Before launching Epoque Evolution in January of 2018, both Nancy and Hannah worked in the fashion industry. While they were working in the fashion world, however, they quickly realized the negative implications that fashion has on the environment.
“We both worked in the industry for a very long time so we didn’t want to contribute to the problem; we wanted to help solve the problem in as many ways as possible,” said Hannah.
The Needle That Sowed The Thread
The idea of Epoque came into fruition from travel adventures and the desire to make a busy woman’s life easier.
The idea started brewing when Hannah and Nancy met in Morocco. Hannah had been traveling prior to meeting with Nancy, and only brought with her a single carry-on bag packed with just the essentials. That simply included multi-use clothing pieces that gave Hannah the flexibility to transform her looks from a day-to-night look. That travel experience quickly made Hannah and Nancy realize that you don’t need a large closet of clothing to live a sustainable-chic life, you just need a handful of versatile timeless pieces in your closet.
“You don’t need five different pairs of pants for the day,” said Nancy. “We can give you one that performs for three things that you need to do in one day, and you can probably wear it a couple of times before you have to wash it.”
Modern day women have busy schedules. They go from morning workouts, to a long work day at the office, then to any after work extracurriculars—that is a lot to dress for. Being prepared for the day requires multiple outfits. In fact, when Hannah and Nancy were out doing market research for the launch of the brand they quickly noticed women carrying multiple bags with their multiple outfits. This motivated Hannah and Nancy to help.
The Sustainable Way
Epoque is a French word that translates into “the emergence of a new beautiful era.” In fact, La Belle Epoque was a period of prosperity and innovation that occurred before WW1 in France. This period made way for the rise in modernism, and for Hannah and Alex, Epoque Evolution is symbolic to the rise of sustainable fashion.
“We were trying to communicate important things you know,” said Hannah. “It’s time for change in terms of the sustainable aspect.”
Sourcing organic and recycled regenerated fibers is an important core value for Epoque Evolution. However, simply sourcing sustainable fibers doesn’t automatically categorize a product as sustainable. In fact, In sustainable fashion, the mill that a fashion company works with makes a huge difference to the effectiveness of sustainable manufacturing. If a mill doesn’t manufacture fibers correctly then essentially the same damage is being made to the environment regardless of using recycled or regenerated fibers.
The Epoque team prides themselves in not only working with mills who manufacture consciously, but also have proper working rights for their employees. Hannah explained that Epoque only manufactures clothing in factories where working conditions are up to standard because to Epoque, sustainability encompases ethical manufacturing, ethical working rights, and good quality clothing that can have a multipurpose use.
When clothing is made with intention it can become a lifelong piece in someone’s closet, which creates a timeless clothing staple. Epoque Evolution is manufacturing timeless sustainable pieces and along the way they are teaching consumers the importance of sustainable fashion.
“We wanted to create clothing that would really allow her to take on the day,” said Hannah. “Epoque is like an era and we are entering a new era in all those things. A new period where sustainability is core where woman can be who they want and we want to help achieve that with clothing.”
// epoqueevolution.com; Photography by Alec White.
