SUPPLY CHAIN -
‘I would like to source more sustainable cotton, but I’m not quite sure where to start. There seems to be an awful lot of standards out there, and I’m not quite sure what the differences are between them.’
‘I’d like to increase the volumes of sustainable cotton I buy, but I’m worried about sourcing different types of sustainable cotton — does a portfolio approach work?’
‘I want to source sustainable cotton. I just want this to be easy. I wonder how other brands are doing it.’
COLLABORATION -
Fashion for Good and PVH Corp., one of the largest apparel companies in the world that owns brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, today announced their partnership to accelerate the transition towards a good fashion industry.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Increasing circularity in the apparel sector will require a variety of initiatives and some of the most valuable ways to bridge the implementation gap will be to provide funding, design new products with closed-loop design and launch take-back programs for would-be-waste items. Announcements on Monday revealed that these are exactly the contributions being made by the C&A Foundation, Looptworks and John Lewis.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The fashion industry has made strides towards increased sustainability in the clothing we produce, but as outlined by the 2017 Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) report, A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion's Future, the need to advance these goals is paramount. Global apparel production has doubled in the last 15 years, and if growth continues as expected, it will triple by 2050.
PRESS RELEASE -
Today Procter & Gamble (P&G) announced presentations given on new research into sustainability innovations for its Tide® laundry detergent. The presentations discussed the potential for improved cleaning performance in cold water conditions with detergents containing a patented branched surfactant. While machine washing in cold water can reduce a household’s energy footprint, detergents may not perform as well on this setting, which can compel consumers to use more energy and water to compensate.
Tide Research Fellow Phillip Vinson, PhD, and Tide Senior Scientist Patrick Stenger, PhD, gave presentations at the 2018 American Oil Chemists Society Annual Meeting and the 22nd International Symposium on Surfactants in Solution, respectively.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Startups that positively impact people, planet and profit often bring the most exciting innovations to the sustainability space. Once again, Sustainable Brands did its part this week at SB’18 Vancouver to highlight the latest emerging companies addressing intractable issues — inspiring audiences and building connections with established brands.
Shark Tank: Circular Economy Innovations for Retail
First, in a Tuesday afternoon “Shark Tank,” startups pitched their solutions to retailers.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
What if rating brands and retailers, and not just suppliers, is the key to better supply chains? That is the goal behind a new index from Better Buying. The index provides sustainability professionals with previously inaccessible data about supply chains, as it empowers suppliers themselves to assess purchasing practices of 65 brands and retailers in the global apparel, footwear and household textiles industries globally.
WASTE NOT -
Today at SB’18 Vancouver, The North Face will announce the launch of The North Face Renewed — a collection of refurbished products for consumers who want to access affordable gear and reduce their environmental impact. All “Renewed” items — which are sourced from returned, defective or damaged apparel — have been thoroughly inspected, cleaned and refurbished to The North Face quality and performance standards.
WASTE NOT -
Today, Savers® released its third annual State of Reuse Report, which reveals that while people consistently state they are donating or finding ways to extend the life of their items, there is still a long journey ahead to fully embrace reuse — as 60 percent of North Americans shop secondhand only once a year or less.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
New research released by environmental charity Hubbub reveals that 44 percent of people in the UK don’t realize that synthetic fibres such as polyester, acrylic or nylon are actually plastic. Despite that synthetic clothing is on the rise – it now accounts for an estimated 60 percent of all clothing produced – many are unaware of what the microfibres they release and the resulting threats to the environment.
NEW METRICS -
More and more clothing brands are taking it upon themselves to dive deeper into the impacts of their garments, increasing transparency around and improving their materials, processes and operations as a whole.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Transparency has become a bit of a buzzword in the fashion industry and judging by the number of times it was mentioned at this year’s Copenhagen Fashion Summit, it is a trend that we are not going to shake anytime soon. Quite the contrary, transparency is reshaping how brands and retailers interact with their suppliers and consumers. But can it really transform the entire fashion industry? C&A Foundation’s Leslie Johnston hosted a panel of experts to find out.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
This year, the world’s largest event on sustainability in fashion, the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, included an Innovation Competition that saw 12 finalists pitch their technologies onstage in front of a panel of expert judges and Summit attendees. After a series of presentations and judging sessions over the two day event, the winner was announced: ColorZen.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Ahead of Earth Day last month, over one million people took to social media urging corporations to "break free" from single-use plastics. And from the fashion to the auto industry – and everywhere in between – innovations are taking root to increase our use of sustainable materials. To continue the momentum created by Earth Day, this year’s World Environment Day (June 5) is also focused on plastic pollution.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
While many aspects of the textile industry have notoriously harmful effects on people and the planet, we’re seeing a variety of solutions emerge that could shape the future of fashion. Two of the latest examples are Kloters’ RepAir t-shirts and Malai’s vegan leather-style accessories.
PRESS RELEASE -
Avery Dennison, a global leader in pressure-sensitive, functional materials, branding, weaving and labelling solutions for the retail apparel market; and SoftWear Automation, a revolutionary sewing technologies company for manufacturing automation in the home goods, footwear and apparel industries, have teamed up to help apparel manufacturers create a fully-digital supply chain that enables speed in the manufacture of apparel and textile products.
Through this partnership, Avery Dennison is leading a transformative change in the apparel industry, ushering in innovation that is in keeping with the company’s history of pushing boundaries to create positive change across the supply chain.
Sparking Change in the Apparel Industry
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) has launched a new industry collaborative to build on the vision outlined in its New Textiles Economy report.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
A new digital platform aims to make sustainable business decisions easier for the fashion industry. By matching actors along the supply chain and providing data-driven, solutions-focused information, Common Objective (CO) hopes to improve the day-to-day practices of textiles and clothing companies around the world.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
An announcement today from Procter & Gamble’s laundry brands, Ariel and Lenor (the European sister brands of Tide and Downy, here in the States), revealed that their ‘Long Live Fashion Formula’ could extend the life of clothes by four times, keeping them looking new for longer. By switching from a powder to liquid or single-unit-dose format such as Ariel pods; adding a Fabric Conditioner, such as Lenor; and washing on a cold and quick cycle, consumers can quadruple the life of their clothes.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
The business case for sustainability in the fashion industry has strengthened, but the pace of change still isn’t going fast or far enough, according to the newly released second edition of the Pulse of the Fashion Industry report.