E tū
The client
E tū is a Melbourne-based sustainable design label founded by Rachel Kelly. E tū is taking a ‘stand’ for papatuanuku (mother earth), by raising awareness about textile waste’s impact on the environment. Frustrated at the lack of leadership and transparency in the fashion industry, Rachel founded E tū as a way to advocate for change, disrupt the system and educate people about the power of their choices.
The challenge
E tū needed web copy befitting their stunning website. Rachel had plenty of ideas she wanted to convey and needed help identifying which one to include and where, and which information to cut out.
The solution
It was a large and enjoyable project for a designer stirring up positive change and included a tagline, brand story, mission, vision and values, and a founder profile.
Tagline
E tū wanted a tagline that summed up the unique selling proposition and brilliant sustainable story behind their bags, which are made from reclaimed discarded tents from festivals – waste otherwise destined for landfill that was cleaned them and up cycled into bags.
Our bags are trash.
The brand story
Stand.
E tū is the Māori word to ‘stand’.
We are taking a ‘stand’ for papatuanuku (mother earth), by raising awareness about textile waste’s impact on the environment. We are doing this by respecting the resources that have gone into making the products we consume and keeping them in circulation for longer.
The mission
Our mission is to divert 1000 tents from landfill by 2025, and build an open-source library of waste to wear tutorials to inspire others to join the movement diverting textiles from landfill.
The vision
Circular design becomes the norm as consumers have demanded brands and governments reimagine our broken waste systems. Product designers and distributors take full responsibility for the resources they use, products are made of 100% recycled materials and can be deconstructed and used in other products and industries. Curbside textile waste is collected monthly, jobs are created in sorting centres, product buy back schemes and repair care centres become common business practices which ensure the earth’s resources are kept in circulation for as long as possible. Businesses of every size have sustainable and social science based goals included in their reporting and radical transparency becomes the standard.
The values
We stand for
Sustainability
E tu is part of the sustainable fashion movement and materials revolution that is good for the planet and her people. We are working within a circular economy, designing for change in production processes and fostering new pathways towards a fashion system with greater ecological integrity.
Innovation
We are using piles of textile waste and pallets of dead stock as opportunities to disrupt the fashion and textile industry by designing for sustainable change. We are committed to radical transparency and innovative storytelling by using technology to create a deeper connection between consumers, the products they buy, and the impact they have on the planet.
Inclusivity
Innovation and activism define who we are, transparency and inclusivity determine how we operate. At E tu, we think global and act local. Our radical transparency shows you how we live these core values and highlights new opportunities to improve the impact the fashion and textile industry has on our environment.
Education
We create free, open-source resources that use accessible language to educate anyone interested in learning about the impact fashion and textiles have on our environment. We aim to remind people their daily actions, like choosing where to spend their money, can create a better future for our planet.
The founder profile
The past decade
After a decade working in fast fashion, Rachel has an insider’s understanding of the impact the Fashion and Textile industry has on our planet.
An RMIT University Textile Design Graduate, Rachel worked at Country Road and Marks & Spencer as a womenswear Senior Print Designer, and at Cotton On more recently as a Womenswear Senior Trend Forecaster where she researched how sustainability and technology impact consumer’s behaviour.
Her sustainability research inspired her to searched for leaders advocating for and creating meaningful change, but she found very little. She realised she needed to step up and provide the leadership she wanted to see in the industry.
Designing for change
She took time off to enrol in further studies in a three month UX Design immersive program at General Assembly. Today, Rachel uses design to improve people’s lives working as an entrepreneur and Human Centred Designer in the tech industry.
She spends her days facilitating workshops, running co-design sessions and designing digital products that make people happy. She is the founder of E tu and co-founder of Peacebeam – an all female, London-based startup that makes meditations centred around treating ourselves, each other and the environment with kindness.
Aotearoa, New Zealand
Born in Aotearoa, New Zealand Rachel grew up living all over the world before moving to Melbourne, Australia to pursue her studies and a career in fashion and textile design.
Rachel’s whanau (family) and whakapapa (ancestry) ground her in a strong sense of self and connection to the environment. She believes we are all custodians of this planet and that we each have a role to play in ensuring we show a deep sense of kindness and respect to ourselves, each other and the planet.
Ko toku pepeha
Pepeha is a way of introducing yourself in Māori and tells people who you are by sharing your connections to the people and places that are important to you.
This style of introduction has been used by the indigenous people of New Zealand for centuries and is still used today. Rachel believes this association to whanau (family) and whenua (land) plays an important role in creating a deeper connection and respect for papatuanuku (mother earth).
The contact page
Contact Us
Building community on and offline and creating space for korero (conversation) is important to us. We do this by collaborating with designers and artists, facilitating panel discussions, workshops and speaking at events.
Our design team of professional problem solvers are always looking for the next challenge, if you have a textile waste problem we’d love to hear from you.
We welcome questions and enquiries of every shape and size at any stage of their lifecycle.