The Right Bank of Paris
The Inspiration
Sisters Aurélie, Yasmine and Sofia are all Rive Droite girls. They draw their inspiration from the creativity of Paris, much like the energy of Brooklyn in New York, Kreuzberg in Berlin, and Shoreditch in London. As an homage, their products are named after the streets of the right bank of Paris.
With over 10 years of professional experience, Aurélie, Sofia and Yasmine launched their business in 2016 with one common goal: to be entrepreneurs with a purpose.
They started Rive Droite from a desire to create change and contribute, in their own way, to making sustainability the new standard in fashion.
Looking to Change the World
The sisters started a business to change the world, with each taking a role. Yasmine's role is strategy and development. She strongly believes that business should go hand in hand with ethics. She has an endless supply of innovative sustainable development ideas for Rive Droite.
How They Work
Sofia focuses on design and image. Her eclectic background brought her to twist the traditional creative process by starting with preexisting materials. Aurélie works in digital media. Her customer relations experience has helped her to build an organic, integrative Rive Droite tribe.
Recycling and Upcycling
A Different Way of Working
Rive Droite's goal is to unite their environmental imperatives with their ethical commitments to create long-lasting, timeless bags and accessories.
It all starts with the materials. Why produce new ones when, not far from their workshop in Casablanca, there's already a supply of sturdy, long-lasting textiles: recycled cotton, post-industrial denim scraps and overstock fabric from the textile industry? That's why they're obsessed with locating these materials, recycling them, upcycling them, diverting them from their initial uses, and transforming them.
Kinder to the Planet
Rive Droite's objective is to repurpose textile industry surplus through ecodesign, a creative process that incorporates environmental protection throughout the product design process to reduce their ecological footprint.
They strive to upcycle existing materials and recycle natural, plastic-free materials like cotton to reduce their environmental impact.
The main materials they use are recycled cotton, upcycled denim (post-industrial denim scraps, either from overstock or from defective fabric), upcycled nylon and industry overstocks- poly cotton overstocks, which they use to line their bags.
Plastic-free packaging has been one of Rive Droite's major commitments from the beginning. Their products come wrapped with care in reusable cotton pouches, they don't use plastic bags or tissue paper.
The Dudes
At the centre of Rive Droite's model you'll find their “Dudes” (a pun on Durable and Desirable), experienced designers once facing job insecurity. Rive Droite lent a hand to get them back on track because they believe in empowerment through work.
These designers had given up on working regularly because finding transportation to downtown areas, where the factories are located, is so difficult.
Rive Droite came up with a different model and instead of the "Dudes" travelling, Rive Droite go to them, bringing the work to their neighbourhoods so they don't have to commute.
Alongside this model, which lead them to work primarily with men, Rive Droite are proud to have created a 100% female workshop: experienced women designers training other women.
Rive Droite | Parisian Sustainable Bags | FAQs
Rive Droite have installed their production model in Casablanca, to be as close as possible to the recycled and upcycled materials that they source locally. They ensure their quality, sort and cut them within their manufacturing platform, in order to optimise each panel and reduce losses. Rive Droite's workshop manager coordinates production in close collaboration with our "Dudes", they choose the best partners in Casablanca for dyeing, washing, embroidery.
Rive Droite's bags are made by their "Dudes", a pun resulting from the contraction of Durable and Desirable: they are experienced designers who were in a precarious professional situation, whom Rive Droite helped to create their own company. Rive Droite micro-finance the installation of their workshop, the purchase of sewing machines, and they relieve them of the administrative paperwork so that they can concentrate on their know-how: tailoring.
Rive Droite's bags are made in Casablanca, as close as possible to the areas where their recycled and upcycled materials are purchased and processed: recycled cotton, industrial scraps of denim, velvet, nylon, and end of fabric stocks from the textile industry.
Rive Droite favour the upcycling of existing materials and the recycling of plastic-free natural materials such as cotton in order to reduce their environmental impact.
Rive Droite imagine deliberately simple models, from one or two materials maximum, in order to facilitate the end of life of the products.
Rive Droit's dyes are certified Standard 100 Oeko Tex, an international label which guarantees the absence of harmful substances in their bags and accessories, and the stability of the colours and their resistance to washing.
The upcycled denim is stonewashed by Rive Droite's partners in Casablanca, Morocco, who work without any toxic agent and operate in closed circuits: the water used for washing is filtered, then put back into the circuit to avoid over-consumption of water.
Rive Droite's bags in recycled cotton or upcycled denim can be machine washed: simply wash them cold (cooler for the planet), delicate program and separately from your laundry. Don't tumble dry- this is better for the product and the planet. For water-repellent wax, simply pass a damp cloth over the material to gently clean it. Please note that Vibrant Red, Midnight Blue, Leopard and Zebra prints may bleed.
The right price is the one that allows Rive Droite to pay their "Dudes", their teams and their partners, to ensure the sustainable growth of the company with reasonable margins. So, rather than offering you crazy discounts that no longer mean anything, Rive Droite prefer to take part in projects that are close to their hearts, such as supporting associations like La Maison des Femmes, the Merci endowment fund, Project Rescue Ocean, etc.
