Store München-Haidhausen
Pariser Platz 1
81667 München
Mo.–Fr. 10:00 –18:30
Sa. 10:00 –15:00
P: +49 89 55052616
History
History
IT ALL STARTED WITH ….
… Linen sacks from the First World War, a revolutionary idea and the 1980s! When the current founder and Managing Director of ELEMENTE CLEMENTE, Clemens Dörr, was fourteen years old, he began to take an interest in sustainability. His uncle was one of the first organic farmers in Bavaria and the agricultural advisor to the „Green Party“, which was founded in 1980.
„Through my uncle, I was confronted early on with the issues of factory farming, conventional agriculture and the massive use of pesticides and fertilizers. That’s why I’ve only been buying organic food since I was eighteen.“
In addition, Clemens Dörr’s stepfather had a second-hand fashion store and was already convinced that new things could be made from old fabrics. He bought old French canvas sacks from the First World War at a flea market and had new individual parts made from them.
„When I set up my own company, Kandis & Kandismann, in 1988 and designed the first men’s collection, I remembered these canvas bags. I got in touch with the French government and was directed to a warehouse with linen bags that had never been used.“
The idea of making a collection out of it sounded incredible and revolutionary at the same time. Clemens Dörr bought 2000 of the linen bags, fell in love with the excellent material and started his first collection. It was a great success right from the start, was ordered by well-known houses such as the Ludwig Beck department store and the Uli Knecht company and never went out of fashion.
„I still see people walking through the streets with our collection pieces from back then, because they are indestructible and timeless. The fascination for linen fabrics has stayed with me to this day.“
In 2002, when Clemens Dörr founded the fashion label
ELEMENTE CLEMENTE, it was clear that sustainability would play a central role. Recycling and upcycling were and are important production principles for which the entire team stands and which are constantly being developed further.
„Before we use new resources, we should think about what we can repair and revitalize to give used materials new value. A product should be manufactured in such a way that it can be returned to the cycle at the end of its life.“
A new collection from ELEMENTE CLEMENTE therefore follows the principles of „Cradle to Cradle“ („from origin to origin“) as far as possible. This is a consistent circular economy that was developed by a German chemist and an American architect as a principle for the production of goods.
„For example, we buy high-quality leftover linen fabrics and turn them into a new design. This means that we think and work in a different way than is usual in the fashion industry. Normally, the design for a new item of clothing is created first and then the corresponding fabrics are produced. Instead, we look at what leftover fabrics are available and turn them into exciting new pieces. This has the great advantage that the fabric already exists and doesn’t have to be produced from scratch.“
As global warming increases, these principles of production are becoming more and more important for the whole world. Every production step must be considered and checked. Of course, humanity is only at the beginning. This makes it all the more important to make the appreciation of materials visible and tangible.
„When it comes to the specific problems of CO2 emissions, the fashion industry should urgently ensure that its products are manufactured as carefully as possible. The factory in Tunisia, which produces the clothes from ELEMENTE CLEMENTE , generates around 70 percent of its own energy. We donate one euro for every Element Clemente part sold and five euros for every Triple Eco shirt sold to the projects of Jane Goodall, a conservationist we hold in high esteem.“
The journey from 2000 linen bags to the sustainable fashion of ELEMENTE CLEMENTE is shorter than expected, because the basic idea of Clemens Dörr has remained the same. It is about extraordinary fashion that makes its resources transparent and whose beauty is created precisely by the fact that the material is not only of excellent quality but also has a story to tell.
