“I placed sustainability and eco-friendliness at the heart of my brand.”
COVER STORY: ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Seray Cengiz Sezer worked in the corporate world for 10 years before finally finding the courage to build her own brand Little Yucca, a baby and kids clothing label designed in collaboration with illustrators, and produced with Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified 100% organic cotton. The collections are also mostly gender-neutral.
Seray Cengiz Sezer RC 00
How does Little Yucca relate to environmental sustainability issues?
I was well-aware of the harm of textile production to the environment. Therefore, I placed sustainability and eco-friendliness at the heart of my brand. This is a necessity rather than a choice. Sourcing certified organic cotton fabrics is our priority. A brand has to do a lot more for environmental sustainability. As an independent label, we aim to shape our whole process with sustainability in mind. We turn our scrap fabrics into baby accessories. We minimize the usage of plastic polybags that are necessary for long distance transport and re-use them. We ship our online orders with re-usable cotton bags.
How has RC impacted where you are today?
RC taught me two very important things: to question and to not settle. There were times when questioning and not settling were a little painful, but I found what I want to do with my life with these characteristics I developed in my high school years. I am really thankful that they got me to create my own brand and produce garments that I’m proud of. I should also mention the alumni network who were always there for me in my journey. Creating a brand is a multi-stage process, and I had the privilege of consulting a variety of alumni friends in different professions during each step.
For more information visit www.little-yucca.com
Published August 2021
