Sustainability

Feel Good Glamour

We believe in all-out glamour - but also that true beauty is within.

Our brand was founded in 2011 with the intention of making beautiful garments in a sustainable way, creating and supporting artisanal jobs in the UK & Europe, and committing to ethical business practises in relation to both people and planet.

Our approach is unique, and our making processes slow and considered, ensuring transparency at every step.

Our Manifesto

Gilda & Pearl is is founded, designed and made by women, for women.

Since 2011, we have been committed to:

Making every Gilda & Pearl piece as ethically as possible, and supporting specialist creative skills that have been passed down through generations. Cutting every piece individually to ensure cutting techniques are low-waste, as well as ensuring offcuts are re-used.

Ensuring transparency by working with specialist, female-founded UK ateliers, with whom we have built strong professional and personal relationships that stand the test of time.

Ensuring that labour standards throughout the making process are high, and that we work to living wage. At the very minimum, every piece is always produced in adherence with UK labour and environmental laws and regulations, from start to finish and without exception.

Using OEKO-TEX silks and working with UK-based, family run silk suppliers, who have committed to a rigorous ethical code of conduct.

Using upcycled feather trims, supplied by a specialist, UK-based family business. Our feathers are strictly byproducts of the food industry only which would otherwise go to landfill - without exception.

Ensuring all dyeing and processing is at a minimum in compliance with REACH, and using natural, undyed silks for our bridal ranges. Where fabrics must be dyed, this is done in small quantities, and within the EU, wherever possible.

Supporting time-honoured creative skills, by using trims such as French Leavers lace. This incredibly intricate fabric is slowly woven on 19th century lace looms by highly skilled lace-makers whose skills have been passed through generations, and there are only a few such antique looms remaining in the world. We believe the final product is well worth the wait.

Using sustainable raw materials at every opportunity. Our garment design process is based on factors such as whether the fabric can last a lifetime, and whether it will biodegrade at the end of its lifecycle. Our packaging is also 99% biodegradable - the 1% exception is due to the small magnets in our gift box lids, which we are phasing out as part of our commitment to continually improve.

Significantly reducing our carbon footprint against industry standard by producing entirely in the UK, where the majority of our customer base is, and where our fabrics are produced. In addition to this, spending a minimum of 50% of our production costs with independent suppliers operating within a 25 mile radius of our head office - ensuring that we minimise carbon emissions and invest into local skills, businesses and employment opportunities. A minimum of 50% of our overall business costs are invested within this same radius.

Producing only the stock that we actually need, so that nothing is wasted.

Continuously looking for new ways to improve what we can do for people and planet, as we grow.

Who makes Gilda & Pearl?

Every Gilda & Pearl garment has a story.

It all begins with a moodboard of our inspirations for the season. Gilda & Pearl is designed and carefully fitted in London - our all-female design team keep longevity and environmental impact in mind at every step, beginning with the design process.

The silk in your Gilda & Pearl garment comes from a UK-based, family-run silk supplier, who has been in business for almost one hundred years, and has committed to an ethical code of conduct. The lace in your garment is slowly woven in France, on one of the world’s few remaining 19th century lace looms, by skilled lacemakers whose skills have been passed down through generations.

The trim, such as elastic, or feather, has been provided by a specialist, family businesses - and may have even have been dyed especially for you in small quantities in the UK in accordance with UK labour and environmental regulations.

Finally, the garment will have been carefully cut by hand by an all-female team in a small, specialist UK atelier. It is often sewn together in its entirety by one maker.

Our lingerie to love is then packed just for you by the Gilda & Pearl team at our London studio.

Thank you for choosing us.

We hope you love your Gilda & Pearl pieces as much as we love making them!