In advertising today, we're inundated with incredible slogans, ever crazier promises and arguments, each one more powerful than the last.

Marketing departments tell us that we're living in an increasingly awesome world, that we're eating healthier and healthier products, and that our clothes are traveling less and less. In short, that thanks to our purchases, the Earth is getting better and better.

And yet, if you do a little research, a number of scientific studies tend to show that our economic model isn't all that good. Neither for us nor for the planet.

So, either the scientists have got it all wrong - but then, they must be bloody hopeless at maths, because there's a whole bunch of them coming to the same conclusions! - or...

So, as you can see, the geniuses of advertising are laughing (a little) at us!

And quite often with our consent, we won't lie. It's so much nicer to tell ourselves that we're buying an organic product(so healthy, my friends!) than to look at its carbon footprint. Our conscience remains clear and our habits unchanged.

This is where we come in and where Maison FT makes sense. In our own small way, we offer a different vision of marketing: a simple, truthful approach. We don't use hard-hitting punchlines or heavy-handed arguments, but rather sincere words to tell you all about our clothes. We figure that's how people will put their trust in us.

And it starts with the way we make our clothes. We work with quality suppliers.

Quality is our number one priority. No compromises, despite proposals from Asian manufacturers offering us stratospheric margins compared to Europe.  

It's good assembly quality and well-made fabrics that make clothes last over time, and therefore make them more eco-friendly. Remember that it takes 5,000 liters of water to grow one kilo of cotton. In other words, every item of clothing we don't buy represents a significant saving in water consumption. And a truly eco-responsible garment is one that can be worn 50 times without moving.

We also have our garments made in Europe, more specifically in France and Portugal. This geographical area can be seen as a constraint, since it limits the number of manufacturers available, and manufacturing costs are much higher than elsewhere. 

In fact, we see it as an opportunity. For two reasons.

It takes about two months of work to set up a production run of 5,000 clothes. Two months during which we exchange information by e-mail, telephone and sometimes in person. Setting up a meeting without worrying about the 8-hour time difference, sharing a common vision of fashion and discussing technical points in your native language are essential if you want to achieve the desired garment quality. Not to mention the urgent trips back and forth because there was a problem with the sewing of the labels (I can smell the experience 😬 ).

This geographical, temporal and cultural proximity to our suppliers has opened our eyes to one thing: we have no choice but to produce close to home, in Europe. In addition to reducing our carbon footprint, we need to be close to our manufacturers to be able to react quickly.

The short circuit is a choice, but it's also an obligation.

And that's just as well, because I hear it's good for Mother Nature too. Just goes to show, sometimes you can combine business with pleasure. Or, to be more precise, you can do beautiful things well.

Without saying that everything is perfect, we'd fall back into the famous marketing trap.

But with an awareness of the areas for improvement - particularly water - and the search for sustainable alternatives to continue developing this cleaner fashion.

"So that tomorrow is better than yesterday.

Wouldn't that make a great slogan? 😜