What you wear says a lot about who you are. People dress up, dress down, wear jeans, dresses, or any other type of clothing that allows them to share their individuality with the world. Perhaps clothes today have become a major essence of the society we live in, especially due to social media. In the past decade alone, social media has quickly managed to virtually revolutionize every industry in the world, and the fashion industry is certainly no exception. Today, millennials expect brands to constantly renew themselves with capsule collections, exclusive collaborations, and innovative and exciting products. This puts never-ending pressure on brands, but only a few of them stand the test of time and successfully make a lasting impact.
Emerging through the heaps of countless Gen-Z brands is Noctex: an ethically manufactured apparel company that hails from Vancouver. What sets Noctex apart from the rest of its competitors is not only its innovative designs that mix metal, punk, and alternative styles, but also focuses on sustainability and functionality. Noctex aims to connect individuals with socially and environmentally responsible designs with the use of 90% deadstock textiles, making it one-of-a-kind in the fashion industry.
Growing up, Negin Izad, the founder of Noctex, looked up to her mother as her fashion icon. She was a well-dressed woman and encouraged Negin to dress like her, too. That is when she got into DIYing her own clothes. She loved exploring different styles and created unique outfits for herself. What started as a hobby soon grew into her passion. As soon as she turned 18, Negin began working at a vintage store. She loved sorting out clothes but soon realized that so much of the stuff that was dropped off was often not sold and would go to waste. “I just saw so much amazing stuff that could be re-marketed, styled differently, fixed up, and given a second life,” she explained.
Being a fashion junkie, Negin couldn’t see all this stuff get wasted in front of her eyes, and thus within the first week of working in the store, she started buying clothes that would often go to waste. She knew exactly what she would do to them. Her first pair of Skeleton Garters went viral on Tumblr, and when a client wore it in a Japanese Street Style Magazine, she got her first wholesale order from Tokyo. That was the start of her journey.
Her success ultimately leads to the creation of Noctex. Negin started producing garments with a modern finish but, at the same time, had a grungy utilitarian look. “Our customers describe our style as the grown up goth,” Negin Izad emphasized. This meant that even though all her pieces were cool and stylish, they were still appropriate for everyday life, which is perhaps what distinguishes Noctex from the rest of the contemporary brands. However, designs are not just what makes Noctex the next big thing in the market; it is, in fact, the attention to sustainable manufacturing that has attracted most of the attention.
When it comes to textile sourcing, most of the fabric that is sourced for Noctex is milled in the United States. Not just that, majority of the fabric used in the clothes is plant pulp based such as rayon, tencel, or basic cotton. And only a small amount of blends such as spandex, polyester or non-plant based blends are used to keep the shape and long-term wear in designs, making all the clothes recyclable. That is the goal Negin has always worked with, and she ensures that each step she takes is in the same direction.
With the fashion industry evolving every day, brands have the responsibility of keeping up with utterly high standards. It takes a creative eye to create beautiful, innovative, yet ethical designs from deadstock textiles, eliminating the imposition of the fast-paced modern fashion industry rules. After all, Noctex is more than just a fashion brand, it’s a movement that is here to revolutionize the fashion industry!
