Everyday Pioneers... Piupia interview
But first, what does the new partnership mean for you? If you sell your preloved Piupia items via dotte, you'll earn a special 10% discount to shop the new season directly on their website. Simply list your item and once it's sold, we’ll send you an exclusive discount code! Hurrah!
Missed our first dotte x piupia online pop up shop? With exclusive access to very limited past season stock, make sure you're signed up to the dotte newsletter to find out more about the next drop from this must-have brand.
In the meantime, we'll hand over to the creative genius behind the brand, Claudia....
What made you want to launch a children’s clothing brand and how did you get started?
My background is in graphic design and Film Visual Effects, and my parents own a clothing factory in Portugal. Right after having my son, I felt the need to do something different with my career... something that would allow me to work from home and take care of my son. I became enamoured with the world of children and this is how the idea of creating a new children’s brand came about - making use of both my design skills and my family’s experience in textile manufacture.
What does Piupia do to champion ethical production and processes? And how important has this been for the brand from day one?
Ethical production was one of my goals for the brand since we started. Organic cotton has been used in the collections from the very beginning and I was able to take full advantage from the fact that my family’s business is located inside a hub of textile manufacturers. All production happens within a 35 km radius between fabric suppliers and production facilities. This helps Piupia maintain a low carbon footprint.
Since 2014 Piupia production works with OEKO- TEX certified suppliers only, to ensure products used during production comply with regulation in the use of chemicals.
As a small brand, production obviously comes in very small batches.
At present, I am definitely more focused on repurposing fabric stock either previous collections or from deadstock from our suppliers. I find this to be a more fulfilling way to design at the moment… the design idea starting from the material and not the other way around.
From your own experience, how can children’s brands embrace sustainability more wholeheartedly in the future?
Brands are definitely more aware, and I believe there is a general effort to be more sustainable. I would say to anyone starting a brand and wanting to embrace sustainability, don’t just think organic.. think also recycled materials, repurposed materials and a more local production.
