Mindful Fashion's Sustainability Spotlights showcase initiatives from our community and members that advance circular and sustainable business.

Through the Mindful Fashion Circular Design Awards, we partner with aligned businesses to help bring the Awards to life.

Circular Design Award 2024 partner Regal is an Auckland-based garment care specialist that helps maximise the lifetime of clothing using advanced cleaning methods based on biodegradable components, leading-edge European cleaning technologies and a range of restoration services for many types of textile faults.

How Regal can play a role in improving sustainable fashion choices

At Regal, we’ve long understood the vital role a dry cleaner plays in the longevity of your wardrobe. Unfortunately, many garments are thrown away prematurely either because they haven’t been maintained correctly, leading to early wear and tear or because they’re thought to be beyond saving when they could be restored with the right treatment. As the aftercare specialists for the fashion pieces you invest in, we see firsthand how proper care can significantly extend a garment’s lifespan.

The first and most obvious is stain removal, we know so many clothes are thrown out because mould or stubborn stains aren’t coming out in the wash, when in fact a spruce up at Regal would get them good as new. But our services go far beyond stains. We have treatments to enrich faded colours, soften crispy silks, brighten whites, relax shrunken clothes through steam relaxation techniques, de-pill and delint your winter coats and knits that look worn-down, extract dye from colour-run bleeds, deodorize smokey and musty garments using ozone treatments, reproof rain jackets and of course, repair tears and damaged zips. Using garment restoration services effectively can give your clothes an extra life after their first.

Whilst restoration is a handy fix, at Regal, we’re first and foremost committed to gentle cleaning solutions that help prevent deterioration in the first place. Unlike most dry cleaners, we have always been 100% Perc-free, choosing alternatives that are gentler on both your garments and the environment. This ensures your pieces will last longer and reduces the need for frequent wardrobe turnover. Delicate cleaning solutions allow a greater range of decorated, beaded and delicate garments to be cleaned successfully with the least possible risk. With a bit of Regal TLC, your well-loved pieces can be worn and enjoyed for many seasons to come.

Images: Spot-cleaning techniques

How Regal can play a role in design through partnerships with designers

At Regal, our goal is to preserve the integrity of designer creations, ensuring each piece looks just as it was intended. We handle an array of designs, garment types and intricate components every day. Whilst everything we see is stunning, some designs can present challenges in terms of long-term life for the garment and cleaning. We see our role as official after-care providers for the beautiful pieces that designers are creating, and therefore one of the most impactful ways we can contribute towards circular design is by collaborating closely with designers from the very beginning. Our position allows us to observe what works well and what doesn’t under various wear and cleaning conditions. By partnering with designers, we can help shape more sustaining and serviceable fashion choices.

Images: Before and after a steam relaxation on a garment shrunk in the wash.

We offer free fabric testing for assessing risks such as shrinkage and colourfastness across various cleaning methods, providing insights that can help inform design decisions and improve garment longevity. Designers who work with us receive ongoing complimentary fabric sampling and expert advice on recommended care labels, ensuring that their garments can be properly cared for over time. If issues ever arise during aftercare, Regal collaborates with designer partners to enhance the experience of our shared client. Our relationship means we can assist with proactively sourcing items like buttons and work together to resolve problems and monitor consumer feedback.

We believe that the relationship between designers, consumers and aftercare providers is crucial. By working together with a focus on sustainability and care, we can benefit everyone involved and support the broader movement towards circular fashion.

Aftercare Partnership Programme

If you are a designer or retailer anywhere in New Zealand, you can reach out to us to set up a relationship that works well for you, to benefit your brand, customers, and your sustainability efforts. Our aftercare partnership generally includes all of the following:

• Free fabric testing for your products to optimise cleaning
• Collaborative issue resolution service to enhance client experiences
• Unlimited referral vouchers (provided by Regal) to give customers, to provide them complimentary cleaning upgrades (the equivalent of a $12 discount on our Couture service)
• $5 credit earned on your business account for every referral voucher used by your customers
• Discounted cleaning for store stock, samples, and staff uniforms
• Brand analytics and product feedback data available from the hundreds of thousands of garments that are being serviced at Regal per year
• Free pickup and delivery Auckland-wide, NZ-wide delivery facilitated with a small fee or minimum spend.

Reach out to us at [email protected] to find out more!