Fashion Philosophy
Our aesthetic draws inspiration from a wide range of influences both within and beyond the fashion world, meeting sensibly where real life and artful design intersect. The result is an elegant, modern point of view that evolves with trends but maintains an enduring and timeless relevance.
Modern Citizen pieces are intended as investment fashion. Our clothes are designed to not only be easy to wear, but also to machine wash and keep in your wardrobe long-term — to wear season-to-season and return to throughout the years.
Size Range
Today, about 98% of our assortment is offered in sizes XS - 1X — and as of Fall 2022, we are offering our core collection up to 3X as we work toward making our entire collection more inclusively sized. As a small business, these initial steps will help us lay the foundation for continued and more consistent expansion as our company grows.
Maternity-Friendly
Comfortable and never restrictive on a growing body, the styles curated in our Maternity-Friendly collection will either skim or hug the body in a way that feels right while it’s going through a major evolution. Take it from the current and expectant moms on our team — all of whom want versatile and effortless clothes for both pre and post-partum.
Lengths
As a team made up of petites, talls, and every height in-between, our development process includes fitting on various heights. Currently, we typically photograph on models ranging from 5’7” - 5’9” for visual consistency — with more to come as our resources allow. In Fall 2022, we introduced a shorter inseam option on our core ponte pant styles Anh and Cass.
Fabrics
Our fabric programs are constantly evolving to provide the most eco-conscious materials we can while maintaining our quality and accessible pricing standards. Our Eco-Conscious collection signifies products made with materials derived via processes ecologically better than their conventional counterparts.
While we are working towards thoughtfully increasing the general representation of natural fibers in our collection, our main focus is on sourcing a higher percentage of fabrics that are either organically produced or recycled — prioritizing circularity above all in our materials mix. Below, we’ve outlined both our internal grading system and certification requirements utilizing a framework of Best / Better / Baseline / Avoid, as well as our recent progress and % of units within each categorization.
| Year | Best | Better | Baseline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 Goals | 60% | 40% | 0% |
| 2024 Goals | 35% | 40% | 25% |
| 2023 Goals | 20% | 30% | 50% |
| 2022 | 18% | 14% | 68% |
| 2021 | 7% | 6% | 87% |
Recycled Cotton
Certified by GRS
Regenerated Nylon / Polymide
By Econyl or certified by GRS
Lenzing EcoVero Viscose
Certified by FSC
Tencel Lyocell Fibers
By Lenzing or certified by FSC
Bio-Based Leather Alternatives
Recycled Wool
Certified by RWS
Recycled Cashmere
Recycled Silk
Certified by GRS
Recycled Linen
Certified by GRS
Deadstock
Organic Cotton
Certified by GOTS or OCS
Fair Trade / BCI Cotton
Recycled Polyester
Certified by GRS
Recycled Acrylic
Recycled Viscose or Viscose
Certified by FSC
Tencell Modal
Mechanically Recycled Leather
Certified by GRS
Recycled Synthetic Leather
Certified by GRS
Organic Wool
Certified by GOTS
Organic Cashmere
Certified by GOTS
Linen
Hemp
Bamboo
Conventional Cotton
Conventional Polyester
Conventional Nylon
Conventional Acrylic
Conventional Viscose
Conventional Synthetic
Leather
Conventional Wool
Conventional Cashmere
Spandex (< 10%)
Virgin Leather
Virgin Wool
Virgin Silk
Angora
Mohair
Fur
Garment Care
We recognize that creating clothing can never be a truly sustainable practice, so we’re committed to consistently and incrementally lessening the impact of our design and production — including the way we inform our customers about garment care and speak about fashion consumption.
Our clothes are designed to be easy to wear, wash, and keep in your wardrobe long-term. By reducing the need for dry cleaning and constantly buying new, replacement pieces, we aim to take some of the burden off of our customers in reducing their environmental footprint.
Business Operations
We are committed to the ongoing challenge of making our day-to-day operations more conscientious — in ways both small and significant. This means identifying and executing process improvements or long-term partnerships that can yield the greatest achievable impact, both for our teams and customers.
Focus Area
Current Status
Shipping
Shipping is an essential part of our business, but one that comes with an environmental expense. We consistently evaluate the efficiency of our warehouse operations, and give customers the option to offset their carbon emissions of their online orders via verified projects. To date, we’ve offset more than 300,000 lbs of carbon via our partnership with Cloverly.
Packaging
It’s important to us that your products are delivered to you in high quality, protective packaging. With an eye toward circularity, our shipping materials are currently recyclable and / or made of post-consumer recycled materials. We aim to utilize packaging with the most closed-loop and, importantly, accessible disposal options.
Inventory
Our business model leaves very little room for waste. From the beginning, we’ve implemented shopping features like Pre-Order and Waitlist to help our inventory planning team understand demand and avoid over-production. For inventory that has an "end of life" with us — like our design samples or customer returns — we take care to strategically donate, recycle, or repair them to Iimit our waste as thoughtfully as possible.
Spaces + Travel
When it comes to our office, warehouse, and retail stores, we are extremely intentional about keeping them as circular and efficient as we can. Wherever possible, we source vintage and / or refurbished furniture, fixtures, and devices. We are also a California Green Business, which certifies that our physical spaces and in-person operations have met a high standard of eco-conscious criteria.
Partnerships
We are always looking for partners who can help us meet a range of our Responsibility goals. In 2023, we launched a partnership with thredUP and opened Modern Citizen CODA, our resale shop that provides an alternative to buying new or sending unwanted pieces to the landfill. We also engage with values-aligned community organizations like Dress For Success and Project Ropa, and are continually seeking new partners who can support us in waste diversion, recycling efforts, and expansion of our size range and eco-conscious fabric programs.
Our Team
We believe that businesses better serve the world if the people behind our brands better reflect it — and that intentional inclusivity leads to the most positive human and business impact. Diversity in hiring has always been a focus in our organization, and we’re proud to have a broadly intersectional team behind the scenes providing essential voices in the room as decisions are made.
Representation
In crafting the Modern Citizen world, we believe it is our duty to tell stories in a responsible, considered way that is aspirational while also respectful and reverent to the source material. We believe that having a platform is a privilege, and we aim to use ours to elevate women of all forms, experiences, and identities. Ensuring that our casting continues to be representative of a diverse array of faces is not only an evergreen goal and worthy challenge, but something we find to be incredibly celebratory — even as we have more work to do.