Kawaii and Sustainable Fashion Brand Review - Clean The Label Button-up

I can barely wear a collared shirt without adding a hairclip as a bowtie.

This week I’ll be reviewing a very special item from a very special brand. It’s a button-up from indie fashion brand Clean The Label. In this review I will explore why I bought this item, the customer service experience, and my detailed thoughts on the product itself. As my first ethically and sustainably produced apparel item, does Clean The Label do the underserved niche of kawaii and sustainable fashion proud?

About the brand

Clean The Label is an Australian unisex street fashion brand inspired by Decora and Harajuku fashion. The owner/designer, Christina Lean, hand-makes each unique item from scrap fabric and unwanted, clean sheets. She runs her shop on Depop where she sells pants, bags, scarves, jackets, accessories, and button-ups like the one I am reviewing today.

Why I chose this product

I had been eying this particular piece ever since I discovered Clean The Label on Depop 3-4 months ago. Thanks to trends like the vintage remake style and DIY battle jackets, as well as brands like Kimbralou, the sustainable, up-cycled aesthetic had really grown on me. The colour/pattern-blocking of Christina’s designs are beautiful and bold, and this is especially evident in the button-ups, of which I favoured the one I have now for it’s abundance of pink. However due to the expensive cost, this shirt sat in my saved list on Depop as a spent months saving in my fashion fund.

One of the benefits of fantasising about this button up for months is that I was able to familiarise myself with all of the ways I could wear it, so I knew that it would be a versatile piece for my wardrobe. I have a new rule that I have to be able to create at least three distinct outfits with a new item using what I already have before I purchase said item. After being on a shopping hiatus for a while and having decluttered my wardrobe, I realised how mismatched and inflexible my wardrobe really is. I found myself wearing the same outfits over and over, and I wanted to rediscover and narrow down my style while also buying less. With this new shirt, I can make more than three new outfits, and I knew it would be the perfect addition to liven up my wardrobe.

Service

The service experience I have received from Christina has been wonderful. Clean The Label was about to temporarily close their Depop store to sell all their goods at a local market. Worried that the button-up I desired would be lost, I confessed that I was planning to purchase it once I was paid. Christina soon messaged me and offered to hold the item! I gladly accepted. Later that day, she informed me of a defect that she had just found with one of the shirt cuffs. She offered to either hold a different shirt for me or give me $10 off and fix the original shirt. I chose the latter option and I am actually quite fond of the repair.

Most of our communication was timely and friendly, which I appreciate very much! Christina and I already had an established relationship because she is as much a fan of my blog as I am of her brand, so there may have been some biased treatment, but I am confident that she treasures every customer that comes her way.

Thoughts on the product

When it comes to specific features, I doubt anyone can deny the pockets on this marvelous creation. They’re great for the essentials and more! Like the shirt’s collar, the pockets are crooked, but unlike the collar, I’m unsure if this is intentional. Regardless, I oddly like this detail in the same way I like the visible repair on the cuff. It adds to the item’s unique, handmade aesthetic which matches the eclectic fabrics quite well. These touches of imperfection, as the repaired cuff demonstrates, easily lend the design to visible mending. To an amateur sewer like myself, this is a reassurance that I can fix this shirt without the stress of hiding the damage. Any fix or error just becomes a new feature of the piece. My only nitpick is that the fabric does crease easily and I'm not one for ironing. This is not something I fault the designer for though. Fabrics crease, some more than others. I will be hand washing, drip-drying, and hanging the button-up to prevent creasing as much as I can.

The flexible style of this piece is definitely something to be admired. I’ve never been a fan of seasonal dress, since I prefer to wear items all year round if possible. For this reason, I love the trans-seasonal design of this button-up. There may be days when it is too hot to wear (but occasionally I am willing to suffer for fashion), but in the winter I need only to throw on a cardigan or wear the button-up itself like a layer and I’ll be fine. I also love how it has an androgynous design with feminine colours and patterns, since I enjoy combining masculine and feminine elements into a unique aesthetic (as pictured in the coord above). You can lean into one side or the other as much as you like and it would work. The shirt can also fit a variety of styles like decora, party kei, potentially fairy kei depending on how you style it, or just a more general kawaii aesthetic. Like I said before, I carefully considered the possible outfits I could make with this item before I decided to purchase it. Now that I have it, I think my initial estimate is more than I thought. I will preach over and over that the best additions to your wardrobe are the ones that match most (or a large chunk) of what you already have. Those items provide the most potential, so they spark the most fun and creativity.

Finally, the best items often have the best backstories. This item is new and already rich in stories, but alas, I cannot tell all. I will say that I love and appreciate what this item represents. Ever since quitting fast fashion and resolving to shop more sustainably, I was left with a craving for sustainable brands catering to the kawaii aesthetic, but alas I was starved. Stumbling upon Clean The Label was a happy accident. It gave me hope that there were brands out there that cared about my style and values. This is my first ever ethically and sustainably produced piece, at least to my knowledge, and it helped me learn a lesson I had been struggling with for months. Erin from My Green Closet brought up in this video that when it comes to sustainable fashion/living, you should use the approach “do good” rather than “do no harm”. But I saw no opportunity for me, with my niche aesthetic, to “do good” and instead I stressed about being unable to “do no harm”. After seeing how much my support means to Christina, and how much her support means to me, I feel like this purchase has exemplified a true “do good” action. I now have a beautiful, quality item that represents the mutual respect we have for each other, and I intend to wear it for years to come.

Final Verdict

Clean The Label is a highly under-appreciated brand that deserves the support of the alternative fashion community, especially those of us in Australia. Brands that are sustainable and alternative are almost as expensive as they are rare, but you’ll find that such brands like Clean The Label put so much love and effort into their products that they are worth the price, or a little bit more.

Shop and Social Media

Depop 

Instagram 

Facebook

If you like Clean The Label you might also like:

Zero Waste Daniel 

Strawberry Skies Design

Enjoyed this review? You might also enjoy '6 Tips for Alternative Fashionistas to Shop Smarter'.

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