About

Sustainability

The Maker Bazaar does not sell any clothing of synthetic origin. We sell products from around 20 different makers, mainly from Finland. Most of the products on this platform are also made in Finland and most fabrics are made in Europe. The other production countries are Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, United Kingdom and Singapore. You can find more detailed information on each product’s own page. We have a take back program where we will take back any product you have bought from us and offer you a 20% discount from our store. Many of our makers also offer mending services. We ship all of our items in recyclable carton or biodegradable bags made of corn starch. Our bags are made of 100% recycled paper and we also use recycled silk paper. We do not accept child labour, bonded labour or excessive overwork at our production facilities. We require all of our brands to offer a safe workplace and pay living wages.

The Maker Bazaar boutique in Vallila uses 100% renewable energy such as solar, wind and hydropower from Energia247. We go to work via public transportation such as tram and bus or by bike. The furniture in the store is handmade of recycled wood and the steel clothing racks are handmade in Finland. We reuse or recycle all of our shipping materials. We also save and utilise all leftover materials by making scrunchies and other accessories.

For us, transparency is the first and most important step for the fashion industry. If customers are more aware of the supply chains of their garments, they can make more informed ethical decisions. Knowing and revealing your supply chain is important for makers, as it builds trust and honesty. We reveal where the garment was made, what the material is made of and how it was produced and where the material comes from. If you have any questions about the making process or how ethical a product is, we are more than happy to answer via the chat function or email. Find out more about supply chains in product descriptions on The Maker Bazaar.

 

Sustainability stems from the actual making process of the garment. All of our garments are made of 100% natural materials locally. We don’t sell any clothing that is made of viscose or synthetic materials. All garments are also made locally, mostly by the maker themself. Some makers have sustainable dyeing processes, some have sustainable fibers in their materials and some have sustainable manufacturing processes or all of the above. Customers on our website will find out what is sustainable about the item in the description on The Maker Bazaar.

 

After transparency and sustainability, quality is important for the longevity of the garment. The clothing and accessories on this website have been carefully curated for the skilled craftsmanship,ethical labour, tailoring and know how behind them, which you can read more about in the product descriptions and on maker profiles. Quality ensures clothing won’t be chucked carelessly in the landfill. It also allows for easier mending, repair and longer wear of the garment in general, which is sustainable in itself. If you cannot mend, repair or resell a garment you have bought from us, we will take it back.

About the founder

about jennie barck founder ethical sustainable clothing

The founder of The Maker Bazaar Jennie Barck is a Fashion Journalism graduate from University for the Creative Arts in London. Originally from Finland, she went to an international high school in Singapore and in her second year of university in London, she did an exchange in Milan at Istituto Europeo Di Design, exposing her to a global outlook on fashion from the get go.


Her interest for ethical fashion has grown slowly through the years. On a fashion course Jennie became enveloped in the world of fashion which she later delved into on a Central Saint Martins course. Always having had an affinity for second hand clothing, her passion for ethical consciousness awakened on her volunteer trip to Cambodia where she discovered enterprises giving jobs to women with PTSD, seeing local crafts and grew through her internship at ethical clothing brand London Ethnic. Being in the middle of the whirlwind fashion scene in London through her internships at PR firm Black Frame and experiences as a journalist for The Upcoming made her realise the negative impacts of the current fashion system first hand. Jennie started researching ethical fashion brands, but at that time there wasn’t much to be found. That didn’t make her give up though, and she pursued her interest further by interviewing ethical designers and exploring sustainability in fashion for university projects, discussing the topic with fashion design students and tutors and keeping up to date with ethical fashion news.


It was in her final year of university that she created the concept for The Maker Journal and published the limited edition print publication. The positive response that she received at that stage pushed her to explore the topic further, and expand it into an all encompassing platform for all. She kept talking to designers, wrote articles for Mochni and Savant magazine and fine tuned the philosophy for The Maker.