At KES, we believe in being mindful of the impact we have on the earth. Growing up on a Kibbutz in Israel, Lia Kes was raised in an environment that was closely connected to nature. Kes’s early years taught her to embrace a symbiotic relationship with the earth. Living in a land that faced--and still faces--many resource scarcities, Lia Kes learned not to take nature’s bounty for granted. All aspects of the natural world - water, fire, air, animals, earth - are sacred, and should be appreciated and protected by humans--not harmed. Kes also developed a feeling of responsibility for maintaining an environment that could thrive for generations to come. This mindset is imbued in all facets of KES’s production process. We’d like to extend this motion, our customers, and ask you to join us in creating awareness, reducing impact, and taking accountability.

Up-cycling is a dual-support system between clients and designers. There is immense care and consideration that goes into creating up-cycled pieces.

A reimagined garment is designed for longevity and high quality as opposed to quantity. Buying up-cycled garments supports a circular method of fashion in which garments are designed to last rather than be disposed.
This philosophy is rooted in embracing the environment and its natural resources while conserving energy through creative repurposing methods. Part of our sustainable model is the mindset for longevity and the mindfulness for clothing’s environmental impact and full life cycle. At KES, we are committed to lowering our carbon footprint as a sustainable community and applying the practice within our whole supply chain. This practice of up-cycling garments to give them a renewed vibrancy is something that we practice internally at KES, and now we are extending this service to our clients. We would like to invite you to bring your previous purchases and collaborate on repurposing pieces that you love. Join us in perpetuating our sustainability model.

Bring in your old KES garments and get them cut, shortened, repaired, tailored over-dyed, or donated. Fill out the form below to get started. 

Sustainable fashion considers the environmental impact of every step that a garment goes through—from the initial concept to the physical piece hanging in a client’s closet. Creating sustainable wares involves implementing ethical initiatives that reduce environmental impact and depletion, from the choice of materials to manufacturing, labor practices, retail strategies, and distribution strategies. Sustainability is also about creating garments with the intent of longevity and finding a balance between quality, quantity, and demand to maximize the use of resources. It is essentially about working to reduce the depletion of resources across the board—both in terms of the planet and the human energy that goes into your practice.

Factory Visits 

Cultivating a long-term relationship with our contractors, overseeing the aspects of production and ensuring that our clothing is made in an ethical environment is part of our circular, sustainable approach. 

Made in NYC

We manufacture our products in factories located in New York City’s garment district. We prioritize the well-being of our employees, and all of our factories are run with care and attention. By keeping our production process local, we supply jobs for our neighbors and support our community. Our concern for maintaining positive conditions for our employees creates a system that sustains itself on mutual respect and trust.

Our Team

The KES team is made up of women from all corners of the world. We are a small community of hard-working, passionate creatives.       
At KES we have worked with people from all over the world. Most of us are immigrants, we are multi-generational, from a range of different ethnicities and sexual orientations. We pride ourselves in complete inclusivity.

Meet the team (coming soon)

Supporting Artisans

Our organic dyes are created by several different artisans in the US which all specialize in organic dyeing practices. During this process our fabrics are dyed with organic materials such as botanicals, plant matter, minerals, non-toxic metals and food wastes. Our fabrics are treated through alchemical dye sessions, ancient shibori techniques and bundle dyeing, allowing each silk garment to unfold its own narrative. 

We apply eco-friendly practices through environmental fashion, recycled garments, and partnering with local dyers to create a plant-based process. All our pieces, excluding the fully fashioned knits, are crafted in the garment district by highly skilled seamsters and seamstresses. Each of our collections feature a recycled program, where we use our leftover fabrics and scraps to create recycled garments and accessories — This ensures that each collection follows a no-waste line of ethics, taking into consideration every material that is meticulously chosen for the collection.

Our collection is made from natural and organic materials and 100% silk textiles. During production we cut down on waste by using leftover fabric scraps in our recycled style pieces. We track all of our items from start-to-finish to ensure that each product is long lasting and of the highest quality possible. At KES, style and sustainability walk hand-in-hand. By constructing clothes of luxury quality at a reasonable price, we produce fashion items that are meant to last and can be worn confidently by all women. Our clothes are meant to reflect a lifestyle -- not just the latest trend. We craft a collection that is consistent and timeless so that each of our pieces can be worn in many ways and in many environments. KES designs with purpose.

SILKS

All the materials we use at KES are biodegradable, they’re all ethically sourced from all over the world and some are organic. Our silks are ethically dyed and finished in Korea.

Shop Silk

LEATHER

Our leathers come from eco-conscious European tanneries. We also collaborate with tanneries that locally source and vegetable dye their skins in upstate New York.

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KNITS + WOOL

All of our knits and wools are biodegradable and made of 100% natural fibers.

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LINEN + COTTON

Our cotton and linens are ethically sourced from Italy and Japan.

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KES has contributed face mask supplies to aid with the pandemic.

Tens of thousands face masks have been donated to several humanitarian organizations such as: Coalition For The Homeless; Midnight Run; Safra Center; and hospitals: Brookdale Hospital Medical Center and Montefiore Medical Center.

Kes has redirected donations towards organizations whose missions is to liberate the wellbeing of Black and minority communities such as NourishNYC, Wide Rainbow and URINYC.

Wide Rainbow connects contemporary artists with the community. We serve low-income neighborhoods with limited or no access to the arts or arts education

donate here

Tristan Eaton x Montefiore Hospital Mural Collaboration 

34th Street and 8th Avenue

NourishNYC provides supplies and financial support to NYC based activists and protestors

@nourishnyc

KES X REPURPOSE

In the past several years, we have had the opportunity to give back to the very community that supports us. We have hosted several community events where we donate to different organizations that focus on supporting minorities and lower income communities. We want to support and be supported. As a small business, giving back to the community is the most valuable aspect of this symbiotic relationship.

With our repurpose pop-up we are donating and giving back with every sale. Last year we donated masks with a value of over $100,000 to hospitals, homeless shelters and protesters. With our Repurpose collaboration, we are donating 100% of net proceeds to organizations that support the health and wellbeing of women and families that come from under-represented and marginalized communities.

Visit Us
Madison Pop-Up
1122 Madison Ave,
New York, NY 10028

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