PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Ethical apparel brand PACT | ORGANIC today launched a new campaign that aims to show how dirty the fashion industry really is.
“The Skidmark,” a new digital campaign produced by the creative firm Denizen Company, shines a light on the proverbial (and in this case, literal) stain the $3 trillion global fashion industry is leaving on the environment and people affected by its production. What starts as your basic sexy underwear ad quickly shifts gears, and (fair warning) comes to a rather explosive conclusion.
PRESS RELEASE -
Thrift store chain challenges back-to-school shoppers to collectively save 700 million gallons of fresh water by replacing one new tee with a thrifted one
PRESS RELEASE -
The OEKO-TEX® Association congratulates DuPont on the fifth year of OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certification for DuPont™ Sorona®, the renewably sourced fiber used in apparel, home textiles, and residential, commercial, and automotive carpets.
COLLABORATION -
The industry group Sustainable Apparel Coalition has opened use of its Higg Index suite of tools for measuring and evaluating supply chain impact to non-member small and medium-sized (SME) brands and retailers. SMEs may now take advantage of a special licence for full access to the Higg Index.
WASTE NOT -
In March, the governments of the East African Community, which includes Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, proposed a ban on imports of secondhand clothes to their regional trade bloc. The ban would outlaw donations of clothing from wealthier countries by 2019.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
As cool as it is to know a jacket was made with recycled plastic bottles – or even bio-textiles made from cow dung or kombucha – changing the raw materials is only one of the ways to reduce the environmental impact of apparel and footwear.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
The story of fashion startup Tom Cridland is an impressive one. Established with the help of a $9,000 UK government loan just two years ago, the ethical apparel business has quickly become a $1m turnover organisation with a star-studded roster of famous clients, including Daniel Craig, Leonardo DiCaprio and Miley Cyrus.
PRESS RELEASE -
The Oeko-Tex Association has congratulated DuPont on the fifth year of Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certification for the company’s Sorona, the renewably sourced fibre used in apparel, home textiles, and residential, commercial, and automotive carpets.
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You may have heard the term ‘trashion’ in reference to clothing made out of trash, an art form that has grown over the past few years among students, artists and fashionistas alike with passions for both style and the environment. Well, these two new “bio-textiles” give “waste fashion” a new meaning.
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DuPont Industrial Biosciences announced a collaboration with Chinese sports brand Anta in the design of champion uniforms for Chinese Olympic team members using DuPont™ Sorona® – a sustainable, patented fiber made with renewable, plant-based ingredients. Sorona® – which leverages innovation and sustainability to produce fibers that are uniquely soft, extremely durable and have excellent stretch and recovery – will be a key ingredient in the Chinese team’s “Dragon Uniform” at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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BASF is contributing its polymer expertise to the three-year WRAP Consortium project kicked off by the European Commission
last year and aimed at developing high-performance sporting goods that can also be recycled. The “Sport Infinity” concept being pursued by cross-industry teams of companies is spearheaded by German sporting goods manufacturer Adidas and is focused in particular on applications in European football, or soccer, as the sport is known in the US.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Here are two innovations that give new meaning to the phrase "magic mushrooms": An Italian textile manufacturer has used a skin extracted from giant mushroom caps to create a leather-like material similar to suede; and a Colorado-based startup has found a way to use mycelium molecules to block bitter tastes on a person’s tongue as they eat, meaning they’ll only taste the other flavor profiles of the food.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Just one year after the brand’s launch, eleven-time world champion surfer Kelly Slater and menswear designer John Moore’s clothing company Outerknown has publicly released its supply chain. The young brand is taking the public ‘inside the factories’ for a closer look at their practices; the website details Outerknown’s suppliers’ locations, employment figures, which products they produce for Outerknown, and other information. Customers are also now able to ‘shop by factory’ which filters products by supplier.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Project JUST, an online platform that reviews fashion brands (75 to date) for their supply chain ethics and sustainability to help consumers make more informed choices, is crowdfunding to help expand its offering.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Since the “Detox My Fashion” campaign launched in 2011, 76 fashion brands, retailers and suppliers have committed to remove toxic chemicals from their supply chains by 2020, accounting for a combined 15 percent of global textile production.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Fashion designers have long asked for a place to find materials they know are healthier for people and the planet — and now they have one. The new Fashion Positive Materials Collection, which debuted this week, includes 39 materials for fashion applications that are Cradle to Cradle Certified or have received a Material Health Certificate, which at higher levels of certification ensures safe materials suitable for circular design.
PRESS RELEASE -
As an outdoor lifestyle brand, Timberland has a legacy of protecting and restoring the outdoors and supporting the communities in which it operates. Tree planting plays an important role in this commitment. Since 2001, Timberland has planted 8.7 million trees around the world, empowering thousands of smallholder farmers in the process.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
New fashion brand Oliver Cabell is “seeking to disrupt the luxury fashion business” with an unmatched level of transparency around its products. Exclusively available online, each product’s page on the company’s website details where the item was made and the costs that went into it, including the brand’s mark-up.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
This week, outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland announced a goal to double its footprint in five U.S. cities by 2020 in an unexpected, unique way. Each year for the next five years, the brand will match its retail floor space with the creation or restoration of an equivalent amount of green space in a different city with a Timberland store, beginning with New York City. The next four cities will be revealed later this year, with projects ranging from walking trails to community gardens to city parks.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
In 2014, Patagonia dissolved its sustainability department – a move that the company’s VP of public engagement, Rick Ridgeway, remains proud of to this day. Overnight, the outdoor clothing brand deepened its commitment to environmental and social justice by decentralizing its sustainability team and moving them individually out into core areas of the business where they would have most influence.