In order to live a sustainable life, one has to be willing to learn. It’s not about college degrees; sustainability comes hand in hand with awareness. We have to be mindful and open to awareness.
The Baltic craft of knitting meets Italian yarn
As well as choosing an existence filled with mindfulness, Baiba, the woman behind the BAIBA RIPA brand, created a sustainable clothing label that’s rooted in the longstanding tradition of Baltic knitting.
Baiba is personally engaged in every step of the supply chain, from the sourcing of materials all the way through to production.
Being a sustainable brand doesn’t stop with using yarns from manufacturers that maintain environmentally friendly production cycles. Of equal importance are the design and crafting processes, how collections and their pieces travel to the customers, as well as the overall values that drive the brand.
Values that build a sustainable design identity
From the customer’s point of view, BAIBA RIPA offers unique, high-quality clothing for those who value quality over quantity, slow and exquisite over fast and cheap.
The design process at BAIBA RIPA starts with a conversation between the fiber and Baiba. Her ideas for her pieces come from this dialogue, and the result is a garment that tells its own story. This is what makes each BAIBA RIPA collection unique in the world of fashion today.
The people who actually make each BAIBA RIPA garment are integral to Baiba’s process and also personally important to her. Most makers are based in Latvia and Lithuania, and Baiba can assure her customers that each one is highly valued and properly compensated. This is locally sourced craftsmanship at its most intimate and best, and the result is a garment imbued with the individual maker’s spirit.
Ideas to contemplate
To claim that sustainability is a trend, something “new,” is a mistake. It’s rather a return to our own roots, to where things began. In the global context, sustainability is about the conscious use of resources. On a personal level it’s about our awareness and the use of our own inner resources. Being sustainable is about being mindful in an enduring way.
“Of course, I’ve had my moments when it seemed that it’s much easier to choose from what’s been made, to buy things blindly, to pick the cheapest and easiest options, and not bother about inner resources and sustainable life choices. Yet, in one way or another, I always keep coming back to my roots. To live an authentic life is the dearest thing to me.”
Baiba Ripa