SUPPLY CHAIN -
Luxury fashion label Stella McCartney has released the results of a new Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) comparing the environmental performance of ten raw material sources of manmade cellulose fiber (MMCF).
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
“This conversation is great, but it’s too polite! Where is the sense of urgency in the room?”
During our most recent event at Fashion for Good, themed Power to the Consumer, one woman called us out: “I’ve heard this conversation before, but nothing seems to change! What can we do?”
Lady, we hear you! This is exactly why we formed the True Fashion Collective. We want to bridge the gap between niche sustainable fashion enthusiasts and mainstream audiences because we too fear the urgency around this topic is fading.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
It’s Waste Reduction Week in Canada, and to celebrate, I spoke to some superstar companies reducing waste through product design that are featured in the National Zero Waste Council’s Design Portfolio. Earlier this week, we highlighted food waste solutions from Abeego and Club Coffee.
PRESS RELEASE -
DuPont™ Sorona®, INVISTA’s CORDURA® brand, and DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products will be giving workwear brands a sneak peek of new developmental fabrics in the next chapter of a series of more innovative, enhanced sustainable textile solutions for workwear and outdoor wear at the A+A Show, Hall 9/E39, October 17-20, 2017, in Dusseldorf, Germany. Now, designers of apparel, footwear and gear will have even more options when looking for built-to-last durable fabrics that incorporate high performance materials across multiple layers.
WASTE NOT -
Want to subvert the traditional apparel supply chain? You must possess a “little bit of craziness,” according to Giulio Bonazzi, CEO and president of Aquafil, an Italian company that transforms abandoned fishing nets and castoff bits of carpet into good-as-new nylon fibers. Speaking on a panel at the Textile Sustainability Conference in Washington, D.C., last week, Bonazzi noted that his propensity for seeing goldmines in landfills hasn’t always drawn plaudits. In fact, he was often ridiculed.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Traceability is an ongoing concern for the textile industry. Technologies such as barcodes, QR codes and RFID tags have been put in place to enhance supply chain transparency, but they often fail to provide complete traceability. Researchers at the University of Borås in Sweden have developed a novel coded yarn-based tracking system that promises to overcome existing limitations and deliver improved traceability.
WALKING THE TALK -
Big news has been rolling out of the Textile Exchange 2017 Textile Sustainability Conference near Washington, D.C. this week, providing evidence of the major paradigm shift taking place in the apparel and textile industry.
PRESS RELEASE -
It’s been nearly a year since Target announced its commitments around responsible sourcing and sustainable products, and since then, we’ve shared a closer look at our goals and progress in several areas, including forest products, chemicals, packaging, and eliminating forced labor.
COLLABORATION -
Isle of Wight-based ethical apparel startup Rapanui has come a long way since its conception in 2009, when brothers Rob and Mart Drake-Knight launched with a mere £200. Now, with almost a decade of experience under its belt, Rapanui is helping other UK businesses achieve their sustainability goals.
WALKING THE TALK -
While faced by a myriad of social and environmental challenges, the fashion and textile industries continue to edge ever-closer to a more sustainable, equitable and circular future thanks to the innovative thinking of industry leaders.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
North Americans love to celebrate Halloween — from trick-or-treating to costume parties to haunted houses, there is no doubt a Halloween frenzy takes over even before October hits. In fact, 50 percent of Americans report Halloween is their favorite holiday. However, purchasing new costumes, candy and décorations for the whole family can quickly add up. The National Retail Federation reported that in 2017, Americans are predicted to spend an average $86.13 each on Halloween costumes, décor and candy, collectively spending $9.1 billion on Halloween-related purchases.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Putting sustainability at the heart of the fashion industry is no easy feat, but key players across the value chain continue to demonstrate that they’re up to the task.
Building on the success of its Flyknit process, which allows synthetic yarn to be woven into practically seamless shoe uppers, Nike has unveiled its latest sartorial innovation: Flyleather — a sustainable leather material made with 50 percent recycled leather fiber.
WALKING THE TALK -
Ahead of Climate Week NYC 2017, which runs from September 18–24, a surge of global companies announced their commitment to the Science Based Targets Initiative, driving the number of businesses committed to setting science-based emissions reductions targets upwards of 300. This year, more than 90 new companies have joined, demonstrating the private sector's commitment to aligning its efforts to tackle climate change with the Paris Agreement’s goal to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Control Union, a global network of inspection operations and dedicated laboratories, in partnership with H&M has created a new tool to help the apparel industry meet its commitments to supply chain transparency and responsible sourcing. A unique supply chain traceability and data service, CONNECTED is designed specifically for apparel industry supply chains that are complex, distributed over several tiers and countries.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
The fashion and textile industries continue to make strides towards a more circular future with the emergence of new resources and technologies that make a sustainable shift easier than ever before.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Startups and retail giants alike are looking to bio-based materials and recycled plastics to drive innovation and reduce environmental impacts along the value chain within the fashion and textile industry.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
While alternative materials have largely been dominating the discussion around the future of fashion, startups and industry heavy hitters are like are now looking to 3D-printing technology to revolutionize the apparel market.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
While the textile industry presents endless opportunities to significantly reduce global environmental impacts, progressing towards sustainability and circularity continues to be an uphill battle. As a new technology is revealed to be instrumental in reducing the carbon footprint of textile coatings, a new ban on scrap textile imports in China could curb global textile recycling progress.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Water scarcity affects more than 40 percent of the global population, a number which is projected to rise. While about 2.5 percent of the world’s water is freshwater, only 0.5 percent of that is made available to satisfy society’s needs.