WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF ACE BAGS? WHAT REVEALS YOUR BRAND CONCEPT?
Our brand name - ACE - stands for Active Chic Eco, the lifestyles we believe in and wish to promote through our brand. Those values reflect our heritage since we grew up in Sweden and Belgium where sustainable behaviors, living close to nature and sports are part of the national pride.
ACE was founded with the willingness to offer women a "sporty chic" and functional bag to carry throughout the day without compromising our planet.
Since fashion production and consumption have terrible environmental consequences, we decided that sustainable fashion was the right way, the only way, to set the basis of our new brand, with a conscience to inspire, engage and commit. This is why our collection is based on the circular fashion model, with the eagerness to minimize waste and the use of new resources by employing recycled and recyclable materials such as fishing nets rescued from the ocean and other nylon waste.
WHAT DOES THE WORD “SUSTAINABILITY” MEAN TO YOU AND HOW DO SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES IMPACT YOU AS A BRAND?
For us sustainability means creating something beautiful and useful without harming the environment and, more precisely in our case, it is turning a problem into a solution by transforming plastic waste into Sustainable, Fashionable and Functional products!!!
It is about switching the way we produce, consume and dispose. It is going from a linear economy of “take, make, waste” towards a circular one by:
designing new products without harming our planet, using minimum natural new resources, producing minimum waste and facilitating the reuse,
taking responsibility for the products we put out there making sure that they do not create more waste and end up in landfills, this is why we use not only recycled but also recyclable materials in order to close the loop of the product life cycle. We are proud to be a Circular Fashion brand!
giving back to the planet by allocating 1% of our sales to our partner the Healthy Seas Foundation,
offering meaningful sustainable options to the consumer, inspiring and empowering them to make a difference by buying less, choosing well and making it last! (quote from Vivienne Westwood).
We have to tackle many challenges as far as Sustainability is concerned, one of the biggest one is the misconception about ethical fashion: it doesn't look cool, glamorous, nor stylish, we want to change that and make it fun, fresh, modern and desirable!
Another challenge is to fulfill the highest standards of production and processes to ensure transparency, traceability and affordability. Suppliers of sustainable fabrics and components are hard to find and much more expensive. Product development is also more complex and longer.
Another one is to bring the right amount of production and adapt it to the requirements of the clients. This is why we also operate pre-order systems for some models to avoid over-stocking and produce on demand and we try to involve consumers in the creation of our products.
Ensure circularity is also quite complex because of the technological investments and processes needed to recapture the value of the natural resources used for the production. For instance, you have to control and track every step of the supply chain to safeguard the possible “regenerability” of the ECONYL® fiber we use as main material.
And a last one will be the lack of availability and visibility of sustainability shopping. There aren’t enough brick and mortar nor online stores commercializing innovative sustainable brands. The mainstream online platforms aren’t offering sustainable filters even if some of them are progressively adapting to it.
WHAT IS YOUR STRONGEST COMMITMENT IN TERMS OF SUSTAINABILITY IN YOUR BUSINESS? WHAT COULD YOU DO BETTER?
Our business model is regenerative, based on the transformation of waste into new resources for the production of new products. We also commit ourselves to close the loop of our products cycle through our Give Back program: customers can return their end-of-life bags to us and the old material will be recycled and redesigned into new products. What’s the point of being sustainable if your products add to the waste! ECONYL®, the recycled nylon we use is endlessly recyclable and performs as well as conventional nylon coming from the very polluting crude oil industry.
But we still have work to do to find other regenerable components like trimming details or metallic components. We just replaced our zippers with new recycled ones made of ECONYL®. Our goal is to be 100% circular by the end of 2022.
WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN OBJECTIVES FOR THE NEXT 5 YEARS?
Be 100% circular.
Better inform the consumer. As a brand, we have a huge responsibility since we are the bridge between production and consumption and we influence the consumer lifestyles and behaviors. It is our duty to “educate” and help our audiences to make better choices.
Extend our collection to new products and design the best sustainable options. We need to make sustainability more glamorous and popular.
Have a strong digital presence in sustainable platforms around the globe.
WHAT IS THE PRODUCT THAT AT BEST REPRESENTS AND DEFINES ACE BAGS? AND WHY?
Our first design - our iconic Tote Bag – we are thrilled to receive such positive feedback from our customers using this model; it is the ideal “all day bag” for gym, work and travel. It is lightweight, practical, with plenty of room and pockets and machine washable! It is a timeless piece but with a sporty chic edge, to fit every outfit and occasion!