Alterations with Lindsey Brown

As a fashion brand, we are conscious that what we produce and throw away will have an impact on future generations. We would like to share our sustainability plans, talk you through our vision and future goals, and explain the reasons behind choosing certain fabrics and packaging. Lindsey Brown resort wear continues to support and work with small factories and produce fashion in natural, breathable fabrics that will decompose over time.

Our Environmental Impact

Natural, breathable fabrics are at the heart of Lindsey Brown resort wear. Not only are silk and cotton fabrics cool to wear in warm temperatures, but the natural fibres will break down over time. None of our collection is made from recycled plastic, as these fabrics will not break down and will eventually end up in landfill. We embrace new technology and keep up with fabric trends to educate ourselves on where we can improve.

Our cotton is milled in Casablanca, Morocco, and our cotton dresses and cotton clothing are made in Morocco, which reduces the carbon footprint from initial fibre production to factory.

Our silk is milled in India, where we use traditional hand tie-dye techniques. We also digitally print some fabrics in small batches. Our collections are only produced to order, and we also order for our own website, so we never mass-produce collections. Our carbon footprint is less than that of high-fashion brands.

We choose silk georgette as the main silk fabric for our hand-dyed and tie-dyed garments, as its matt feel and strong weave make it a very durable choice of silk for resort wear. Strong silk fabrics and great-quality sewing ensure that your Lindsey Brown resort wear will be in your wardrobe for a very long time.

Our garments are produced seasonally and shipped from Morocco and India with DHL, as they fly into East Midlands Airport, which is 45 minutes from our Leicestershire offices. DHL has a plan to achieve zero emissions by 2050. Since 2025, we have selected a Go Green initiative when booking import and export shipments with DHL. Their Go Green scheme replaces traditional jet fuels with sustainable fuel, which in turn helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions when flying.

Our Vision and Goals

Our goal in 2025 was to improve our plastic packaging and switch to 100% biodegradable bags and compostable boxes. We achieved this goal in 2026.

The challenge we face in the UK is the British weather, as we need to protect our garments with outer packaging because cardboard disintegrates in rain. By mid-2025, 100% of our outer plastic packaging used bags made of at least 30% recycled materials. 

Compostable or biodegradable? That is the question. Plain cardboard is our box of choice, as it is recyclable, reusable and compostable. If you remove any labels and plastic tape, it will break down over time, which minimises the amount of waste added to landfill.

Our Aim to Reduce Packaging Waste

Since 2020, we have reduced our packaging waste by 50%. All single-use plastic that arrives at our office, including soft plastic garment bags, is either reused in-house or recycled. Our garments are packed in plastic for cleanliness. In 2026, we achieved our goal of changing all our garment packaging to compostable plastic.

In 2024, we moved from white bleached cardboard packaging to brown standard cardboard boxes. 50% of our outer packaging now uses compostable bags. All cardboard is reused or recycled. We encourage customers to reuse their order packaging and return any unwanted order packaging and paperwork to us, which we recycle. The reason we have made a conscious decision to move to plain cardboard boxes is the chemical footprint and plastic coating associated with branded boxes.

In May 2025, we created an online poll to ask social media followers to vote on their preferred packaging. The three choices were:

1. Branded Lindsey Brown boxes
2. Plain cardboard boxes
3. Neither of the two, not really thought about it

Results: 1,344 people voted across Facebook and Instagram.

68% chose plain cardboard, 25% had not really thought about it, and 7% chose branded boxes.

In 2026, we continue to use plain packaging and gift-wrap using plastic-free wrapping paper.

2026 Packaging Reduction Achievements

• Protective outer bags are made of 30% recycled materials.
• All cardboard is reused or recycled.
• We encourage website customers to reuse their order packaging. We explain what can be reused and recycled in our follow-up emails. 99% of all website returns are packaged in our original bags and boxes.
• We reuse boxes internally to send samples and items to our factories.
• We have switched our wholesale tissue paper packaging from premium to recycled paper. It is made from 100% recycled paper, is acid-free and is 100% recyclable.
• 100% of our import shipment boxes are reused. We donate the double-ply shipping boxes we receive to local charities to send goods overseas.
• Our garment swing tickets are printed on paper that can be recycled.
• Our website orders are packed in BHT-free and acid-free tissue paper.

Lindsey Brown resort wear Upcycling Project Made in Britain

Whenever possible, Lindsey Brown and her team creatively upcycle any non-selling styles into new resort wear garments. We constantly monitor sales and, instead of putting a small run into production, if we have a selection of items that aren’t selling, we alter these into better-selling styles. We are conscious of our carbon footprint, so all these alterations are made locally by a cottage industry of skilled tailors and seamstresses who work from home.

• In the first quarter of 2025, we upcycled 10 dresses into smaller sizes and 20 maxi-length cover-ups into knee-length cover-ups.
• Silk offcuts have been saved to make into hair scrunchies and scarves.
• In August 2026, we launched the Monaco cotton beach dress, upcycled from our Provence dress. Due to the extreme heatwaves in the summers of 2025 and 2026, we realised ladies wanted lightweight dresses to wear at home. To meet demand, we created ten new sleeveless styles, cut and redesigned from our Provence dress.

Ongoing Biodegradable Projects

In 2020, we began to research biodegradable sequins and threads with small British manufacturers. After many wash and wear tests, these sequins started to degrade in colourfastness and durability much faster than the standard sequins we use and faster than our strong cotton and silk fabrics. For now, we are continuing to use good-quality products, sequins and strong, good-quality threads that last. With sustainability at the back of our minds, we streamlined our colour palette of beach dresses and their sequin decoration, which in turn reduced production waste. We have also reduced the number of garments that have sequins and opted for embroidery threads.

• After four years, the biodegradable sequins started to degrade in vibrancy and colour whilst the garment fabric was still 100% intact.
• With correct care, our garments last ten years or more.
• We continue to educate ourselves on environmental factors and where we can improve and reduce plastic waste.

Giving Back

Since 2017, we have donated spare and unused fabric rolls for creative reuse to Somerset Arts College, where our designer Lindsey Brown studied for her BA Honours fashion degree in printed textile design. Our donations help the students produce their sample collections without having to invest in buying fabric themselves.

Textile waste and fabric offcuts in our UK office are given away to be recycled into new fabric, so nothing is wasted. Our chosen charity is Loros Hospice in Leicester, where we mostly donate scraps and fabric to be sold or recycled into new fabric. Every six months, we deliver the hand-cut fabric to their crafting charity shop at their Loughborough Loros store.

Clothing Donations

We have donated clothing to many charities over the years. One charity we partner with is the Your Smalls Campaign, a Leicester-based charity that works directly with schools in Africa, providing clothing, underwear and sanitary products to young girls and women in Africa. As we produce plain cotton samples when checking how garments fit before they go into production, we donate these cotton tops and cotton dresses to the Your Smalls Campaign charity, as the cool cotton is an ideal fabric for the women they support to wear in hot countries. We also act as a hub for friends and family to drop off their donations, as we collect and donate underwear and hygiene products for women and young girls for the Your Smalls Campaign.

In the first quarter of 2025, we collected and donated:

• 200 pairs of new underwear for young girls
• 200 bras for women
• Sensory supplies, musical instruments, paints and art supplies for children with disabilities

Green Policy and Green Dry Cleaning

As part of our green policy, we suggest that all our stockists and customers use a garment steamer to refresh and clean their Lindsey Brown garments rather than conventional dry cleaning, which can often use harsh solvents.

All our cotton garments have a care label advising hand washing. Hand washing in a sink uses less water and increases the lifespan of our garments, so they will be in your wardrobe for a very long time.

All silk items have care labels advising dipping them in and out of cold water rather than traditional dry cleaning. Steam cleaning with a handheld steamer at home is our preferred method of cleaning silk garments with a zero-chemical approach. Green dry cleaning does not create a chemical footprint.

We Are Aware of Our Carbon Footprint

Communicating with our customers is an important part of the buying process at Lindsey Brown. By providing tracking numbers and having a direct conversation with our customers by email or text, we can ask customers if they are going to be home to receive a Lindsey Brown delivery, which in turn reduces unnecessary fuel consumption for redelivery and helps to reduce our carbon footprint.

Communication is key so our deliveries are received when our customers expect them. Our chosen domestic shipping partner is Royal Mail, with most of our parcels being hand-delivered by local postmen on the ground.

• Royal Mail is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2040.
• Royal Mail’s feet-on-the-street approach to parcel delivery makes it the greenest option for parcel delivery in the UK.
• Our consumers value our personalised approach to delivery and order tracking.
• Every quarter, we assess our delivery options to ensure we are offering the best solution for our domestic and export customers’ needs.
• Whilst we support our local postman and are pleased with the reliability of the Royal Mail delivery service that we receive, we fully support the JFSA, Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, formed by Mr Alan Bates.

Instead of Going to Landfill

Against Breast Cancer is our chosen charity for recycling our used office and home printer cartridges. Postage stamps are also recycled, and our chosen charity for postage stamp recycling is the RNIB. The Royal National Institute of Blind People receives an average of £20 per kilo for recycled stamps.

Our aim is to recycle 100% of all the paper used in our office. Non-confidential documents are recycled in-house, so, where possible, printing paper is used twice. Confidential documents containing names and addresses have to be shredded, and the paper waste is recycled. Orders are printed in a low-usage mode to reduce ink waste.

We abide by the Data Protection Act of 1998, where it relates to this agreement of purchase orders from the website. After seven years, we shred the printed order copies. Lindsey Brown resort wear advises customers that all invoices and account information, if held, are kept in a secure environment in head office. Lindsey Brown resort wear advises customers that data will not be passed on to a third party without willing consent. All copies of customer orders can be obtained from Lindsey Brown resort wear at the customer’s written request.

Lindsey Brown resort wear has been registered with the ICO, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, since 2010 for correctly holding customer data. Our registration number is Z2326632.

Our Sustainability Time Plan

• 2010 - We registered with the ICO.
• 2017 - We started to donate fabric to Somerset College of Art.
• 2019 - We made our first donations to the Your Smalls Campaign.
• 2020 - We started to research biodegradable garment embellishments.
• 2021 - We changed our swing tickets to card that can be recycled.
• 2022 - We changed from nylon garment attachments to string cords that can decompose.
• 2023 - We changed from white bleached boxes to brown single-ply boxes that can be recycled.
• 2024 - We started our six-monthly upcycling projects.
• 2025 - We switched to compostable outer packaging.
• 2025 - We created a public poll to ask people to vote on their packaging preferences.
• 2026 - We upcycled cotton dresses into the new Monaco sleeveless beach dress style.