CLOVO Brand

MEET MEGAN MARTIS AND MONICA DIMAS — FOUNDERS OF CLOVO BRAND, A LOS ANGELES-BASED APPAREL COMPANY THAT AIMS TO EMPOWER WOMEN AND THE ENVIRONMENT WITH THEIR COMFORTABLE AND SUSTAINABLE CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES.

Sustainability isn’t a trending topic anymore. Now, sustainability is an integral value and part of many industries' operations and commitment to support environmental initiatives. The fashion industry has long been criticized for the negative impacts on the environment with fast fashion’s increasing popularity. However, now more than ever, clothing companies are restructuring their supply chains and sourcing more responsibly to produce environmentally-friendly, quality items that customers love.

One such company is CLOVO Brand. CEO Megan Martis and COO Monica Dimas wanted to create comfortable and sustainable tights for all women, as their experiences wearing tights from other brands were negative, and wanted to find a better, more comfortable and sustainable way to produce quality tights that last.

CLOVO Brand tights are made with TENCEL Lyocell, which is a natural fiber derived mainly from sustainably grown trees. Their signature products, EverTights, are composed of 80% TENCEL Lyocell and CLOVO Tights are composed of 71% TENCEL Lyocell. CLOVO also sells a branded t-shirt and sustainable draw-string bag.

Stylish Storyteller: Can you share your backgrounds and what led you to create CLOVO Brand in 2018?

Megan Martis: “I grew up wearing sheer tights a lot with my school uniform; however, I absolutely hated wearing them because they sagged and itched all day. I was also a lab assistant at the time in a hydrogen chemistry lab studying chemicals and microplastics in river systems. Learning about how synthetic clothing causes microplastics to end up in our oceans just by washing them and the harmful chemicals that crude oil based nylon is full of really drove Monica and I to take on solving the fast fashion plastic hosiery problem.”

COO Monica Dimas and CEO Megan Martis of CLOVO Brand.

Monica Dimas: “I had similar problems with tights growing up. With our mutual hatred for tights, Megan and I decided to start CLOVO in 2018 with the goal of creating the most comfortable tights. During my college years, I became more conscious on how a more sustainable lifestyle could slowly help create impactful changes.

“During my study-abroad trip to Australia in early 2018, I tried and stuck with a vegetarian diet and was exposed a very sustainable lifestyle. From a plethora of vegan/vegetarian options to wooden spoons and paper straws as the norm, I realized that in the U.S. we could improve on finding creative alternatives to normalize.

“Upon returning to Colgate University, I roomed with Megan and brainstormed how to improve Megan’s pantyhose further. I suggested Megan’s innovation be sustainable and so the idea of EverTights was born. After many months of design and networking with manufacturers, Megan and I were able to finalize a prototype and set our e-commerce platform for a launch on Kickstarter during the summer of 2020.”

SS: How does the origin of CLOVO’s name, THE “CLO” THING RE “VO” LUTION STANCE guide the mission of the brand?

MM & MD: “The meaning behind CLOVO is integrated into all parts of the brand, from our website, to our social media, to our products. Moreover, CLOVO takes on parts of the clothing industry like hosiery that are not being innovated environmentally. A big part of our brand is teaching our audience about the shortcomings of the fashion industry and that there are solutions to making it more sustainable. For example, we have a science of fashion section on our website that breaks down exactly what the clothing industry is doing to pollute the environment and how synthetic clothing affects our bodies (which is scary). We also post this kind of content on our social media.

“Lastly, from the start, we did not settle for using recycled synthetic materials to make our brand sustainable, as these fibers still contain harmful chemicals and create a lot of microplastic pollution, we use natural Tencel fibers to make our tights and include a small cotton wash bag with each order to ensure the tights stay safe in the wash. Our EverTights are also specifically designed for not only comfort, but longevity.

“Essentially, our mission as stated by our name is to create awareness about environmental pollution caused by the clothing industry, that the most sustainable alternatives are natural alternatives, and to create garments that last longer than the fast fashion world as a pathway to reduce clothing waste.”

“We believe women should feel comfortable and confident in their everyday lives without having to worry about their wardrobe bringing them down.

“Most women’s clothing is not made for comfort or functionality and unfortunately a lot of women’s clothing is made by men for women. So we changed that by creating the most comfortable pair of tights that supports the lifestyles of all women.”

SS: Can you describe your development process for CLOVO Brand’s tights and what factors you took into consideration?

MM & MD: “We started with redesigning the very simplistic design of traditional tights. After interviewing over 200 women, we found that the main issues women have with tights is that they sag, itch, rip, and are not form fitting to women of all body types. These issues tie back again to the simplistic design and synthetic materials.

“To overcome these issues, we integrated two innovations into our tights: a thin spandex short attachment and the use of a natural material. We really wanted to take into account the comfort of the wearer and also the impact of the product on the environment from production to end of life.

“When choosing a material, we wanted to find one that was not only natural, but also produced at a renewable energy powered manufacturer and was naturally biodegradable. We found these qualities in Tencel, a natural cellulose fiber made from sustainably grown trees. Today our EverTights have the short and our CLOVO Tights do not as to give women options when shopping for our tights.”

SS: How does innovation focusing on comfortability and longevity make CLOVO a staple item in women’s wardrobes?

MM & MD: “Women will no longer have to worry about wardrobe malfunctions like having to constantly pull up their tights or having them rip easily. Additionally, because Tencel is a durable material, our tights last a lot longer than the traditional 1-5 wears women get out of tights from Big Box stores. Essentially, the majority of women who wear our tights forget they are wearing them because they are so comfortable and they are easy to wash in the included wash bag.”

SS: What fabric do you use to manufacture CLOVO tights and how does that fabric positively impact the environment?

MM & MD: “Tencel is an Austrian brand that is sold worldwide; another company that uses it is Allbirds. Tencel’s production is very sustainable as it is powered by renewable energy and is made in a closed loop production cycle. Additionally, the trees are harvested from a sustainably managed forest, meaning that they do not contribute to deforestation. Tencel is also free of plastic, so it does not release microplastics and is naturally biodegradable. A project that we are working on right now is composting our tights.”

SS: Why is empowering women and the environment through your sustainable clothing and accessories important to you?

MM & MD: “We believe that women should feel comfortable and confident in their everyday lives without having to worry about their wardrobe bringing them down. Moreover, most of women’s clothing is not made for comfort or functionality, which is why we wanted to implement these into our tights. It is an unfortunate truth that a lot of women’s clothing is made by men for women. We wanted to flip that for tights and create the most comfortable pair of tights that could support the lifestyles of all women.”

MM: “Additionally, empowering the environment is our second, but equal passion. Monica and I both are extremely driven to protect the environment in any way possible. I find that we are at a crossroads in terms of an encroaching environmental crisis caused by the clothing industry, microplastics and plastic waste in general. I feel a responsibility to take on these problems in any way possible and tights seemed like the perfect way to start just that.”

SS: As young women entrepreneurs, how has CLOVO impacted your life?

MM: “CLOVO has truly changed my life for the better. Not only have I learned so much from entrepreneurship in general, it has also provided me with a community full of sustainable fashion enthusiasts and other entrepreneurs. It is an amazing experience to build a product and company from the ground up that has a very strong environmental mission.”

MD: “Seeing CLOVO Brand start from nothing has been an eye-opening experience that has made me believe almost anything is attainable. Through this experience, I have been able to connect with amazing mentors, be a part of a great team of women, and reach goals I had never imagined I would achieve so early on in my life.”

SS: What has customer feedback been like so far and how does that motivate you to continue to grow the brand?

MM & MD: “We have received great feedback for our tights so far! Women find them to be very comfortable, easy to put on, soft, breathable and so much more. It is really exciting to see our products excel in the early stages of our launch and it certainly encourages us to continue on our mission with confidence that we have great products.”

SS: What are some future aspirations for CLOVO and why?

MM & MD: “CLOVO’s aspirations for this year are to enter the brick and mortar retail realm as well as to set up more of an international presence. Looking further into the future, we also want to introduce more natural material based products that are not being innovated in the current movement.”

To view CLOVO Brand’s products and learn more about their sustainability efforts, visit: clovobrand.com.