The New York-based M.Patmos label balances luxury, craft, comfort and elegance with thoughtful production and sustainable materials. Marcia Patmos, the woman behind the brand, has been conscious of the impact and importance of design decisions for so many years, she can’t even count.

“Being sustainable isn’t typically a clear-cut decision of using a ‘good material’ versus a ‘bad material,’” the 2018 CFDA + Lexus Fashion* Initiative finalist said. “It is going through an extensive list of factors and weighing which material has the overall lowest impact on the environment and people.”

In addition to organic materials, Patmos designs with an attention to eliminating waste in order to create fashion that is “thoughtfully produced.” Instead of producing new materials, Patmos starts the design process with the intention of using up past production fabric and yarns and factory dead stock.

“We also design hand-knit styles and do a lot of hand embellishments and hand-knit and crochet details,” Patmos explained, “which is a great way to divert materials which otherwise may end up in a landfill.”

Patmos added that there is still plenty to figure out, including finding alignment with factories and mills on sustainable values and how to appropriately message about those values both internally and externally to increase understanding of why thoughtful production matters.

Although designing for a positive impact comes with its fair share of challenges, Patmos has encouraging words for other designers: “Just do it. Start small and think of one to two things you can do better.”