At Bivolino we are constantly looking for ways to further reduce our environmental impact. Please find here what we do and how we do it.

At Bivolino, you create, buy and share your customized shirt. It is a bespoke service we offer you. The making of your bespoke shirt starts immediately in our apparel manufacturing plans just after your order has been confirmed online. This means that there is no stock of shirts waiting somewhere that eventually need to be absorbed. No, there is only fabrics, buttons, yarns, shirt collar stiffeners,…It is what we call a Made-to-Order business model or a Consumer Driven Manufacturing business model which reduces stock wastes and promotes a real sustainable supply chain. These savings result in a win-win situation for everybody taking part in the supply chain. You are part of it and can enjoy a high quality personalized service at very competitive prices. This is also what we call “Mass Customization”.

Since 2004, the right size is guaranteed by our biometric sizing technology (patent Nr EEC-EP1341427 & US-7346421) which means that you get the right size without trying your shirt or without using any tape measurement. Only by giving your height, weight, age and collar size or cup size for women, you will get a bespoke shirt cut to the bones! For your first Bivolino shirt we even remake the shirt if needed till your 100% satisfaction. This worldwide unique biometric sizing technology help us to make a record low return rate of 3.8% in total. From this amount, Bivolino repairs as much as possible so that waste is reduced to a strict minimum. Those “default” remaining shirts are then offered to those of us who are in real need through charity organizations.

Since 2008, Bivolino customized shirts are individually or duo packed in a new biodegradable branded bag. The bags are manufactured in a famous environmental-friendly plastic material, the Ethylene Vinyl Acetate or also called EVA. Its applications and performance are very similar to PVC while reducing the risk of infringing any toxicity regulations. It is biodegradable after a period of maximum one year with no pollution to environment after disposal and incineration. This green packaging approach is reinforced by the will to reduce packaging waste.

Since 2007, Bivolino has made significant progress to reduce excess packaging in its shipments to customers and has introduced additional types of recyclable packing materials to protect items while in transit. Each Bivolino shirt is packed in a bag to protect its high quality fabric. When you order two shirts, we still use the same bag in order to save packaging and we call it then a Bivolino duo pack. The bag is put in a bubble enveloppe which size is perfectly matching with the size of a Bivolino shirt which means that there is no space waste. It is what we call a frustration-Free packaging.

We know fashion and how important it is to get the real touch & feel of fabrics, but we ask your support and comprehension regarding Bivolino’s decision not to send out fabric samples any more. It would be indeed not ecologically responsible (packaging, delivery, fabric waste) if we would continue to send fabric swatches.

As a matter of fact, online shopping is inherently more environmentally friendly than traditional retailing. The efficiencies of online shopping results in a greener shopping experience than traditional retailing. This study explains some of the benefits of the online shopping model. This team found that, on average, having goods delivered to your home by parcel carrier generates significantly less carbon dioxide than making a special trip to the shops to buy the same item. The research compared the carbon footprints of online and conventional shopping for small goods such as books, CDs, clothing, cameras and household items. The work focused on the final stage in the delivery process, the so-called ‘last mile’, when goods are either delivered to the home or customers travel to the shops to collect them in person. It was found that a typical van-based home delivery produced 181g CO², compared with 4274g CO² for an average trip to the shops by car. In other words, when a customer drives to the shops and buys fewer than 24 small, non-food items per trip, home delivery is more environmentally-friendly.

Bivolino provides a vision of the future which encompasses the evolution of digital clothing supply chains, from design to retail, that minimize returns and, in turn, reduce waste. This “webified” supply chain is the “Googlification” of the apparel industry and trade (referring to the book ‘What would Google do?‘ from Jeff Jarvis) focusing on e-configurators, digital design toolkits, online dressing facilities and the development of "controlled" virtual shopping communities. Waste can be controlled as part of a lean manufacturing, or sustainable initiative. Technology also plays a role in developing a more sustainable supply chain. Bivolino uses sustainable technologies including computerized sketching, CAD pattern design, digital grading and marker-making, digital printing and computer numerical control (CAM) single-ply cutting. In fact, any technology which allows the product to remain in digital form until later in the process is considered to be more sustainable. Why is it more sustainable to create and buy a garment in a digital form? Surely you need to see real product samples? Whenever a physical sample is created, waste is introduced into the process. At Bivolino, you indeed create and buy a shirt which is digitally displayed and configurated, without real samples nor photos. This is worldwide unique!

Our Bivolino offshore manufacturing plants have received the SEDEX label in 2007. This means a recognition of our ethical performance! The following points have been successfully audited:

1. Employment freely chosen
2. Freedom of association
3. Safety & hygienic conditions
4. Child labour
5. Wages & benefits
6. Working hours
7. Discrimination
8. Regular employment
9. Harsh or inhumane treatment