China where 40% of the world's clothes are produced and hardly any conscious brand exists, we were expecting the most significant impact. Our vision was, and still is, creating beautiful designs, making the industry more sustainable and providing a platform for artistic exchange.
Luckily, the market is currently improving, but we are still longing for more competitors.

All of your garments are designed and made in Beijing. How does the city influence the brand’s aesthetics?

Although our aesthetic references come from a variety of locations, our approach to sustainability is distinctly home grown. Ethics are formed early in life and environmental and social justice concerns were part of our education in Switzerland.
However, our aesthetic approach is also much influenced by our exposure to the East, including Japan. Being in Beijing adds another component: we absorb the atmosphere of the hutongs, the life of ordinary people in the streets, and translate their essence into new forms. The references are deeply felt and not based on clichés.
We have worked towards an eco-system of creativity and sustainability, cooperating with partners from different fields such as art, IT and the urban farming movement. Those experts help us to make our projects a holistic, closed loop circle. Our philosophy and approach are also heavily influenced by NEEMIC’s co-founder Amihan Zemp’s background in sociology and my own background in sustainable agriculture and IT.

What is it like to manage a sustainable fashion brand in one of the world’s most polluted cities?

Environmental awareness has clearly risen in the past few years. Since the food scandals of 2009, people have started looking for safer alternatives, such as certified organic products. Unfortunately, the air pollution problem has led to an exodus of families and highly skilled citizens. We should probably start designing fancy air pollution masks, especially because, when it comes to clothes, the majority of Chinese consumers doesn't care whether they were produced under eco-friendly and fair labour conditions or not.

What was the inspiration behind your AW14 ‘Afternoon’ collection?

My NEEMIC partner Amihan Zemp is responsible for all the creative aspects, including the design process. When she creates, she follows a mood rather than a formal concept. This collection came from the feeling of a quiet and effortless afternoon, when you have time for yourself and feel at home where you are, with the sun shining through an open window. Amihan went a long way to find the softest mohair yarn for our knits and used pure silk lining to express this homely and comfortable feeling through the touch. I personally chose some fabrics because of the subtle way they reflect or absorb sunlight, and I generally used oversized, natural and simple cuts favouring comfort.

Is there a particular meaning or a particular story behind your brand name ‘NEEMIC’?

Our inspiration was the neem (Azadirachta indica,), an oil-producing tree which is used by organic farmers as a natural insecticide and by Ayurvedic medicine for soothing skin irritations. We added the -ic, et voilà, our name NEEMIC was born.
Back then we were living in Fotan, Hong Kong's artist district, next door with the artist Kong Chun Hei. He created a first draft of our logo by pencil in which he evolved NEEMIC's double EE's into the Chinese character (tian), which stands for land. It was a nice coincidence, further underlining our mission.

NEEMIC uses organic fabrics, many of them hand-woven by local communities in China using traditional techniques. How does NEEMIC contribute to the preservation of these communities and their traditions?

We are not using only organic fabrics, but only natural fabrics, some of which are organic certified, up-cycled or with a positive environmental footprint.
On top of that, we try to source as local as possible. For example, we are sourcing ramie fabrics from the traditional handmade fabric label Summerwood (xiamu). Ramie is one of the three fibres which originated in China (the other two fibres are silk and hemp). Due to its lively texture and cooling effect in summer days, the fabric waved with ramie is called, literally ‘summer fabric’ (Xiabu).
By using and promoting ramie, we help to preserve artisanal skills and we foster revenues which give young people the confidence to keep up the making of these beautiful traditional fabrics, instead of moving from rural areas to the already overcrowded cities.

What is your opinion on the fashion scene in Beijing and, more generally, in China?

Since we become part of the Beijing's fashion scene three years ago, we witnessed an enormous development. Today there are many more fashion designers and fashion pioneers, such as Vega Zaishi Wang, who continuously evolve their designs, materials and market position.
When it comes to visionary creative power, commercial professionalism and cosmopolitan brilliance, Beijing is still behind fashion and lifestyle metropolis such as London, Paris, Tokyo and New York, but in some ways it keeps up with Shanghai. Beijing's fashion scene is also more alternative and avant-garde than the Hong Kong’s one, which is more embedded in commercial channels.

Fast fashion can probably be considered one the biggest trends of the last two decades. Although many people are aware of the environmental and social problems that it creates, the majority chooses to ignore them. Do you think it is possible to change the way people consume fast fashion?

Big companies make consuming fast fashion very attractive. Fast fashion is low price, fashionable and tempting, because it gives you the opportunity to buy new items every other week. Basically, it's a successful business model and as long as companies make money with it, they will do it. No one can't stop them.
Recently I had a lengthy discussion on this very topic with Bernd Müller, a Consultant on Sustainability and Textiles, who has deep insights into the industry. We agreed that the main problem with fast fashion is not the big amount of clothing companies produce every year but, more specifically, the way they produce it, using lots of non-renewable energy and resources, harming the environment, leaving behind masses of textile waste and worn-out clothing and exploiting people in many parts of the world.
However, I believe that society is changing on a general level. To answer your question directly, yes, it is possible to change the way people consume fast fashion. It's a change that will happen in people’s consciousness. As reports about negative effects on the environment and appalling working conditions increase, as awareness of a more sustainable lifestyle grows among people, consumption habits will change as well. I believe that an increasing number of people now wants to buy a different kind of product, something more individual, made by someone they trust and with materials they trust. This is something fast fashion cannot offer, because it is anonymous fashion, so it will gradually become less attractive. It's a slow change, but it is already visible all around the world, especially among young people.

Unfortunately, sustainable brands are often thought of as unfashionable. How is it possible to change this perception and, in your opinion, which brands are doing a good job in changing it?

When we started NEEMIC in 2011, one of our inspirations was the Chinese designer Ma Ke who, as early as 2007, created an all-organic haute couture collection called Wuyong, literally ‘useless’, accompanied by the eponymous documentary from director Jia Zhangke. The film addressed unsustainable production practices in Southern China at a time when there was little public awareness about work conditions and environmental protection.
On the international stage, one of our inspirations was Stella McCartney, who has always managed to balance fashion appeal and sustainability very well.
Other brands which I find inspiring are the Shanghai-based up-cycling Fake Natoo, organic pioneer STUDY NY, Billy Reid and his farm-to-clothes concept, Swedish eco couture brand Camilla Wellton and also the Shenzhen-based fair-labour streetwear brand ffiXXed.
At the moment, young fashion designers have also the chance to access increasingly transparent information about suppliers, through a number of institutions such as the London-based Ethical Fashion Forum.
Furthermore, new events on sustainability are emerging, such as ORIGIN – Passion & Beliefs , a fair initiated by the largest online retailer of independent designers, London-based 'Not Just a Label' and Italy’s Fiera di Vicenza. At this fair, 100 designers from around the globe will present their collections to top-quality manufacturers and buyers. I believe events like this empower designers who source and produce in a sustainable way, helping to make their practice the “new normality”.

What are you planning for NEEMIC in 2015? Do you have any new projects in mind?

Our luxury designs help to raise awareness of our environmental and social mission. We will keep building on that and at the same time create an all-organic, yet cheaper line, a sort of "NEEMIC essentials". We want to provide mainstream consumers with environmentally-friendly, good looking, affordable and long-lasting garments and, by doing so, we want to encourage other market participants to do the same. To make this happen, we have to scale up our organization, looking for strong partners all along the supply chain, from organic linen farms to distribution partners.
Another strategy to improve our sustainability is to customise all orders. Because customised clothes fit better and are emotionally charged, consumers will keep them for a long time, trying to mend them instead of throwing them away. For this reason, our Beijing Fashion Collective is programming an open-source plugin which will visually guide online shoppers to take their measures. We are also approaching tech companies to see whether it would be possible for their users to order with just one-click, given that their measures are stored on their WeChat or Google profiles.