The world's first biodegradable tights

Billi London launch the world’s first biodegradable tights for modern women

Billi London has invented a new generation of tights, decomposing in less than five years in landfill versus traditional tights requiring anywhere from 40 to 100 years.

Preface

London based start-up Billi London wants to disturb the old-fashion and unsustainable hosiery industry with enhanced biodegradable tights.

Designed in the UK by two French entrepreneurs, Billi London's tights are sustainably and ethically produced in Italy.

Co-Founders Sophie Billi-Hardwick and Marie Bouhier realised that tights haven’t evolved with the times.

Their own global survey of over 300 women revealed that 85% have a strong dissatisfaction with their tights: ''Buying tights is a nightmare. The dream would be to have a nice and durable fabric, that's also sustainable.''

The world’s first enhanced biodegradable tights

The tights industry is broken. Each year, 2 billion pairs of tights are produced, worn once and discarded.

The recycling approach is too narrow. It only solves one small part of the wider issue and as such cannot be seen as a solution for the tights industry.

Billi London is proud to introduce the world’s first enhanced biodegradable tights, decomposing in less than five years in landfill versus traditional tights requiring over 40 years. *

The team behind Billi London is working The world’s first enhanced biodegradable tights with a yarn supplier able to apply an enhanced biodegradability formula to nylon without losing its features and quality.

Its special composition, under anaerobic landfill conditions will make it easier for bacteria to reach and digest the discarded tights, thus accelerating its biodegradation process.

Therefore, it is in landfill that Billi London tights will find their full innovative value.

Biodegradability : a solution going beyond the recycling approach

Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to produce tights out of old ones, because the technology to separate nylon from elastane does not exist given their similar chemical structure.

Marie Bouhier comments:

'‘We think that using recycled yarns is not a satisfactory and long-term solution to fix tights' adverse impact on the environment. Our ambition is to create a movement and a new norm for the tights sector going far beyond the recycling approach which we think is only a sticking plaster for social and environmental sustainability.’

Biodegradability: A force for good

While tights might not be an obvious force for social change, Billi London’s innovative product will offer a real opportunity to move the needle on problems that transcend its little category.

Sophie Billi-Hardwick believes that:

"Women have accepted that tights are not far from being a single use garment and they robotically dispose of their ripped tights, without realising the impact that this has on the environment: it is how it has always been and it is how it will always be.’

Alongside being the first enhanced biodegradable tights, Billi London is aiming to become the world's first zero waste tights brand, a long term objective.

Billi London tights are modern, bold and sensual

Billi London wants women to fall in love with tights again, and by extension their legs and themselves. Billi London’s mission is to inspire women and show them how fashion tights can become an iconic part of their wardrobe and an essential item.

Sensuality and playfulness are at the heart of our tight designs, giving women the confidence to stand out, making a bold statement with their outfit safe in the knowledge that to do so they don’t have to compromise on sustainability for quality designs.

Most importantly Billi London wants to make it easy for women to know how to style and diversify their outfits with tights.

With Billi London, nothing has been left to chance: from the design, the material and the packaging to how and where women buy and care for tights.

A crafted experience

Billi London wants to turn tights from something that has long been classed as a necessity into a product to be desired.

Billi London’s tights will be available via a bi-monthly subscription model, delivering beautifully curated boxes directly to our consumer’s door.

Product lines will be limited, choosing quality over quantity, with a unique belt, fashionable patterns, and a seamless design to provide the most comfortable experience, that women will even forget they are wearing tights!

By elevating the reputation of tights, Billi London also wants to raise awareness and provide the necessary tools around how tights can be treated and looked after. Women already do it for their silk or cashmere apparel to extend their durability, so why not on tights?

Pre-order on Ulule on 15th May

The collection will be available on Ulule on May 15th 2020, offering the public a chance to pre-order the tights for 30 days only, with a limited discount. If the campaign succeed, reaching an objective of 250 preorders, we will be able to produce the first collection, which will be delivered in September 2020.

Pre-order here:
https://www.ulule.com/billi-london/

For more information or to request an interview with Sophie Billi- Hardwick (co-founder) and Marie Bouhier (co-founder) please contact info@billi-london.com / 07821138673.

*The supplier identified for the enhanced biodegradable nylon has already conducted extensive testing on the nylon to prove its enhanced formula is eliminated from the planet in just five years, unlike conventional nylon which takes decades (40 to 100 years) to decompose. This means that at conservative estimates we can reduce the time that a set of tights pollute the planet in landfill by more than 80%. In fact, current testing on the enhanced biodegradable nylon has so far focused on heavier materials that are likely to break down more slowly than lightweight, thinner garments such as tights. As such, the teams conducting the testing are very confident that the biodegrading cycle could take place in as little as a year for Billi London's tights. Further tests will be conducted with a laboratory.

CONTACT

Website: https://billi-london.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billi_ldn
Email: info@billi-london.com
Téléphone: +00 44 7821 138 673

ABOUT

Billi London is the first brand to create revolutionary tights with enhanced biodegradability, drastically reducing the harm that tights have on the planet, decomposing in less than five years in landfill versus the current tights requiring 40 to 100 years to decompose.

FUN FACT

Our approach goes as far as using the world's most sustainable font for our logo. It uses an average of 33% less ink than standard ones.