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Becoming a B Corporation – What It Means & Why It Matters

11.22.2016 by btslingerie // 1 Comment

B Corporation – What It Means

B corporation logo

We have some big news to share, after many months of hard work behind the scenes we are proud to announce that Between the Sheets is now a Certified B Corporation ®. Certified B Corps meet higher standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. In the apparel industry this is a huge task, given that apparel manufacturing is the second most polluting industry in the world second only to oil.

We have always made the 3 pillars of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social) a part of our brand, our certification as a B Corp deepens and formalizes this commitment. Transparency and sharing the thought process behind our collections has always been important to us, so things that were too big or too broad to cover in our sustainability statement we have shared on our blog – and some of those ideas have been picked up and carried far and wide across the web like our blog post fast fashion vs. fast food. In the coming months we will share more on the blog on our process of becoming a B Corp and the evolution of our business. In the mean time you can read more about what it means to us to be a B Corporation on our website or our profile & mission statement on B corp.

B Corporation – Why It Matters

Made in NY B corporation - scenes from Between the Sheets factoryAs customers we know that ethical and sustainable choices are tough to make, especially when times are tight. As a designer I know that what draws me to brands and collections are designs, functionality, price, so we’ve never really led with our sustainability but let it be the icing on the cake. Opting for you to discover the values that drive us and made in the USA commitment on the care label, or info card we include along with your orders, or perhaps in a hashtag on social media. As the years have gone by, we have noticed a new wave of brands who have adopted the same marketing, and we realized it was becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to tell the difference between brands that really cared and brands that just copied and pasted their ethos from others. It’s easy to re-write something about sustainability and environmental issues giving it a “green wash”, but it’s another thing to be at the forefront and grappling with the balance between wearability, durability, design, and ethical environmental manufacturing.

One of the things that appealed to us about becoming a B Corporation was that you are assessed on a broad number of social, community, environmental, and other criteria. This includes the PERCENTAGE of sales coming from products or services that support or incorporate these important values. One of the things I have noticed is brands who write a really compelling PR pitch but who don’t follow that up with any hard data. Using one green collection or practice to basically greenwash their company and enjoy all the feel good sales that come with it. Not all of our collections are as environmentally friendly as others, but for sure all of them are made ethically and in NYC where environmental energy standards, and labor standards are both stringent & strictly enforced. A brand that claims to be using eco-friendly fabrics but producing in a country with little to no environmental standards for manufacturing could be using machines powered by coal-burning plants and dumping excess dyes in rivers – practices that we are still trying to recover from here in NYC (my husband would know he spent 6 years advocating for a cleaner Hudson River for the environmental NGO Riverkeeper).

Made in NY B corporation - scenes from Between the Sheets factory

We know it’s hard enough to shop for products that look good, feel good, wash easily, fit properly, and fit your taste for color and design – so the last thing you want to worry about is how a product is made and its’ impact on the environment, so our goal with becoming a B Corp was to make sure our customers know we are actually walking the walk and not just talking the talk.

There are certifications for fair trade, but they don’t include places that already have higher wage standards like the USA and Europe, and they certainly don’t track environmental standards or concerns of producing in the countries they cover. There are environmental certifications of factories, of fabrics, but they don’t quite cover the many things that go into the operating of a brand & making of a product. With B Corporation we’re committing to tracking IT ALL – how much water we use at our office (it’s a shared studio so that’s kinda hard), what percentage of energy we use is from renewable sources, what our waste is in production, what percentage of items we SELL are organic, chemical free, and much more (the qualification of SALES is important, it keeps us honest because collections designed for PR do not count!).

Made in NY B corporation - scenes from Between the Sheets factory

Small businesses are naturally lean, but not naturally green – if you are taking care in how you spend your dollars with ethically made brands, imagine our decisions – with everything from boxes, to mailers, to paper we must consider each choice and are always hunting for better and more sustainable ways to make, store, and ship product, all on top of the already huge task of designing and marketing it.

Making undergarments in a sustainable way means always looking for the next innovation in design or materials. We can’t go back to the dark ages of rigid fabrics and materials without spandex, these just don’t function for modern undergarments. New developments in textiles are coming out every day and we are always looking to move ever closer to our goals of being a greener company. At the same time not all of them apply to intimate apparel and sleepwear (I don’t think most of our fans are gonna be into vegan fruit leather underwear) and sometimes if a material is so new its durability may be untested and it can be prohibitively expensive and won’t price out once we add our Made in NYC labor costs. Again, those are the concerns that we weigh, and that you won’t have to think about when you buy from us. You can keep coming back knowing that each year our goal is to be an improving version of ourselves – because sustainability is not a destination it is a journey, tomorrow we will be better and we hope you will continue to show your support for our brand and share in that journey.

We’d love to hear from you in the comments: if you have questions about B corporations or a specific ethical or environmental issue we’ll try to answer them here where other fans and customers can see our responses. We’re committed to remaining transparent and that means if you have questions or want to know why we made something a certain way, just ask us!

Categories // going green, inspire, made in the USA, sustainable manufacturing Tags // b corporation, between the sheets, green, josh verleun, layla l'obatti, lingerie manifesto, sustainable

love – Layla & Josh Wedding: an intimate NYC city hall elopement

01.04.2014 by btslingerie // 4 Comments

A morning conversation “Between the Sheets” led us to plan an impromptu NYC City Hall wedding over the holidays in under a week!

Layla & Josh Wedding – 12/31/2013

Layla & Josh of Between the Sheets in an intimate NYC city hall elopement on New Year's Eve

7 little facts about Layla & Josh:

  • Met on OKcupid in December 2007  (thanks OK Cupid guys your “95% match” rating for us was pretty spot on!)
  • Had our first date at Chelsea Market’s Green Table (we have each been vegetarians for over two decades now, since long before we met)
  • In business & living together in Astoria for a little over 4 years
  • Together we’ve built Between the Sheets, at times jokingly called “our first baby” and raised two “furry babies”.
  • Josh thought he was allergic to cats, until he met Layla’s family’s 4 furry ones. Since then we adopted two, and he has spent countless hours “fluffling” his way into their hearts, Isabela aka “Izzy” and Steven Mars aka “booboo bear”
  • We’ve assembled quite a collection of espresso makers, coffee pots, and french presses in our years together, enough to rival a fine cafe. Josh thinks we may need a few more…
  • We aren’t changing our names – currently debating whether we’ll have little L’obatti-Verleuns or Verleun-L’obattis

So without further ado a little photo story of New Year’s Eve day Layla & Josh wedding /elopement at NYC City Hall.

Layla & Josh wedding – little details

Hannah Blount box & Pour La Victoire shoe box - details of Layla & Josh's NYC New Year's Eve elopement

A huge thanks to Hannah Blount who went out of her way to get us a ring in time for the special day, on such short notice it was still important for us that the ring be something special and Hannah’s pieces are both beautiful and handmade in Boston. Layla has been a fan for several years.

deco details of Layla & Josh's NYC New Year's Eve city hall  winter wedding - scallop gold heels

deco details of Layla & Josh's NYC New Year's Eve city hall wedding - jewelry and shoes

Vintage art deco costume jewelry and a monogrammed jewelry box left to Layla by her grandmother.

Deco details of Layla & Josh's NYC New Year's Eve elopement

Layla L'obatti of Between the Sheets NYC city hall elopement

Layla made the bouquet the morning of, with a mix of seasonal flowers, foliage, and white roses.

Deco details of Layla & Josh's NYC New Year's Eve elopement - Mac Red lipstick and liner, Tiffany's vase, deco detailed hand mirror

Layla L'obatti of Between the Sheets NYC city hall elopement

Layla & Josh of Between the Sheets NYC city hall elopement

Layla & Josh's NYC New Year's Eve elopement - winter bridal bouquet & cab ride bride

Layla & Josh’s wedding – NYC City Hall Elopement

 

Layla & Josh of Between the Sheets get married in NYC

DIY flower details of Layla & Josh's NYC New Year's Eve elopement - bouquet and boutonniere

DIY flower details of Layla & Josh's NYC New Year's Eve elopement - winter bridal bouquet

Layla & Josh Wedding - founders of Between the Sheets elope at NYC city hall

Yes, you totally get a number. It’s like the DMV only way prettier and nicer.

Layla L'obatti Between the Sheets bride holding bouquet at NYC city hall

Layla & Josh of Between the Sheets get married in NYC

Layla & Josh of Between the Sheets get married in NYC

Layla & Josh of Between the Sheets get married in NYC

Layla & Josh wedding - an intimate NYC New Year's Eve city hall wedding

Layla & Josh of Between the Sheets get married in NYC

Layla & Josh wedding - founders of Between the Sheets NYC city hall elopement

Layla & Josh – Newlyweds about town

Layla & Josh wedding - founders of Between the Sheets NYC brooklyn bridge wedding day

Layla & Josh wedding - founders of Between the Sheets in an intimate NYC city hall elopement on New Year's Eve

On the ride home, we were lucky enough to get a car that was partially empty – kismet!

an intimate NYC New Year's Eve elopement

Post-wedding brunch with friends in Astoria, followed later that day with an evening out in the NYC.

Layla & Josh of Between the Sheets NYC New Year's Eve elopment

Our officiant was super sweet – there is not much we can remember it felt so fast, but there was a hesitation with the kiss only bc the bride did not want to smear the groom’s face in red lipstick! (great for photo-ops, not for sealing vows)

To celebrate we took our friends out in the meatpacking district, and a brief photo (it was truly frigid out all day and particularly NYE when the temps were at or below freezing) in front of Chelsea Market where we met on our first date.

 Deco details of Layla & Josh's NYC New Year's Eve elopement  Layla & Josh of Between the Sheets NYC New Year's Eve elopment

left: Isabela inspecting the flower arrangement, right: Mars eyeing some surprise gifts (he loves boxes in general)

Layla & Josh "Happily Ever After" spoons

Categories // behind the scenes, blushing bride, designers, events, her perspective, his perspective, love Tags // josh verleun, layla, layla l'obatti

behind the scenes – Between the Sheets 2013 Holiday Pop up Shop

12.17.2013 by btslingerie // 2 Comments

The month leading up to the holidays is always a whirlwind, and well ours lived up to that. We had a ton of merchandise restocked the week before and after thanksgiving (and we’re still working on more) Then we had a sample sale and this pop up start on the same day the week after Thanksgiving. The pop up lasted two weeks and was organized by alumni of Design Entrepreneurs NYC,a program for emerging designers funded by the NYCEDC, we were in the first class about a year ago! The pop-up boasted a whopping 30 designers in a ton of categories, and here’s a peek at our little Between the Sheets nook.

Pop up Shop – A look Behind the Scenes

Between the Sheets lingerie booth at DENYC pop up shop Holiday 2013

We went for a ski-chalet feel with faux sheepskin, warm browns,  faux everygreen/log printed fabric, and lots of little wood/snowy details – even electric tea lights to make a little faux fire!

Between the Sheets window display at DENYC pop up shop Holiday 2013

Dressing up our window spot we played on the gold in our Leopard Play holiday collection with gold ornaments.

Between the Sheets lingerie booth at DENYC pop up shop Holiday 2013

It snowed both weekends we were at the pop-up, so the cozy decor definitely kept us feeling warm.

Come out and Play bikinis by Between the Sheets at DENYC pop up shop

Come out & Play bikinis, super soft and one of our best-sellers laid out on one of our faux sheepskins.

Basic play bralette and bikini by Between the Sheets at DENYC pop up shop

Basic Play bralette and bikini in front of that faux-realistic log backdrop which with an instagram filter looks even more realistic!

Between the Sheets window display at DENYC pop up shop Holiday 2013

A view of our window display from the outside.

Between the Sheets lingerie booth at DENYC pop up shop Holiday 2013

Between the Sheets lingerie booth at DENYC pop up shop Holiday 2013

Our core collection on the mannequin – Matchplay robe in heather grey and Basic Play underwear in Shade grey, a cozy combination.

Between the Sheets window display at DENYC pop up shop Holiday 2013

We even brought a couple of holiday style pieces from our  Layla L’obatti for BTS Black Label collection, Arabesque in ruby pictured here.

Between the Sheets lingerie booth at DENYC pop up shop Holiday 2013

 

Designers & Friends

Layla L'obatti, lingerie designer & partner Josh Verleun

BTS founders – Layla & Josh getting cozy in our ski-lodge inspired booth and Layla rocking some new headgear from fellow DENYC Pop up designer Sunghee Bang, you can shop her collection here.

Layla L'obatti & Andrea Diodati  designers at DENYC pop up shop

Layla L’obatti, BTS girl and Andrea Diodati – our booths were right across from each other! You can find her collections here.

20131217-144752.jpg

Some cozy snowshoes were a must – it snowed twice during our pop-up!

Come out and Play bikinis by Between the Sheets at DENYC pop up shop

Layla L'obatti at DENYC pop up shop

Our other little friend from across the aisle, Solali, sweet baby of Melinda from Mirame swimwear, you can find her collection here.

Layla L'obatti of Between the Sheets at DENYC pop up shop

On the last day it was a little hard to say goodbye to the beautiful little nook, but we packed it up in a record 15 mins!

Decorating our Pop up Shop

Our booth didn’t come together overnight, with a sample sale overlapping the first weekend we had to split our energy so it wasn’t until the week that we got around to making our space feel like home, here’s a look at what a little window dressing can do for bare concrete!

Before/After - Between the Sheets lingerie booth at DENYC pop up shop Holiday 2013

BTS DIY Wooden Signs – logo and social media

I’m a big fan of pinterest as a resource – I use it more often for crafty projects so a quick search yielded a great DIY sign via: Christina’s Adventures

Here for your reference, supplies total around $10 and can be found at a hardware store, You’ll need:

  • liquid nails
  • wooden shims (we used 2 packs of 12″ wooden shims for our larger sign, 1 pack for the smaller)
  • wood stain & white or light colored paint

DIY wood painted sign for Between the Sheets lingerie booth at DENYC pop up shop Holiday 2013

As Christina suggested, I used cans as an easy way to hold down the shims as the liquid nails was drying. Notice the fashionable WWD news is our dropcloth!

DIY wood painted sign for Between the Sheets lingerie booth at DENYC pop up shop Holiday 2013

From top left clockwise: Liquid nails and can weights, dried and hardened shims with stain applied, stencil printout laid over dried/stained wood for tracing, painting in between the lines.

DIY wood painted sign for Between the Sheets lingerie booth

sign number one: our logo. As I was painting I laid out the stencil in front as a reference just in case my tracing wasn’t crystal clear I could see what it was supposed to look like. Note: I broke off jagged edges on the the thinner end of the shims to give this sign a more weathered look.

 

DIY wood painted sign for Between the Sheets lingerie booth

sign number two: our social handle and icons

DIY wood painted sign for Between the Sheets lingerie booth

Our DIY wooden sign in action at our Pop up Shop booth!

Categories // behind the scenes, designers, events, gift guides, press, style trends Tags // behind the scenes, between the sheets, gift guide, gifts, holiday, josh verleun, joshua verleun, layla l'obatti

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Between the Sheets Inc – purveyors of luxury lingerie, designer loungewear, and luxurious lifestyle products brings you a blog about our brands, collections, and life’s simple luxuries.

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