Philosophy
CLASSIC LUXURY FASHION — MADE IN AMERICA
A philosophy rooted in the classics from design to production.
TIMELESS FASHION
Timeless styles, quality construction, and domestic production were once standard in the fashion industry but are now rare. We have brought that philosophy back.
SUSTAINABLE FASHION
Sustainability isn't about the latest trend, certification or buzzword. It's the opposite.
We not only let the quality of our clothing speak for itself, but the founder regularly speaks and writes about how the industry needs to change to become more sustainable.
QUALITY FASHION
Quality comes first at Senza Tempo, which we believe is the ultimate form of transparency a brand can offer.
Read about our craftsmanship
SLOW FASHION IS SUSTAINABLE FASHION
The most sustainable thing fashion brands can do today is create high timeless, quality clothing that will last for decades. It's about creating clothing clients value, not about catering to the latest trend in clothing or in what's considered "sustainable" in fashion. Buying less and buying better is the only way to shop sustainably.
The only way the fashion industry can be more sustainable, is by slowing down its production volumes. There simply is no other way. The math does not add up.
Creating high-quality, season-spanning garments in timeless styles is how fashion operated for decades. Designers produced only two collections a year because clothing generally reflected the true cost of production, so clothing was relatively expensive. It comprised around 20% of disposable income after WWII. Today it's less than 3% even though the average consumer buys ten times as much.
Globalization created a race to the bottom in wages and quality. Companies pursued ever lower wages, in countries with loose environmental and labor oversight. This strategy has kept apparel prices artificially low relative to broader inflation.
Domestic production is about ethics, economics, and the environment.
MADE IN L.A.
Up until the 1980s, 90% of our clothing was made in the U.S. by small, largely regional producers. Today, the U.S. less than 3% of our clothing. And the broader fashion industry is dominated by large, disparate global conglomerates.
The founder is North Carolinian and remembers when the NAFTA and WTO agreements were signed and how they devastated the textile and apparel manufacturing in her home state.
She never considered overseas production — even Europe, which many consider the home luxury garment production. The U.S. was once home to many great couturiers and high-end ready-to-wear brands and can be again.
Domestic production also helps naturally lower our carbon footprint since we do not need to ship items as much or as far as Los Angeles is the largest garment manufacturing hub in the U.S.
Read more about the founder's engagements on this front on our Press and Activism pages.
ABOUT THE FOUNDER
Senza Tempo founder and creative director, Kristen Fanarakis, giving a speech about ethics in the supply chain at the PI Apparel conference in New York City.
Kristen Fanarakis spent nearly thirteen years working on Wall Street before launching Senza Tempo. She worked on the foreign exchange trading desk for firms such as: Merrill Lynch and Citibank in New York City. She later went on to work at a university think tank at the Center for Financial Policy, Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland in Washington, D.C.