A CASE STUDY – Writing Everywhere Deliverables & Client Brief in action
The Web Copy we wrote:
About us: history and summary
“Who are you wearing?” “Me.”
Swiss-made for you, Mea Dignita lets you take back control of your wardrobe. Anti-frump slow fashion tailored to your curves and your cause, with a traceable supply–from fittings, to form, to each first-class fabric.
Our brand began because of you. Fast fashion wasn’t designed for the individual, but these luxury clothes are. Literally; each one of our pieces is made because a woman wants it, and because she knows her body best.
Every fine fabric is hand-selected from the world’s best European textilers–straight-off-the-catwalk, transposed onto your body. Concept, design and production occurs here in Switzerland. Unfold timeless classics that don’t ask you to fit into a sample size but are made with where your body is now.
Don’t fit into the guilt of fashion. At Mea Dignita, find conscious clothes that fit and flatter you, while feeling good about how they’re made.
COUTURE // Made BY you
Stunning sketches inspire you, then an appointment makes it yours. No-one knows your features better than you; discover the design that dignifies them, then personalise the cut, accent & story alongside world-class designers in our little boutique just outside Zurich. 100% made by and for you, for maximum value.
Princess for the petite, Queen for the voluptuous. Little Black Dress for everyone.
COLLECTIONS // Made FOR you
No more finding the exact same designer dress in a carbon-copy franchise, in another city; no reselling to outlets when the season changes.
Twice a year, we release limited designs produced only once you’ve ordered them. For the busy, modern woman that might not yet have time to visit our Swiss boutique but still desires conscious clothing, made for her. Occasionally, we have one-time ATELIER pieces, utterly unique in every way.
BASICS follow our ethos, still made with our handpicked fabrics and designed to be paired with COUTURE, COLLECTION & ATELIER pieces.
How it began
In 2017 an entrepreneurial mother, Theodora, couldn’t find dignified designer clothes. Fashion was flimsy. Wear-once. Pretty on the catwalk, pretty useless in real-life. Eco-conscious clothing was bland but vital for the planet... Can’t we feel sexy and proud at the same time, she asked?
So Mea Dignita was born, taking back “my dignity” in fashion. Good for the planet and good for the soul.
Then something happened. Celebrities started fighting back against fast fashion. Theodora’s vision became a global movement as iconic, tailored dresses were worn two, three, four times, again and again on an international scale.
Now every woman can be iconic. Regal isn’t just for the royal. Youthful isn’t just for the young. Theodora knew that with conscious wear comes confidence, and then anything becomes possible. This is true power dressing. Know your fabric. Meet the makers. Curate the cut. Wear your clothing; don’t let fashion wear you down.
Our Approach: dignity and philosoph
Our Philosophy is Dignity
For people, planet, products, process & principles.
Dignity drives us. From our 2017 inception, we have centred on three key principles:
Every woman is unique; her body and soul is beautiful because it is like no other.
Clothing isn’t just fabric; it’s production and process must consider impact on the natural world
Keep humanity in fashion; every person, every step of the process, deserves a fair wage and respect.
We believe the fashion industry should be fair and accountable, which is why we are transparent with each step of the process producing our hand-made products. You can meet founder Theodora in the boutique, discover our list of luxury fabric suppliers, Swiss designers, patternmakers and dressmakers and know you’re supporting just wages that pay taxes for the planet as well.
Every womxn who wears our made-to-order, made to last clothing should feel like royalty. Now, in 2020, we can act like it too by demanding better standards with our lifestyle choices.
Bring back the dignity from fast fashion.
Meet our Princess & Queen
You might not know this story.
A woman gets married twice; both times to the same man. Yet, she is not quite the same woman.
The Princess // is a self-made, successful businesswoman, praised for her charisma and creativity. Thirty-something, a radiant mother to her second child, following a bright, traditional wedding. She understands that time and love given early is an investment in future generations, soon to be at the helm of improving a damaged world.
She is a giver and a learner, that doesn’t ask for enough in return. Driven, even stubborn.
Her strong body ebbs and flows; she enjoys using and exercising it, but also relishes nourishing it with the food she loves to share with family.
She is wise beyond her years and wants to build a better world for her business and her babies.
The Queen // gives her older children a run for their age and money. Understands that good business, family life and body-acceptance are linked. Time spent in her youth training her body, is now used appreciating precious art, and her mind has flourished as a result. She enjoys nature, laughter and small, daily interactions, stories and problem-solving.
She gets married for the second time, but not in white. That colour is for her guests.
Her Swiss garden becomes filled with hundreds of beautiful brides, of all body shapes, of all backgrounds. Some, beaming in their own past wedding dresses, because why not?
She uses her ceremony to champion and celebrate other women in her life; she uses her business to uplift the women in the world, just the same.
[PHOTO OF THEODORA 2ND WEDDING/GUESTS/LAUGHING]
We mean it when we say this brand is founded on Dignity, wherever in life you are. Theodora lives by the observation that in her Princess days, she wanted to feel sexy, confident, and proud in clothes. Later, in Queen days too, still all women should feel good in their own skin and style.
That’s what My Dignity is about.
Sustainability (Mission Statement)
Built-to-last, sustainable women’s fashion with minimum air miles. Always actively anti-waste, every step of the journey.
How can we give more to women and take less from the planet? We have been asking and answering this question with Mea Dignita from the brand’s conception.
By respecting and rewarding the human lives that craft luxury clothes.
By sourcing the world’s finest original fabrics that are exquisite and long-lasting in their own right, whilst tracing production processes as far back as humanly possible.
By treading the planet lightly, reusing and repurposing each thread, and streamlining processes to minimise emissions and dependence on foreign imports.
Wear the world’s best, but in a way that wears best for the world.
a. People
We chose to base Mea Dignita here in Switzerland because it is our home. The business is family. Our taxes support our community. We champion local craft, quality and talent.
Being sustainable means everyone earns an honest living wage. Mea Dignita endeavours good hiring practises for dressmakers, patternmakers, designers, fitters and postal packers alike. Meet Theodora (our founder) in-person in the designer boutique during fittings. She loves to chat, but especially about anything empowering the shift away from damaging fast fashion.
Meet some of the other humans at the heart of our business:
[ASK PIC & BIO FROM EMPLOYEES:
A black & white smiling or laughing photo in nature or at work with aesthetic background
First name, Job title/production process, favourite thing about, or place, in Switzerland and why. One fun fact, nickname or hobby. ]
b. Materials & providers
Whether silk blouse, lace dress, sexy jumpsuit or business outfit; all designer clothing begins as threads and fabric samples. It is from this point, that every Mea Dignita piece is conceived with world-class materials, hand-selected by virtuoustic craftsmen from the outset.
We’re obsessed with quality because long-lasting means sustainable.
Cotton, leather, patterned print lining… even our double-lined face masks are made with sustainably-made fabrics that fight back against clogging waterways with cheap, harmful, weakly-bonded fibres.
Should your tastes, body or other natural changes occur, these materials can stand up to being reworked, repurposed and reused for lifetimes to come. With this in mind, we tell you where and which suppliers our pieces were born from.
Discover some of our fine fabric purveyors below:
[Awaiting information from Theodora - I need:
Full list of links and information about material types and source. ]
c. Zero waste
We’re not interested in buzz words or performative eco ethics. When we say zero waste for our conscious clothes, this is exactly what we mean:
No stock. We produce upon your order. With no depreciation or seasonal sales pricing, it’s maximum value to you, all year round. When you actually need it.
Recycling and reusing every scrap. We use only the highest quality materials and to waste it would be a sin. During the COVID-19 pandemic we have been producing sterile hand-made masks with excess luxury materials. Produced and sold in Switzerland with free delivery, at an affordable and fair price for everyone.
Made in Switzerland
WE ARE PROUDLY SWISS.
The best European arthouse fabrics. Tailored to your body, here in Wil, by our Swiss family.
Independence. Free Trade. Impeccable quality and standards. We can’t choose just one aspect of Switzerland which drives us; Mea Dignita has Swiss values at our core.
That’s why in creating a Designer Dress Boutique, we channeled the Swiss spirit; learning and sharing with our European neighbours and peers, collaborating with Paris and Milan on the best names, technologies and sustainable practises, while maintaining radically high Swiss standards.
Like our Alps, we know best practise starts at the top, and trickles down the mountainside. We want to start a movement that sets an example to the global fashion industry - eco-conscious is here to stay - it is sexy, strong and Swiss too.
The Original:
“We are a Swiss fashion company, founded in 2017, based in Kirchberg, Canton of Sankt Gallen.
As a participant in the enormous fashion industry with its striking unnecessary waste, we see ourselves as pioneers with a strong ethical background.
The name MEA DIGNITA comes from Latin and means "my dignity".
We attach great importance to the dignity of the people who work for MEA DIGNITA and cooperate with production companies that offer fair working conditions and remuneration. We use high-quality natural materials from controlled cultivation and fine fabric creations.
Because our business strategy is always based on sustainability considerations, we develop and produce exclusive collections and consciously forego mass production. So we are running in the opposite direction of fast fashion and want to give the clothes back the value they deserve.
On request, for absolute exclusivity, we design and manufacture individual designer clothes in our own couture studio.“
As we have started in 2017, I knew just 3 things:
every woman is a unique personality of beauty and love, with own unique body shapes
a piece of clothing means not just fabric which, indifferent if its natural or synthetic, it all comes from nature, it also means nature destroying (for example leather market with his specific chemical products which most goes into the rivers)
a piece of clothing means hours of human work (designer, patternmaker, dressmakers) which all are not always socially treated
I mostly get excited about the glamour of the woman, as I married my husband for the second time and put the dress code WHITE for all the guest – every single woman attending this wedding was an absolutely eyecatcher, imagine all in white, long dresses – a garden full of princesses.
****
The global fast fashion industry follows just her own financial interest, disregarding the unique personalities and body shapes, the environment, and the workers.
According with this observation we celebrate DIGNITY by creating exclusive fashion.
Balmain.com could be a nice inspiration for the homepage. They also have ready to wear and couture fashion as well as a gorgeous style.
Customer 1 :
The Princess (Vivienne) is the selfmade successful businesswoman.
She used to be employed before, having high responsibility in her job, she was high appreciated for her professionalism, as well as for her charisma and honestly working art.
She is 34, recently gave birth to her second child.
She is strong, positive minded, happy to be mother, the children are both healthy.
She doesn’t need much time to recover after the second child’s birth, she loves to devote time on her own business, has a lot of ideas.
When its about the children, she let them feel the warmth of love, cares lovely about their needs, loves to cook for them, dress them nicely, and keep a healty level of joy and happiness.
Her children are not just her children, they are the next generation who should make the world better. Education and school are very important.
When its about her husband she is romantic and sexy, but she is also his best friend and companion.
When its about herself she takes time to meditate about spiritual development, she maintains her body healthy and attractive.
She is an absolutely family person, and its beloved by her entire family.
She has long time friends.
She loves in house parties, cause she is a generous host.
GENERALLY, SHE GIVES MORE THAN SHE REQUEST ON RETURN.
She loves luxury but “luxury” could also mean for her being thankful for everything.
She is lucky to find her favourite Patterns on several Fashion stores, but she prefers to express her dignity wearing made-to-order / made-to-measure exclusive pieces. She is self-confident, she doesn’t need any popular brand to safe her place in the society. Her own individuality is strong enough to guarantee her reputation. She walks straight, has always a charming smile on her face, knows her attributes and radiate inner balance. She knows what she wants, she can work hard and is ambitious.
SHE IS NOT A FOLLOWER OF SHORT-TERM TRENDS.
She likes to listen the older people, learning from their life experience.
She expresses positivity even when she wears sport clothes and no make-up. She is social, not egoist, supporting sustainable products and look forward that the world become a better place to live – for her children and the children’s children.
She is definitive stubborn, but its like this!!!!
Customer 2:
The Queen (Vivienne getting couple of years older) is 48 years old, middle age Lady with clear approaches to life.
Her children are now bigger, and she managed to support her family and her business over the years, getting more life experience and not regretting any mistakes.
She gave more and more priority to the interest of her family and business, missing the time of taking care of her own body training.
She has now more body weight and the sexy curves are now a bit covered, but she didn’t lose any bit of her self-confidence.
She is proud of her feminine curves, even if they are more than the fashion standards.
She knows that she still can be attractive.
She is now calmer and more balanced, has more understanding.
She understands art and artists.
She supports young talented people and give them a chance to become famous.
She spends time walking with the dogs in the wood, she has time to read her favourite book, and regarding the beauty of the garden-flowers.
SHE LOVES TO LAUGH AND BE HAPPY!!
She is appreciated by her employees and clients, she became very flexible in every situation, she always has an optimal solution.
She avoids the style trend pattern cause she dislike copying anybody.
The Brief:
Client-provided customer profile:
Samantha at Writing Everywhere produced the nine new “About Me” pages in the right column, based off the brief in the left column, and one client phone-call.
