Nancy Dee

Nancy Dee was born of a need to marry style with comfort, at prices that make ethical fashion a viable alternative. Created by sisters Tamsin and Seraphina in 2007, Nancy Dee produces simple but quirky dresses from eco-jersey, designed to be wearable, stylish and fun wardrobe essentials "with-a-twist".The collections are made from high quality, super-soft organic and sustainable fabrics, and manufactured according to fair working practices.

However, you won't find the high price tag usually associated with eco-wear at Nancy Dee. We strongly believe that, not only must ethical clothing stand on its own in terms of design, but it must also
be a realistic alternative to other fashions in terms of price.

FABRICS
We are really proud of our fabrics at Nancy Dee. We invest a lot of time in sourcing them to ensure the quality, drape and feel is just right.

In particular we specialise in day-to-night jersey - versatile pieces that will work for a variety of occasions. Our organic cotton jersey is not only comfortable to wear, but hugely practical too; it is easy to care for, long lasting and, because we include Elastane, it retains its shape and stretch. We also use innovative sources such as bamboo and soya bean blends to create fantastically soft jerseys, and are always on the lookout for new eco textiles such as the luxurious Modal, which has a beautiful drape and a slight sheen - and is so incredibly soft it feels like a second skin! Like most of our fabrics, it can be machine washed at a low temperature so it' s practical too.

And our retro prints are unique to Nancy Dee - unlike many other brands we design them from scratch so you won't find them being used by anyone else!


PRODUCTION
We believe in ethical production, which means we are concerned that employees are treated well, paid a fair wage, and work within a safe environment. Nancy Dee uses two factories.

The first is a family-run factory in northern India that is dedicated to improving working conditions and to paying a fair wage to its staff. The factory is a large, open plan, well-lit building and staff are provided with crèche facilities, canteen and transport.

The company is independently audited by BSI Social Accountability and has been awarded the SA 8000:2008 certificate, a global certification standard that covers eight key areas including child employment and forced labour, working hours, health and safety, and discrimination. It is also certified by GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) for the processing of organic fibres, and by FLO (Fairtrade Labelling Organisation) which allows the company to trade in Fairtrade cotton products. We visit the factory each season to inspect the premises, and our designers work closely with staff on samples and production.

Our other factory is based in the UK and is therefore subject to UK and EU working regulations. Being more geographically convenient, we use this factory for more complex styles requiring greater attention to detail. We believe in using and preserving specialist skills where available in this country, and in investing where possible in our own economy.


SUSATAINABLE
Sustainability is key to our company manifesto. It means we take the utmost care to ensure that the complete life cycle of our garments, from creation to their eventual disposal, has the minimum environmental impact.

Sustainability begins at the design stage. Nancy Dee dresses are not fashion-fad, one-season wonders but are designed to be long-wearing, versatile and much-loved pieces that can be dressed up for evening (hence our ‘day-to-night’ jersey tag) and adapted to work with seasonal trends.

Conscious of the huge fabric wastage involved in production, our designers create patterns to minimise this wherever possible. Any leftover fabric is used for making the following season’s samples, or re-dyed and used for a brand-new design.

The materials we use - organic cotton, soya bean, bamboo, linen and silk - are made from fibres extracted from renewable sources, which means that they are grown naturally, the land can be re-used after each harvest, and unlike petroleum-based synthetic materials, they are fully biodegradable. Organic cotton is grown without the use of harmful pesticides. Soya bean is reclaimed from other soy products like tofu, producing a strong, drapey fabric with anti-bacterial benefits. One of the fastest-growing plants on our planet, bamboo needs little in the way of nutrients and can be grown almost anywhere.

We also use Modal, an eco-friendly man-made material which originates from beech wood. It is similar to viscose but far superior in quality, and the chemicals used in the process of extracting the fibres from their natural state are recycled instead of being released into the environment.

To increase the life of a garment we incorporate Elastane in many of our jerseys. Elastane is a man-made fibre but it has superior elasticity and durability, and it helps retain garment stretch and shape. We recommend that all of our pieces are washed at low temperatures and line-dried, and most pieces can be machine washed. The premium quality fabrics that we use will survive many washes.