PRESS RELEASE -
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.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
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.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
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.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
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.
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.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
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.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
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.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
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.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Struggling to cover basic expenses such as food, housing and education, the roughly 40 million garment workers in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and other parts of Asia regularly risk physical violence, sexual harassment, starvation, and even death for the sake of cheap clothing.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
A new cloud-based platform for supply chain management promises to enhance transparency and help producers transition to circular models, starting with the apparel industry. In collaboration with software provider Improvement IT, Netherlands-based Dutch Awearness has launched an online software tool called the Circular Content Management System (CCMS) to help track and trace garments and their materials.
PRESS RELEASE -
Global outdoor lifestyle brandTimberland today announced a partnership with responsible fabric manufacturer
Thread, furthering both brands’ longstanding commitment to environmental and social responsibility. Crafted from plastic bottles collected in Haiti and Honduras, Thread™ Ground to Good™ fabric challenges how the world thinks about recycled PET. Going beyond environmental sustainability, Thread also creates social value in the form of cleaner neighborhoods and job creation for thousands of people.
PRESS RELEASE -
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (May 31, 2016) — Importer/wholesale distributor Omni United Pte. Ltd.’s Timberland brand — the first tire line created in partnership with a leading global lifestyle brand — has been recognized for its collaborative sustainability efforts.
Timberland L.L.C. and the tire brand beat out Reformation, Levi’s and People Tree to win the WGSN Futures Award in sustainability design. Sagra Maceira de Rosen, a member of the advisory board of Omni United, and Nick Barber, director of apparel design of Timberland, accepted the award in London on May 26.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
NIKE, Inc. has unveiled the latest expansion of its European Logistics Campus in Belgium, to accelerate its drive toward “the supply chain of the future.”
The expansion will make Nike’s European operations more efficient, more responsive and more sustainable, enabling growth by serving consumers across Nike.com, Nike retail and wholesale partners in 38 countries, all from a single inventory location.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Canadian forest-conservation NGO Canopy has announced six new brand partnerships in its successful CanopyStyle initiative, through which more than 65 major fashion brands, designers and retailers have pledged to end the use of ancient and endangered forests in their rayon supply chains.
Viscose and rayon fibers are made from wood pulp and are some of the most widely used in clothing and textiles, threatening endangered forests. Approximately 120 million trees are logged annually for fabrics and about a third of them are sourced from ancient and/or endangered forests.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
As leading fashion brands continue their creative battles against textile waste — check out recent innovations by Levi Strauss, H&M and adidas — a new breed of circular clothing disruptor is starting to emerge. These purposeful startups are looking to stop fast fashion in its tracks by building longevity and emotional durability into their apparel.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
With dramatically large amounts of clothing and other textiles being thrown out every year – nearly 10 million tonnes in the United States and more than 3 million tonnes in European Union (EU) countries – it is no wonder why designers and companies are increasingly looking to this waste as a potential resource.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
You’ve probably heard plenty of startups claim they can “revolutionize” their industry, but in the case of Bolt Threads, they may actually be right. The California-based biotechnology startup is already manufacturing its Engineered Silk™ protein at scale and made two big announcements this week at TechCrunch Disrupt NY: the conclusion of a $50 million Series C financing round, and a new partnership with apparel brand Patagonia.