Berlin – Archivist Studio is using upcycled fabric from luxury hotel bed linen to create simple white shirts that meet sustainable needs.
Founded by Dutch designers Eugenie Haitsma and Johannes Offerhaus, the studio focuses on sourcing fabric from luxury hotels, after discovering that a lot of bed linen is discarded once it has very small holes or stains. Since starting the initiative, Archivist has teamed up with a number of European hotels and arranged for fabric to be sent to the brand’s atelier in Bucharest to be cleaned, cut and manufactured into shirts. The studio says: ‘The brand name Archivist naturally evolved through our mission to preserve high-quality textiles and creating archival pieces.’
Focusing on simplicity and timelessness, the shirts are the first iteration of what the brand hopes will be a growing line of clothing. As part of a wider push towards upcycling in the luxury industry, the design team also hosts talks in hotels about circular waste management and how companies can get involved.
As luxury brands step into the circular economy and try their hand at upcycling, they’re innovating to transform waste materials into covetable creations.