About
More than a brand, an act of resilience.
Our Manifesto for the Living
What if reducing our waste and environmental footprint involved relocating natural textile fibres and establishing an ethical and transparent textile industry?
Design for resilience is a textile research workshop based in Brussels in Belgium, for a healthy, zero waste and plastic-free lifestyle, founded by Vanessa Colignon.
We aim to enable everyone to reduce their environmental and social footprint, by reducing our waste and the spread of microplastics in nature through the creation of clothing, accessories and home textiles made from natural, local and durable fibres, for which we produce the fabrics ourselves in a short supply chain and in respect for the living.
«In a single wash cycle, purely synthetic textiles lose up to 730,000 microfibres, a study by Plymouth University in Great Britain finds.» Source: Greenpeace – Microplastics: cosmetic particles and textile fibres
The relocation of production, driven by a tightening of European environmental standards in the 1990s and the attractiveness of low-cost labour; lacking social protection in countries where lax environmental regulations do not allow for the protection of nature, health, land and drinking water for the inhabitants of producing countries has led to the emergence of the fast fashion and ultra fast fashion as we know it today, to the detriment of living beings and the planet.
Today, we can no longer tolerate this race for productivity and the toxicity of the products that ensues. That is why we are particularly focusing our efforts on the relocation of the production of natural, durable and eco-friendly textile materials in Belgium and on innovation in the craftsmanship of naturally eco-friendly materials by collaborating with the last remaining tailoring and knitting workshops in Belgium.
Producing in a short supply chain, allows us to ensure respect for workers and living beings, while limiting our dependence on fossil fuels.
Specifically, we conduct textile research to create natural materials and products composed solely of plant and/or animal fibres having the least possible impact on our environment as well as on workers.
To achieve this, we source as locally as possible natural materials from ethical, life-respecting, and animal welfare-conscious productions. In parallel to the development of our products, we conduct research and experimentation to relocate the complete production of these materials in the long term.
To achieve this, we have selected naturally eco-friendly materials, linen, hemp, and wool. Of a superior quality to conventional materials, their production and transformation are also the least energy-consuming in the textile sector.
Learn more about our natural materials
Currently, we are conducting research on the relocation of the processing of wools from Mergelland breed sheep, which are the most robust and can stay outside all year round autonomously, without requiring medicinal care that can be a significant source of soil and water pollution.
Through our textile research studio, Design for Resilience, we wish to participate in the transmission and relearning of skills, job creation and the environmental protection through creations sustainable, compostable or recyclable at the end of life.
In addition to the reflection and collaboration work that this upstream work requires, bringing our prototypes to fruition primarily requires a capacity for flexibility requiring both a willingness to coexist with the living and to live in tune with the seasons.
In the long term, we hope to participate in the relocalisation of an ethical and natural textile sector, through the re-establishment of local spinning mills, but also the liberation of seeds of hemp that relate to our food sovereignties as well as our emancipation and resilience.
Mergelland sheep farming at one of our partners, a farmer managing his land as a nature reserve and participating in the preservation of the Mergelland breed. ©Rodéo Studio
✽ Our values in action
How do we embody our convictions on a daily basis?
The Living first
We do not dominate nature, we collaborate with it. Linen, wool, hemp: our materials are chosen for their ability to regenerate soils and to respect your health. Zero plastic, zero toxic compromise.
A fair price, at any cost
A decent wage is not an option, it is the foundation. We refuse the race to the bottom in social standards. Producing in Belgium guarantees humane conditions and preserves a threatened local know-how.
Radical transparency
No secrets, no "greenwashing". We explain to you why a sustainable product costs its price and take responsibility for every step of our production chain, from seed to finished product.
Resilience through sustainability
We create objects made to last, not for the landfill. Each piece is designed to withstand time and washing, in order to reduce our environmental footprint and to offer you true comfort in the long term.
The origin of the movement
The founder
Design for Resilience, the vision of Vanessa Colignon
More than 10 years of research in the fashion and textile sector
A fair society in harmony with nature is the dream that has driven Vanessa Colignon, founder of Design for Resilience, for as long as she can remember. And to achieve this, she decided to tackle a major issue: the fashion and textile industry.
Because ultimately, materials and clothing are what she has always been passionate about! Born in Charleroi in 1989, Vanessa begins secondary studies in fashion and clothing. She graduates in 2008 with the title of seamstress, pattern maker and grader (creation of bespoke clothing). In 2009, she becomes an assistant stylist. Her final collection wins the 2nd prize from the jury and the public. In parallel, she pursues artistic studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Charleroi in weaving and textile creation. In 2010, she joins the styling section of La Cambre. However, finding no more meaning in the fashion sector in light of environmental issues, she decides to take a different path.
It is indeed by observing the extent of the environmental and socio-economic impacts of the textile industry that she decides to focus her research on natural and ecological textile fibres.
In order to understand each step of textile production, she integrates various self-sufficient houses and places in terms of textile production. Her goal? To understand « How to produce a garment or fabric while respecting workers, living beings, and animal welfare? »
In this quest for a fairer production of textile fibres, she undertakes training in agroecology in 2015, as well as training in naturalism in 2016. In 2019, she decides to specialise in knitwear design at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels.
It was at the same time that the idea of Design for Resilience was born. A brand of healthy, ecological, and accessible textile production for all. Its first product? A resilient sponge, capable of replacing synthetic sponges from large retailers and being more ethical, but also more sustainable and more efficient.
After a feasibility study and a public survey that received over 200 supports in 24 hours, Vanessa launched a fundraising campaign to expand the range of Design for Resilience products, which achieved its goals with over €8000 collected in pre-orders and donations in a month.
Today, she continues to invent while collaborating with local producers, experimenting with natural materials, and relocating the textile sector: for a fairer, more sober, more vibrant world.
Awards and recognitions
Her research for the resilient sponge has been awarded the WBDM Award (Wallonia-Brussels Design Mode) and the Public Award at the Tremplin 2019 competition from BeCraft and received the 7th place for the public award at the international competition of the Green Product Award 2020.
Despite an economic context marked by numerous bankruptcies, she perseveres and is awarded the sustainable entrepreneur of the year 2024 by Womenpreneur initiative.
Our technical and ethical methods
Local anchoring, global impact
Faced with a globalised industry that destroys soil life and exploits humans, we have chosen to reconnect here, by relocating to Belgium and Europe. Producing in a short circuit is a concrete and necessary way to reduce the environmental footprint of everyone and to regain control over the quality of our everyday objects.
1. A circular and healthy production
We are reinventing everyday objects, whether it concerns the home, the body or clothing, by radically eliminating plastic and the excesses of petrochemistry.
Our materials, such as linen, wool and hemp, are grown without irrigation, with little or no pesticide and transformed exclusively mechanically to respect the cycle of life.
To guarantee you total safety, all our fibres are certified OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100, ensuring the absence of harmful substances for your skin, workers and the environment.
2. The fair price, the foundation of fair wages
One cannot demand a decent wage while practising cut prices. That is why we refuse to pressure production costs. Integrating the "real price" of things means paying our partners their fair value and maintaining dignified working conditions in Europe western.
Choosing Design for Resilience is to vote for a sustainable local economy where every euro spent directly supports a craftsman and a know-how.
3. Preserve threatened know-how
Pioneers in knitting hemp and linen, we are aware that these rare skills are now threatened.
Due to a lack of local orders, many factories are closing and decades of expertise risk disappearing forever.
By producing here, we are not only creating durable objects; we are keeping an essential industrial and human fabric alive. Safeguarding these trades is ensuring our future ability to produce differently. Our resilience depends on theirs.
Our commitments
Artisanal, ethical and local production
- Short circuit & Zero waste: Artisanal production in Belgium, limiting intermediaries and waste.
- Respect for living beings: Strict commitment to animal welfare, workers' rights and environmental preservation.
- Sustainable quality: Exclusive use of ecological, robust and 100% natural materials.
Certified materials
At Design for Resilience, we do not ask you to take our word for it: we provide you with the evidence. In an industry where "green" is often a mask, our certifications are solid foundations.
Masters of Linen : This demanding label certifies that our linen is 100% European. From the seed planted in our fields to the finished fabric, every step of the transformation takes place in Europe. It guarantees a short, controlled supply chain that supports our local agriculture and drastically reduces our carbon footprint.
OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 : Because what touches your skin should never compromise it, this international label ensures that every material in our products is tested and free from harmful substances. No harmful residual treatments, no toxic dyes. Just the purity of life, safe for your health and that of your loved ones.
→ These labels are not marketing arguments, but the concrete result of our choices: to produce less and to produce better.
Would you like to delve deeper into our approach, understand the details of our textile materials, or discover how we define a truly fair price?
Dive into the heart of our materials
Gentle deliveries and second-life packaging
🚲 Low carbon delivery: Your parcels are delivered by bike or on foot to postal points and Mondial Relay points.
📦 Reused packaging: For your large postal parcel shipments and via Mondial Relay, we exclusively use second-life materials (clean recovered envelopes and boxes). We do the same for shipments to our partner shops.
💌 Recycled tracked parcel: Bpost pre-paid delivery boxes made of recycled cardboard allow tracking of parcels under 1 Kg at more affordable prices than second-life boxes, while ensuring secure tracking. You can choose during payment.
Our textiles and products made in Belgium
Customer reviews
" I am delighted with the sponges, thank you! I even gifted some to my mother! I am very happy and I wish you a good continuation! We need to accumulate small concrete actions in everyday life and this product helps us with that!
This product, which also has the merit of being ecological, of encouraging my partner to do more washing up ! Because it was the old green sponge that disgusted him according to his words...
A miracle !! "
" I just received my order: linen cloths and a hemp scrubbing pad. They are superb!
Eshop easy to use, impeccable service.
I recommend!!! "
" Small and very effective.
Easily washable after several uses (1 dish per day/5 people – cleaning the pad every 4 days).
This natural product is astonishingly effective.
To try without hesitation. "
" What a wonderful discovery! Having a sensitive and very reactive skin, few scrubs are suitable for my skin, so I wanted to try a new alternative and I am not disappointed. I use the glove once or twice a week and I see the benefits on my skin!
I highly recommend this product. "
"I tested the makeup remover wipes! They are really effective, and clean the skin quickly, I use them every day with micellar water, put them in the washing machine after each use and they hold up well. I am happy to use these products because in addition to taking care of my skin, I am doing a good deed for the planet!"
" I use the linen wipes to remove my eye makeup and to disinfect my skin after hair removal/shaving. They are super comfortable and effective ♥ For makeup removal, I put a few drops of oil on it. It’s much softer and more precise than with my usual flannel. They dry quickly and are easily cleaned by hand. Their format is perfect. Thank you Vanessa for offering us quality products ! "
" Pleasant and effective. The textured surface surprisingly replaces the scouring sponge. It is the best alternative to the petroleum sponge that I have tested so far ! The product description is in no way exaggerated. "
" We can only love it ! In addition to being effective and pleasant to use, it is eco-friendly and made entirely from natural fibres. A beautiful initiative that gives hope for the future of the textile industry. Thank you Vanessa ! "
" In the Marie Kondo philosophy, objects must bring us joy ! I am delighted with this eco-friendly sponge, beautiful, durable, practical and made in Belgium ! The product is really well thought out and supporting the local textile sector also brings me great satisfaction. I recommend! "
" Very happy with my dish sponge! The texture allows for thorough cleaning and moreover it is much more beautiful and eco-friendly than plastic sponges. "
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