Love Stories is committed to being a responsible company in every facet of our business. The love we spread through our collections, is rooted in the way we treat our planet, products, and people. We hone in on each theme with our three main pillars: Planet Love, Made With Love and Club L’Amour.
We’re not perfect yet, but we’re taking steps every day to improve — and we’d like to share our progress with you along the way. Through this page, we’ll report about our journey. We’ll update it every time we have new developments to share, so check back regularly for updates.
PLANET LOVE
How we care for the Planet
We adore our beautiful planet. In every step of our supply chain, we keep future generations in mind as we commit to minimising our waste and carbon footprint. For what we cannot reduce ourselves, we invest in initiatives and partners that are specialised in conserving biodiversity. Continually re-evaluating and further reducing Love Stories’ impact on climate change is our top priority.
PACKAGING
We use FSC®-certified paper for all Love Stories packaging and labelling — from the shipping boxes in our warehouses down to the hangtags in our boutiques. Individual items are safely protected by biodegradable polybags.
"We use biodegradable polybags, recycled plastic shipping bags and FSC certified carton boxes to ship our packages of love to your home."
Did you order online? We ship our orders in FSC® cardboard boxes with a recycled plastic sleeve, so that you can re-use your durable Love Stories box for storage, to assort lingerie or assort accessories at home.REDUCING RETURNS
Every webshop return doubles a package’s carbon emissions. Therefore, in 2021, we introduced a detailed return analysis system; customer feedback helps us to adjust product descriptions, customer experience and even the product itself. We also introduced the Bralette Fit Finder to provide customised fit and size recommendations, minimising the need to order extra sizes, which ultimately leads to fewer returns.
ARCHIVE STORE
True love never ends, so we don’t let our goodies go to waste. Love Stories samples and items from previous seasons are available in our Archive Stores in Amsterdam and Cologne. In these curated museums of treasures, you can browse the shelves for one-off samples, nose through drawers and boxes for unique limited editions and evergreens, and stumble upon stock sale at special prices.
Furthermore, left-overs are donated to various local charities and unwearable samples are passed down to textile recycling facilities.
EARTH TODAY
This April 2022, Love Stories dedicates the entire month to raising awareness for causes we love. Besides working hard behind the scenes to minimize our environmental footprint, we also want to actively protect what we have left — which is why we’ve started a love affair with EarthToday.
EarthToday is a worldwide initiative on a mission to increase awareness on the state of the planet and to accelerate nature protection on a global scale. They connect brands, individuals, nature protection organizations and non-profits in a whole new model of collaboration to protect nature. By enabling people to protect a m² of our planet for €1,20, their goal is to protect 50% of our planet by 2050. We love to support EarthToday in their mission, for each €50,- you spend between March 25th and April 1st 2022, Love Stories will protect 1 m² on your behalf. Join EarthToday, meter x meter we can make a difference together.
MADE WITH LOVE
How your garments are created
A big part of the environmental impact of our company, is determined by key choices we make in the design process of our garments. From the recycled, organic, recyclable and biodegradable qualities of the materials we use, down to the colours, hand painted prints and finishes we add: they shape up how durable and sustainable an item is in the long run. Additionally, we provide solutions for ideal care, to help customers wear and care for garments in ways that extend their lifespan.
MATERIAL CHOICES
In our Spring/Summer 2020 collection, we started using recycled yarn fabrics in our swimwear styles. In Autumn/Winter 2020 we also rolled this out into the lingerie collection, using recycled yarns in fabrics, lace and elastics. In 2021, we expanded into the ready-to-wear collection, using recycled polyesters as well as certified organic cotton.
"We’ve developed our own micro fabric with recycled yarns."
Many of our fabrics are custom developed by Love Stories in close collaboration with our suppliers. Besides their durability and sustainability, we hold our materials to high standards in terms of support, softness and refinement, so that every woman feels comfortable and beautiful wearing them.
MANUFACTURING
We limit production to just a few trusted suppliers, with each of whom we have longstanding relationships. We visit our factories frequently — our Tier 1 CMT (cut, make, trim) manufacturers who create the final products as well as our Tier 2 suppliers that handle the fabrics and hardware including printing, dying and washing units.
Love Stories is an Amfori BSCI member. BSCI helps us monitor our supply chain to ensure suppliers treat their personnel ethically and legally correct.
CERTIFICATES
BLUESIGN®
All Love Stories laces are produced in Bluesign® certified factories. Bluesign® guarantees the highest degree of safety for the customer, manufacturing with the lowest possible impact on people and the environment, as well as responsible use of resources.
GLOBAL RECYCLED STANDARD
All of the recycled yarns we use are GRS (Global Recycle Standard) certified. GRS is an international, voluntary product standard that pins down requirements for thirdparty certification of recycled content, chain of custody, social and ecological practices and chemical restrictions.
OEKO-TEX® AND REACH
All of our material and component suppliers, as well as our printing and dying houses, comply with the REACH standard. REACH is a European Union regulation (1907/2006/EC) restricting the levels of specific chemical substances in all imported goods. These rules are recorded in the Oekoe-Tex® certificates that all Love Stories material suppliers have. Factories are re-audited every year in order to receive a new certificate.LEFTOVER MATERIALS
Our goal is to minimise waste fabrics as much as possible. However, due to unforeseen circumstances we do occasionally have leftover fabrics at the end of our production chain. To not let these go to waste, we come up with seasonal solutions to utilise them, such as turning them into shirts for staff in our boutiques. At the start of the Covid-pandemic, we re-used them to create face masks in a variety of prints and patterns.
GARMENT CARE
Once we’ve done our part in creating the most durable lingerie styles for you, the journey really begins. When our items live on in your lingerie drawer and on your gorgeous body, the way you care for them will influence their lifespan significantly. We provide detailed care advice through our boutiques, website and care labels.
To make it even easier, we’ve created an organic lingerie wash with AttireCare that provides the deepest cleaning, yet with the gentle touch that lingerie needs. Also, we kindly recommend our multi-purpose washing bags; they come in black and sand, are easy to store and double as a small laundry bag when travelling. Click here to read more about our garment care instructions.
CLUB L'AMOUR
How we care for our community
From the get-go, Love Stories was built on a foundation of optimism — challenging societal norms for women and working together towards a better future. Everything we achieve as a company, is accredited to the people that build our brand and make and wear our garments with pride.
Both locally and globally, Love Stories is dedicated to maintaining healthy relationships with everyone involved. Powered by creativity and collaboration, Love Stories champions inclusivity and respect, so that everyone in our community feels free and safe to express their most authentic self.
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
Love Stories is a company ran by women, for women. The Love Stories journey began when founder Marloes Hoedeman wanted to build a brand that countered the over-sexualised status quo of the lingerie industry and instead, create intimates that are comfortable and empower you to express your natural self — celebrating the natural shape of your breasts with our non-wired bralettes.
"Love Stories offers 24 different bra sizes, ranging from size 70 to 85 and from cup A to F."
Every season, we create a colourful mix & match extravaganza of prints and patterns that embrace different silhouettes. Open to playful interpretations and authentic combinations, so that everyone can feel her utmost beautiful and powerful.
Love Stories became a pioneer in wireless bras. Over time, we’ve expanded our size ranges and continue to do so. By our dedicated collection called Grand Amour, we currently cater to women up to cup F. Resulting in a size range from cup 70A up to 85F for bralettes, sizes S up to XXL for briefs, and XS to XL for cover-ups.
LOVE STORIES x PINK RIBBON
In honour of breast cancer awareness month, we join forces every year in October with a cause that is close to our hearts: Pink Ribbon. Last year, we presented a limited-edition pink Love Lace and Wild Rose lingerie set, with proceeds donated to Pink Ribbon for the advancement of breast cancer research and awareness. Stay tuned for this year’s initiative.
SUPPORT LOCAL COMMUNITIES
Our staff and B-choice garments are donated to charities. This is a local affair: our retail teams around the world seek out organisations that they love, to support the local community in their cities. In Berlin, Cologne, Munich and Amsterdam for instance, we’re donating to charities and shelters that help women in need.
Discover all recycled yarns styles
(1) All Love Stories lace and elastics contain at least 50% recycled yarns. (2) Half of our ready-to-wear collection is made with recycled yarns or organic cotton. (3) Love Stories is an Amfori BSCI member. BSCI helps us monitor our supply chain to ensure suppliers treat their personnel ethically and legally correct. (4) As of Autumn/Winter 2022, all of our satin is made with recycled yarns, too. (5) Over 50% of this season’s lingerie styles are made with recycled yarns. (6) 90% of our swimwear collection is made with recycled yarns.
Did we miss anything?
If you’d like specific information on our policies, certificates and way of working,
feel free to contact us via: shop@lovestoriesintimates.com.