INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
H&M and WWF have joined forces on a children’s collection featuring realistic prints of iconic animals at risk. For every item sold, 10 percent of the sales price will be donated to support WWF’s work in conserving endangered species.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
“The activist company” Patagonia is making donations, hosting events and stressing the importance of local- and state-level voting in a $1 million push to combat apathy and ‘get out the green vote.’
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
High street apparel brand Gap and garment aftercare expert Mr. Black have partnered on a new campaign that highlights the links between denim care and sustainability. The two brands have joined forces to educate consumers that by adopting a simple aftercare routine it’s possible to prolong the lifespan of garments while saving water and energy.
PRESS RELEASE -
Stratham, NH based outdoor lifestyle brand, Timberland, opens its first completed project in its five-year commitment to create and restore urban green spaces starting with New York City. In partnership with local nonprofit GrowNYC, Timberland and volunteers transformed a vacant lot in the Mott Haven Neighborhood of South Bronx, New York into a vibrant community garden. The restoration project came full circle with a service event that kicks off Timberland’s busy fall season of service, and also commemorates 9/11; something Timberland has done each year since September 11, 2001 when employees volunteered at a Bronx elementary school as tragedy struck.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
It’s no mystery why an energy company might explore applications for gaseous waste emitted from its power plants, but making shoes isn’t usually on the agenda. For NRG, shoes made from carbon dioxide emissions are just the beginning.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
On Black Friday of 2011, Patagonia released a now-famous New York Times advertisement with a picture of a jacket and a simple plea: “Don’t buy this jacket.” The response, ironically, was a surge in sales. Some analysts deemed the whole thing a cheap trick. But the underlying message was clear.
MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Recycling single-fibre fabrics – such as denim jeans and wool sweaters – is mechanically possible, but garments are often made from a blend of different fibres, which has historically caused a host of challenges for recycling them. Even for many of the most popular blends such as cotton and polyester, commercially viable separation, sorting and recycling technologies are not yet available. As a result, used apparel of blended or unknown materials are typically discarded in landfills or down-cycled into insulation, carpeting or other low-value applications.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Have you heard the one about the fire extinguisher?
An auditor was completing an onsite assessment of a production facility for a major apparel brand when he noticed that fire extinguishers were mounted on devices that allowed them to slide up and down the wall. The auditor asked about this.
“Well,” the facility manager said, “you require that our fire extinguishers be 4 feet from the floor, but Brand X requires that they be 3 feet from the floor, and Brand Y requires 2 feet from the floor.”
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Two design challenges are back and accepting new entries for products designed to help enable a sustainable future.
The non-profit H&M Foundation is accepting applications for the second edition of its Global Change Award through October 31st, 2016. The competition is seeking early stage ideas that present new circular approaches for the fashion industry – whether by changing the way garments are designed, produced, shipped, bought, used, or recycled – by adding disruptive technology or using a new business model.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
NIKE, Inc. has announced a new strategic partnership with private equity firm Apollo Global Management, LLC, aimed at building a transparent and ethical apparel supply chain in the Americas. Through the partnership, Nike aims to increase regional manufacturing capabilities, enable quicker delivery of more customized product to consumers and drive investment in sustainability.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
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 & CO-CREATION -
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.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
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.
CIRCULAR 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.
CIRCULAR 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.
MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
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.
PRESS RELEASE -
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.