Interview with Liz Johnson owner of Revolver Consignment Boutique

When we think about what it means to be sustainable in fashion, there's no better example than what Revolver Consignment Boutique is doing.  With their gently used, highly fashionable finds at great prices you can find everything you need - from basics to evening gowns, hair accessories to shoes - all while being sustainable and shopping local at a great value!  

Q: What inspired you to open your business?
A: I saw a need for a high-end boutique consignment store in our area.  I knew I had girlfriends that had “one-time-wear” garments in their closets, things like special event dresses, and a store like Revolver gives them a way to pass it on... and get something new to them at the same time.

Q: When did you open your business?
A: Six years ago.

Q: Have you always wanted to create this type of business or was there a turning point that changed yoru focus to the creation of this company?
A: I always shopped at thift stores and consignment stores, so this was a natural step - a mix of all the things I was always looking for.  The idea of styles “revolving” is where the name Revolver comes from.  

Q: What are the types of items I would find in your store/ on your website?A: High end designer pieces, unique inexpensive pieces, and basic items - we try to hit all areas of your wardrobe.  Men’s and women’s clothing and accessories.  The Revolver website has been up for several months with items from our store. - www.revolverboutique.com 

 

Q: How do you choose the products that are featured in your shop?
A: Appointment only, hand picking consignment items from consignors.

Q: Do you feature any local vendors in your shop?
A: Tons! Good Girls Studio, Llavender, Adam Peele, Lucky Accessories, Erin Brown, Saela Designs, Verabelle, Trende Femme, Woodcrafty, and Cassidy Jane to name a few!

Q: What do you like most about Raleigh?
A: That its still growing.  Raleigh has a friendly, small town feel, but there is a lot going on at the same time.

Q: What are some of your favorite things about being part of Raleigh’s local business community?
A: There are a lot of local businesses interested in working together - we had a fashion show at Tir Na Nog, we work with the wine store downstairs (The Raleigh Wine Shop) - it’s an atmosphere of locals helping locals.  Raleigh is building it’s own identity as a city.

Q: Sustainability - what does it mean to you?
A: Recycling is a big part of it. And living economically. 

Stop by soon to visit owner Liz Johnson (and her dog Rigsby who is often working hard at the store) and see the amazing selection at Revolver!  Or if you aren’t in the neighborhood, you can visit Revolver online at www.revolverboutique.com

Eco in Action: TS Designs

This is the second article of three about TS Designs.   

Over the last 35 years, a Burlington, NC  company, TS Designs, has created - with boldness, invention, and a bit of dramatic flair - a viable product line, an innovative printing process, and an enterprising approach to altruism that might - as word gets around - redefine the standard of corporate citizenship.

TS Designs' Vice President, Eric Henry, spoke with Redress Raleigh about the inspiration behind his  company's green screen printing process.

Rehance

"We want to bring the most sustainable product possible," said Henry.   To do it, TS Designs reduced  their 30-year-old screen printing process to its essence - and rebuilt it,  revising traditional aspects of production to fit a custom-made, eco-friendly technology called Rehance.  

Traditional Process

The screen-printing process generally starts with dyed, blank T-shirts and ends with pictures printed in Plastisol ink. According to the company web site,  "Plastisol inks are opaque,  and sit on top of the fabric. This allows a bright, light design to be printed on a dark shirt."

Plastisol is made with PVC, which contains phthalates and emits dioxins. Both phthalates and dioxins are chemical compounds - phthalates are used to make platicizers and solvents, and certain products are federally regulated to keep  levels low. Once they hit the environment - sometimes by way of a washing machine's wastewater - dioxins climb the chain until they settle  into animal and human fat cells.  They can remain for years.

Integrity through Inventiveness:  Boutique Chemistry 

Like all sustainable, water-based colors, TSD's  signature ink - an original mix, by the way, which includes pigments containing only trace amounts of heavy metals and cellulose-based thickeners  - soaked into the fabric. Any design requiring ink lighter than the shirt itself was difficult to see.

TSD enlisted another local company - Burlington Chemical - to create a solution.

By definition, Rehance is "a water-based printing technology that alters the chemistry of a shirt so that it will not absorb garment-dye.  Its purpose is to allow the printing of water-based inks on a dyed shirt while maintaining color contrast and vibrancy," the site said.

 New Tradition

At TS Designs, the  screen printing process begins with a shirt that isn't dyed, and ends with a breathable, lightweight image on a preshrunk, sustainable T-shirt.

To obtain a white design on a dark piece of fabric, the Rehance process requires an undyed shirt, where a design is screened using Rehance. The shirt is then garment-dyed (dyed post-construction), and the design emerges out of the negative space. The "white print is not a surface coating," the web site said. "It is simply the lack of black dye."

To obtain a light design on a dark piece of fabric, the process again starts with an undyed shirt. This time, the design is printed first with TSD's water-based ink. It's printed a second time with Rehance, then garment-dyed. The ink-and- Rehance design resists the color, remaining bright.    

"It's interesting. Two groups of people like it. Environmentalists like it because eliminating Plastisol eliminates PVC, dioxins, and phthalates.

"Fashion people like it because a print becomes part of the shirt. It doesn't crack or peel, because it's part of the garment," said Henry.

"How can people support TSD?  Buy our t-shirts!  We are a custom printed wholesale t-shirt provider that offers the most sustainable t-shirts and the most sustainable t-shirt options.  People can submit a quote from our Web site."  - Eric Henry, president, TS Designs

To purchase individual T-shirts, visit http://store.tsdesigns.com

To learn more about Rehance, visit http://tsdesigns.com/products/rehance

Eco in Action: TS Designs

 

This is the first article of three about TS Designs.

Think Globally, Act Locally

Over the last 35 years, TS Designs has taken this particular call to ethical action seriously, ensuring its role in today's  international  marketplace.  TS Designs has created - with boldness, invention, and a bit of dramatic flair - a viable product line, an innovative printing process, and an enterprising approach to altruism that might - as word gets around - redefine the standard of corporate citizenship.

People, Profit, Planet

"We have a business model with a triple bottom line," said company President Eric Henry. "People, Profit, Planet.  Every T-shirt we produce has an impact. We want to make sure we're producing a sustainable product."

According to the Web site, the Burlington, NC,  company "strives for social justice, environmental stewardship, and economic prosperity. "

Integrity with Boldness: The (Very) Viable TSD Carolina Brand 

The company offers a number of socially responsible shirts for purchase, including three different in-house brands. The original, TSD Organic, is a rare find - it's one of only a handful of organic T-shirt brands manufactured entirely within the United States.

Another house option, the TSD Recycled brand, is made of "65 percent post-consumer recycled soda bottles, and 35 percent  post-manufacturing recycled cotton scraps," the site said.

In terms of entrepreneurial ingenuity and risk, the TSD Carolinas brand is the ultimate in realization and reward.  This T-shirt is made from cotton grown in North Carolina. It has traveled less than 750 miles within the state of North Carolina. It is sold, here, in North Carolina.  Each shirt is numbered, and each number corresponds with a given harvest year. Consumers can go online, view the paperwork for themselves,  and track the exact path their T-shirt has taken.

TSD calls it "Dirt to Shirt."

"Have you heard of  Cotton of the Carolinas?" Henry asked. ""People want to know where their food comes from.

"Now, you can identify the origin of your apparel."

 Henry, some friends and colleagues and several like-minded local business owners put his  idea into action a few years ago. It was an "experiment with two things entirely foreign to the apparel market: a fully-local supply chain and complete transparency from farm to printed t-shirt, " the site said.

  Annually, TS Designs works with about five other local companies to produce each crop of shirts.  "We asked our partners to help us develop the T-shirt," Henry said. " We wanted to work with people  who were willing to start off small, and who would understand the value of our mission.

"We wanted to work with people who were willing to stay in it for the long haul."

Justice + Stewardship = Prosperity

According to a 2011 CNN report,  TS Designs made 8,500 shirts in 2009, and, in 2011, was predicted to make 26,000. As consumers continue to cultivate increasingly purposeful buying habits, rising labor and transportation costs worldwide are making locally grown and manufactured apparel  more competitive.  

"How can people support TSD?  Buy our t-shirts!  We are a custom printed wholesale t-shirt provider that offers the most sustainable t-shirts and the most sustainable t-shirt options.  People can submit a quote from our Web site."  - Eric Henry, president, TS Designs

To purchase individual T-shirts, visit http://store.tsdesigns.com .

Words from Friends

"I never would have been aquatinted with environmentalism and social entrepreneurship in this way had I not been introduced to it through Redress. I owe you a great debt of gratitude." 

-Andrew Callahan 

Recap: Fixer-Upper Workshop

Everyone has at least one item in their closet they've been meaning to fix. You know, the pair of pants that has needed hemming for the past three years, and yet you haven't found the time to get it done? Or that vintage dress which could lose a ruffle or two and be made into a more modern and flattering new garment? 

Ripping a seam here or making a straight stitch there sounds like an easy task, but for those who have never sewn before it can be intimidating and overwhelming. Worry no more young sewing jedis!! Redress Raleigh is here to show you how to: mend your clothes, revamp old items into new, turn scraps into hand-made gifts, plus more!

Redress hosted its first Fixer-Upper workshop this past weekend, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon! The workshop was led by Sarah Ferguson (stage manager) and Lisa Wood (former Redress designer), our awesome education instructors. During the Fixer-Upper workshop the two of them assisted seven individuals - some new to and/or rusty with sewing - who wanted to mend one or two items in their closets. The inviduals brought with them projects ranging from hemming a pair of pants to tailoring a dress to adding straps to a bike wine-basket. Some participants also brought their sewing machines with them to learn how to thread a bobbin, change stitch settings or simply get it looked at.  Here are some great pictures from the Fixer-Upper workshop. 

Redress Raleigh has a few more workshops planned in the upcoming coming months and we'd love for you to join! Stay up to date on upcoming events with our newsletter!