Amalie The Label

Words By Alana Huehn | March 23 2022

Amalie The Label: An Eco-friendly Evolution

In a world where awareness of the fashion industry’s high impact on the environment is becoming more mainstream knowledge, consumers are shaping the way forward, demanding more sustainable and eco-conscious options through their buying behaviors. It’s undeniable that we need more sustainability in fashion, but change is not something that happens overnight. Contributing to the greater good as a whole in combating the climate crisis, astute fashion brands are stepping up to heightened expectations by providing customers with greater choice.

Tamara wears Amalie The Label Claudette Baloon Sleeve Plunge Neck Tie Wrap Crop Top in Pink Linear Floral , Amalie The Label Clarette Cotton Belted High Rise Wide Leg Pant in Pink Linear Floral

The availability of choice is a business model long ingrained in the essence of online fashion retailer Showpo. From its humble beginnings selling clothes from the garage of her parent’s home, Founder and CEO Jane Lu has turned Showpo into a global online fashion marketplace, stocking over 80 brands, including their own. Lu, not one to sleep on consumer trends, has expanded the business’s direction by creating more environmentally friendly fashion with their new in-house line, Amalie the Label.

Jane Lu describes The Amalie girl as someone who is aiming to be and do a bit better. She is more thoughtful in her choices, relaxed and carefree in spirit.

Lu describes the Amalie girl as someone who is aiming to be and do a bit better. She is more thoughtful in her choices, relaxed and carefree in spirit. Feminine and timeless in design, Amalie’s pieces are foundational staples that contextually move easily from beach to bar. Consciously released in small limited collections, each range overlaps the one before, meant to be mixed and matched “so they become like a constantly evolving wardrobe”, Senior Designer Anne-Marie Chimarios says. Made intentionally for the evolved Showpo customer and keeping in line with their ethos of making fashion accessible to everybody, Amalie the Label remains affordable to a wide range of body types with inclusive sizes.

Tamara wears Amalie The Label - Claudette Linen Ruffle Strap Tie Back Crop Top in Blue Porcelein Floral. Amalie The Label Maya Beleted High Waist Short in Blue Porcelein Floral

The results have been “really positive” and they’ve been able to gain further insights into how their target market has “matured” and are “conscious” of the changing world around them

Showpo’s decision to create Amalie the Label themselves resides in having greater control over the entire process where, as Chimarios says, they could get into the “nitty gritty” and see “if we could do it just as good as everybody else”. Launched in January 2022, a time where the world has been rocked by lived experiences of climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic shifting many peoples’ perceptions towards areas that genuinely matter. Lu believed “it was the right time for us to launch this range”, and the high demand for their first collection cemented their leap into the eco-conscious fashion marketplace. The results have been “really positive” and they’ve been able to gain further insights into how their target market has “matured” and are “conscious” of the changing world around them, says Chimarios.

Focusing on one of the biggest ways that reduce their carbon footprint, Amalie the Label is made almost entirely from natural, breathable and renewable fabrics. Making linen the core fabric of their collection is deliberate, as it can be washed and worn, and is constructed through “less complications and less impacts” environmentally, Chimarios points out. In their future collections, they also plan to incorporate alternative fabrics made out of recycled materials. Like the fiber in fabric, the fiber of the industry is changing too with global fast fashion brands including recycled fabrics more and more in their designs. The benefit from this demand has opened up the market and made it more accessible for others to source these types of fabrics not readily available before.

Tamara wears Amalie The Label Maya Panelled Crop Top and Maxi Skirt Two Piece Set in White

Working closely with the Textile Exchange, they aim to increase their overall percentage of natural and preferred fabrics used brand wide to 50% by 2025.

If I could pick the two most spoken words that kept popping up in my conversation with Lu and Chimarios, it would be “conscious” and “evolve”. These two words combined are precisely what Amalie the Label and Showpo are doing as part of their sustainability journey. Sustainability is not a marketing tactic for them but part of a wider responsibility their business as a whole is taking seriously. Working closely with the Textile Exchange, they aim to increase their overall percentage of natural and preferred fabrics used brand wide to 50% by 2025. Aligned with their Corporate Social Responsibility actions on ethical sourcing, all their manufacturers have made commitments on environmental policies and codes of conduct. Taking concerted steps to strive first for better then best, Showpo is already treading ground with their swimwear range which is made from recycled fabrics, including the tags and gussets. Within the design and manufacturing process, they have reduced the number samples required per garment design down to one. They are also transitioning to using recycled content in their garment and overall packaging and have long solidified relationships with charitable organizations that provide end-of-life solutions to their clothing. For the future, they see greater internal education for key stakeholders, implementation of further recycling procedures, carbon assessments on their business operations and periodical environmental auditing on manufacturing as a way forward.

The approach towards ethical and sustainable fashion exists in optimized sourcing, manufacturing and design processes that maximize industry and societal benefits whilst minimizing environmental consequences. Of their journey so far, Lu says, “we’re kind of more a show, not tell, business”. By keeping their customers at the forefront of their decisions, Showpo is making changes that are creating a positive impact. With fashion being one of the leading contributors to greenhouse gasses worldwide, it’s important to champion brands that are taking action and contributing to combat climate change. For others who endeavor to join in, Lu wants to inspire individuals and businesses to start where they are and pivot along the way. “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good”, she says, and “have a bias towards action”.

Amalie the Label is available exclusively at Showpo. ■

Tamara wears Amalie The Label Moahlba Linen Ruched Puff Sleeve Open Back Mini Dress in White

PHOTOGRAPHY by Raex Murillo @whereisraex MAKE-UP by Leah Baines @leahbaines_mua MODEL Tamara Davidson @thytamaradavidson