Casually Saving The Planet . . . 400 Bags At A Time

How did a pack of Bulldogs and one small business save over 450 pounds of clothing from being tossed into the landfill?

It all started with a chance encounter at a local Christmas market.

To say our small Savannah based business, LOVE & MOXiE, is fueled with a purpose and a passion would be an understatement. It’s our mission to rescue secondhand fashion and transform it into one-of-a-kind bags and accessories.

The average American generates approximately 82 pounds of textile waste each year.

- earth.org

So, we were over the moon when we met Lauren Summers, Senior Director of Lifelong Learning and Travel at the Yale Alumni Academy. She said she was looking for a gift for their travel program participants. The Abroad Programs offer alumni participants an opportunity to travel and study with talented Yale faculty and scholars in fascinating destinations around the globe. Tours feature enriching itineraries, behind-the-scenes visits, and stimulating seminars and lectures and she was looking for a gift as special as the program itself. Having received glowing letters from past alumni program participants appreciating previous handcrafted gifts, we caught her eye at the bustling holiday market. Learning that we make our useful bags from secondhand fashion was the icing on the cake and a win win.

Super excited for the possible opportunity to create the special program gift, we poured over Yale’s library of logos, colors, fonts and history and came up with a utilitarian design and size, perfect for travel needs. For our sample, we chose the classic crest logo featuring Yale's official motto, Lux et Veritas, Latin for "Light and Truth,” to represent their heritage which we laser engraved on the denim side, the other side would be classic patterns like plaids and stripes, in this case we used madras plaid as it has a special meaning for Yale. Then we topped it off with a laser-cut Yale blue acrylic zipper pull using their athletics “Y” logo to represent their prowess on the sports field. The sample was a hit; the Yale travel program amenity bag was born and we were commissioned to create 400 of them! With input from Yale, we commemorated the special collaboration with a bespoke tag for the bags about the collaboration and a spot to handwrite what fashion items we used to create the bag.

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The world consumes around 80-100 billion new pieces of clothing every year. 87% ends up in landfills; that's one truckload every second.

- THEROUNDUP.ORG

Over the next nine months, we scoured our favorite Savannah vintage shops, estate sales, and Goodwill locations, (The Goodwill Outlets, AKA the bins where items are sold by the pound and is the last stop before the donated items are disposed of via the landfill or other means, was especially helpful for procuring the massive amount of denim we required), to find the perfect fashion pieces that embodied Yale's heritage, classic style and color palette - no Harvard red here!

Then each handpicked clothing piece was washed, carefully deconstructed, and interfaced before laser engraving and construction. While each piece was crafted from the same pattern, each bag still hit the mark for the one-of-a-kind, handcrafted integrity LOVE & MOXiE strives for. Needless to say, that's a lot of long days (and nights) and love for two gals and one sewing machine, but we were determined to make it work and create something special . . . or a whole lot of somethings, if you will.

MADRAS PLAID MORE THAN A FABRIC FOR YALE

Did you know that madras plaid first came to America in the form of a donation to the Collegiate School of Connecticut from Elihu Yale, Governor and President of Fort St. George, the East India Company factory at Chennai (then known as Madras), India? The school was later renamed in his honor. We’ll give you one guess as to the new name.

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With over 12 million tons of textiles sent to United States landfills alone each year,

LOVE & MOXiE is on a mission — proving that sustainability is far more stylish than the price tag on that Amazon Prime order. By the end of the project, we constructed 400 bags from 58 pairs of jeans, four denim skirts, one denim jacket, 27 suits, 24 neckties, 17 button-up shirts, 16 pairs of slacks, eight skirts, and four pairs of shorts, totaling over 450 pounds of clothing that have found both a new use and home — and it’s not in your local landfill.

It’s safe to say the Yale Alumni Academy is oh-so à la mode and in good company, as big designer brands from Gucci and Ralph Lauren to Miu Miu and Coach have jumped on the savviness of sustainability and upcycling with their own recycling programs and upcycled collections.

We’re are super grateful to have connected with our friends at the Yale Alumni Academy, especially Jessica Woodward who made things easy and enjoyable, and of course, Lauren for giving our small business the trilling opportunity to work with Yale in ethically producing a customized gift they love . . . and giving a new life to so much secondhand fashion!

Cheers! Danielle & Renée

life is short, live with moxie!

P.S. A little bit about LOVE & MOXiE, in case you are new here. After my mom (Renée) and I (Danielle) moved down south in 2016 to tackle her Alzheimer's diagnosis, LOVE & MOXiE was born from a desire to spend quality time together while creating one-of-a-kind, fabulous pieces that not only help the planet but raise money and awareness for Alzheimer's. Today we specialize in laser engraved denim, utilizing deconstructed secondhand fashion, and creating custom bags from our clients’ most cherished clothing items. Our vibe is classic with a twist and our creations are a little lux, with a dash of whimsy and lots of craftsmanship.