Can We Make 100% Plastic-Free Clothing? with Meli and Rensso Hinostroza of Eco Aya and Arms of Andes
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fitsShow Notes
If you are anything like me, you’ve started paying way more attention to the ingredients in our food and realized just how many nasty ingredients are hidden within. If comprehensive ingredient labels existed for clothing, they would be equally shocking. Even in garments labeled as “natural fibers”, there are hidden sources of plastic and chemicals that have a negative effect on our health and the health of our planet.
For Meli and Rensso Hinostroza, this realization turned into curiosity and a deep dive into 100% plastic-free clothing production. The two siblings have started two brands – Arms of Andes and Eco Aya. In episode 133, we go into the nitty gritty details of eliminating all plastic from the clothing they make down to every thread, zipper, button, and fabric finishing and how they had to set up their manufacturing to do it.
Melissa and Rensso Hinostroza are the sibling co-founders of Eco Aya, a plastic-free non-toxic lifestyle brand, and Arms of Andes, home of the world’s only 100% alpaca outdoor apparel. In an industry dominated by synthetic fibers and microplastics, the sibling duo have returned to their roots to offer a high-performance alternative that is entirely natural and biodegradable.
Born in California and raised between the U.S. and Peru, they have spent their lives navigating two worlds, a perspective that allowed them to see how heritage-driven techniques could solve the modern environmental crisis in the global outdoor market.
Meli Hinostroza is the brand’s creative force and strategic visionary. She leads marketing, sales, and the customer experience, ensuring that every campaign reflects their deep-rooted commitment to the planet. For Meli, the mission is to dismantle the industry's reliance on plastics by building a brand that connects people back to nature through sustainable, purposeful design.
Rensso Hinostroza is the operational backbone of the company. With a background in international business, he manages the entire supply chain directly from Peru. He is the guardian of the brand’s transparency, overseeing everything from sourcing raw fibers to final production. A believer in a minimalist approach to adventure, Rensso is dedicated to proving that performance gear doesn't need chemicals or plastics to excel in the world's harshest environments.
Together, Meli and Rensso are bridging the gap between ancestral wisdom and modern technical performance, proving that the future of the outdoors isn't synthetic, it's natural.
This episode explores:
Fitting the customer
Who Meli and Rensso designed Arms of Andes and Eco Aya for
The questions Meli and Rensso wish customers would ask of brands
The questions brands should be asking of their suppliers
Fitting the lifestyle
How the sustainable lifestyle Meli and Rensso grew up with influenced their early business decisions
Why Meli and Rensso decided to bring all their textile and garment production in-house in a single country
The nitty gritty details of how Rensso and Meli got rid of the hidden sources of plastic in their brand’s clothes
Fitting the values
Why Meli and Rensso put so much value (and effort) into making clothes plastic-free
The balance between longevity and biodegradability
People and resources mentioned in this episode:
Eco Aya. website
Arms of Andes website
Eco Aya Instagram
Eco Aya email
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