A clothing line to Envi!
Brigitte (21) and Adrienne (19) Hedvat live by the mantra “wear what you want.” Even on a casual Tuesday afternoon at a café in their hometown of Greenwich, CT, the two sisters exude a style that is truly their own. From Brigitte’s expertly ripped jeans to Adrienne’s black tank top carefully decorated with silver safety pins, these girls aren’t afraid to stand out—and now they are giving you the tools to do the same.
Photo Credit: @Uenvi
Last month, they launched U Envi, a clothing line dedicated to unisex, one-of-a-kind, and sustainable streetwear that you’ll feel good wearing and feel great purchasing. After growing up in the world of retail, Brigitte and Adrienne became all too familiar with the amount of waste manufactured by the fashion industry. From the pollution that stems from the rapid production of fast fashion, to extravagant PR packages that end up mostly in the trash, our shopping habits can often have a detrimental effect on the environment.
“We forget how wasteful we are,” Adrienne says as she describes how U Envi strives to break that cycle.
It starts with heading to a thrift store or finding older items of clothing in their closets that can be made new again. From there, the sisters decide on a vision for the piece and then bring it to life with the help of scissors, patchwork, paint, chains, and more. From tops that can transform into accessories, to repurposed designer duster bags, the line is all about adding versatile staples to your wardrobe that you’ll want to wear over and over again.
It’s no easy process. But it’s one the sisters are committed to even as Brigitte heads into her senior year at Elon University and Adrienne prepares to take on the school’s study abroad program in Prague. In fact, it was their experience at the liberal arts university in North Carolina that first sparked their idea for U Envi.
“We’ve always tweaked what we wore,” Brigitte says. Even from young ages, they were given the freedom to express themselves through their clothing. The sisters credit their mother with teaching them that if they felt confident in how they presented themselves, that same confidence would translate into other areas of their lives. So when it came to college, they were never the type of students to simply throw on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt to head to class.
As a result, Brigitte and Adrienne became known around campus for their unique clothing. Girls would come up to them to ask where they got their outfits, and guys began taking notice of their fashion choices. The sisters quickly realized that they had the potential to create something that could go far beyond just their friends wanting to raid their closets.
As they describe it, “people went crazy” over their customized looks, and the support hasn’t stopped since. After a successful launch, they are more determined than ever to continue to create clothing that not only makes people more aware of their environmental footprint, but helps people uncover their own definition of personal style as well.
Ultimately, U Envi is about much more than adding trendy pieces to your wardrobe. It’s about being unapologetically yourself while pushing back against harmful aspects of the fashion industry that too often go ignored. One thing is for sure, Brigitte and Adrienne are ready to make an impact, and they’ll just happen to look good—and feel good—while doing it.
