Amber Valletta Fronts Closed Brand SS 2021 Campaign Lensed by David Roemer

Supermodel and queen of green Amber Valletta fronts Closed label’s Spring Summer 2021 campaign. Farfetch describes Closed women’s clothing as “contemporary design and uncmpromising quality” made of “French imagination, Italian craftsmanship and German tradition.”

Jarrod Lacks styled Valletta in images by David Roemer [IG]. / Hair by Teddy Charles; makeup by Mélanie Inglessis

Everything is handmade in Europe with minimal environmental impact and under fair conditions for workers. Equally impressive, Closed was originally founded by Marithé and François Girbaud as 'ÇA'. A lawsuit resulted in Closed being born of ÇA in 1978 — as in the lawsuit was ‘closed’.

Marithé and François Girbaud sold Closed to two Hamburg-based business partners in the early '90s, who eventually passed the brand on to the next generation: friends Gordon Giers, Til Nadler, and Hans Redlefsen.

Closed is transparent and direct in saying “We are not an eco label. (And we feel that it's impossible for a clothing company with quarterly collections to be 100 per cent sustainable.)

AOC can attest to the reality that Closed worked on sustainability challenges and being a responsible global citizen long before it became a buzz word.

In addition to their efforts around sustainability., Closed is engaged in communities and efforts like girls’ education. As far back as Nov. 2014, AOC covered Toni Garrn’s work as an ambassador to Plan International and her work with Closed. In a joint jean collaboration, all profits from the line were earmarked to provide scholarships for impoverished women in Burkina Faso through Plan International’s ‘Because I’m a Girl’ campaign.

On Friday, we shared news of the upcoming Lemlem X H&M May 6 drop with top model and Ethiopian women activist Liya Kebede. “In philanthropy, there’s always this issue of making something sustainable. For me, enabling and educating people, giving them jobs and making them independent is a sustainable way of doing aid,” Kebede says.

Toni Garrn shares this same philosophy around extending the definition of sustainability in her work with Closed. To get a clearer understanding of exactly what initiatives Closed has embraced in the sustainability sector, read their detailed explanation online.