17 more brands commit to give jeans a circular redesign
Image credit: Wrangler
17 new apparel brands and manufacturers have joined the Ellen MacArthur
Foundation’s Jeans Redesign
project.
New participants:
• Brands— Balzac Paris, Banana Republic, ICICLE,
Organic Basics, seventy + mochi, Triarchy, unspun,
Wrangler
• Garment Manufacturers— Remi Holdings, Tarasima
Apparels
• Fabric Mills and Laundries — Artistic Fabric Mills,
Crescent Bahuman, Green Lab, KG Fabriks, Naveena Denim Mills
Karachi, Panther Denim, Tat Fung
Along with the 50+ other organizations already taking
part,
these new participants will work to transform the way jeans are produced in line
with circular guidelines for denim to ensure that jeans last longer, can easily
be recycled, and are made in a way that is better for the environment and the
health of garment workers.
Towards the end of 2019, the Jeans Redesign project was extended to fabric
mills, and additional mills have now signed up with this final cohort of
participants. Although this is the final cohort of participants to sign up to
the project, the
Guidelines
will continue to be available online for any company that wants to implement
them. The project will continue to inform the next steps of Make Fashion
Circular.
The Guidelines build on existing efforts to improve jeans production — including
the open-source guide created following C&A and Fashion for Good’s joint
initiative to develop Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Certified™ Gold
jeans
(C&A has since released the first C2C Certified Platinum
denim,
as well). They were developed with insights from more than 40 denim experts from
academia, brands, retailers, manufacturers, collectors, sorters and NGOs.
Charging ahead with commitments to circularity, the brands are signaling an
unwavering commitment to circular thinking despite the huge disruptions to the
fashion industry caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The first pairs of the
redesigned jeans will be on sale later this year.
Read more about the Jeans Redesign
project
…
Vivienne Westwood joins Canopy’s campaign to preserve ancient and endangered forests
Image credit: Vivienne Westwood/YouTube
Today, environmental conservation NGO Canopy and iconic fashion designer
Vivienne Westwood celebrate Earth Day and their new partnership with the
release of the video, “Vivus” — created by Scottish filmmaker Aidan Zamiri;
and featuring a poem by spoken word artist, model and visibility activist
Kai-Isaiah Jamal.
:youtube https://youtu.be/wuI_mXkH1iU
The video aims to highlight the direct link between fashion and the destruction
of the world’s ancient and endangered forests. Kai’s poem juxtaposes logging and
pulping trees to make viscose with the dream of a world that values forests too
much to tear them down.
“We are long-time campaigners about the impacts of climate change and use our
voice to mobilise people around its effects on them and the planet. Fashion has
a disproportionate impact on the environment and to remedy that we have for some
time been changing the way we make clothes to reflect the need for the industry
to change the way it operates,” said Christopher DiPietro, Global Brand
Director at Vivienne Westwood. “We were so pleased to be able to work with Kai
and Aidan on this film. We hope it will help draw attention to our campaign in
support of the work Canopy has been doing to transform unsustainable supply
chains to protect forests around the world – and with it our climate and
wildlife.”
Over the last few years, the teams at Vivienne Westwood have been adapting the
way they make clothes to reflect the growing urgency to change how the fashion
industry operates.
As such, Vivienne Westwood has become the 214th apparel company to sign on to
Canopy’s CanopyStyle
campaign
— and the brand has committed to protect vital forest ecosystems by ensuring
that any virgin wood pulp used to make or package its products only comes from
responsibly managed forests; that 100 percent of its wood pulp-derived fabrics
such as viscose will be
FSC-certified
by 2021, and it will prioritize next-generation
viscose
as it becomes available.
Read more about Vivienne Westwood’s sustainability
commitments and
CanopyStyle …
Fair Trade USA, Rachael Wang launch second annual ‘We Wear Fair Trade’ campaign
Women's empowerment advocate Nasreen Sheikh | Image credit: Fair Trade USA
On Monday, to commemorate Fashion Revolution
Week,
Fair Trade USA unveiled its second annual lookbook and campaign, "We Wear Fair
Trade." This year’s
campaign theme and lookbook, “She Wears Fair Trade,” was made in partnership
with renowned creative director, activist and stylist Rachael Wang; and features
Fair Trade Certified™ apparel modeled by prominent human and environmental
rights advocates who represent women’s empowerment.
“The fashion industry is experiencing unprecedented circumstances due to
COVID-19. The impacts of this crisis are being felt far and wide, especially by
the most vulnerable, like garment workers,” said Amy Blyth, Director of
Partnerships and Program Development for FTUSA’s Apparel & Home Goods (AHG)
Factory program. “It’s so easy to feel powerless right now but that’s why this
campaign is so important. It inspires advocacy and gives us tangible ways to
take action. Now more than ever, programs like fair trade are critical.”
Fair Trade USA says it believes fair trade is more important than ever during
the pandemic. As such, the Apparel & Home Goods (AHG) team is
supporting its factory partners, workers and brands during COVID-19 by sharing
resources with factories about prevention, sanitary protocols and social
distancing best practices; making its Community Development Funds more
flexible
to use to address crisis-related needs; and providing brand partners with
guidance on best practices and Fair Trade requirements during the pandemic.
The “She Wears Fair Trade” lookbook showcases Fair Trade USA brand partners —
J.Crew, Madewell, Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), Mountain Khaki, REI, Obey
Clothing, Outerknown, Patagonia and prAna — in an effort to raise
awareness about the growing collection of Fair Trade Certified™ apparel, while
showcasing the stories of the people behind the clothes themselves.
Featured model activists and garment workers:
-
Rachael Wang, Creative
Director and Stylist, Rachael Wang Studio
-
Nasreen Sheikh, advocate for global
women’s empowerment, international speaker
-
Cameron Russell, model &
sustainable fashion activist
-
Jessica Andrews,
sustainable fashion activist and Deputy Fashion Editor, Bustle
-
Alexandria Villaseñor, climate
change activist
-
Whitney McGuire &
Dominique Drakeford, co-founders,
Sustainable Brooklyn
-
Ayesha
Barenblat,
founder & CEO, re/make
-
Nikki Sanchez, indigenous
activist
-
Ana Patricia Cocom Mutul, Hong Ho Apparel Factory
-
R. Simita, Cutting Department at Connoisseur Fashions
Fair Trade USA, through its AHG Factory program, partners with brands and
factories to improve worker well-being at manufacturing facilities by enforcing
rigorous health and safety
standards
and ensuring workers are engaged, represented, and receive supplemental income
to improve their livelihoods through Fair Trade USA’s unique Community
Development
Funds. Fair
Trade USA’s AHG Factory program launched in 2011 with 3 factories in 2
countries. Today, the program reaches over 75 factories in 13 countries, with
over 140,000 fair trade factory employees benefiting.
Read more about "We Wear Fair
Trade" …
Fashion Revolution launches latest campaign, Transparency Index
Image credit: H&M
On Tuesday, Fashion Revolution released the fifth edition of its Fashion
Transparency Index — the
biggest to date, covering 250 of the world’s biggest fashion brands and
retailers. The Index shows which brands are leading the way on transparency,
which have seen the greatest improvement in their scores, and where there is
more work to be done.
This year’s top spots, in order, went to H&M, C&A, adidas/Reebok, Esprit
and Marks & Spencer.
Image credit: Fashion Revolution
The majority of brands and retailers lack transparency on social and
environmental issues. More than half of brands (54 percent) score 20 percent or
less. Despite this, there are fewer low-scoring brands this year compared to
last year. For example, 28 percent of brands score 10 percent or less in 2020,
compared to 36 percent of brands in 2019.
However, the Index sees many brands taking steps towards greater transparency:
Out of the 98 brands reviewed since 2017, the average score has increased by 12
percentage points.
With changes to its systems and structures, the fashion industry has the
potential to provide millions of people with decent and dignified livelihoods
and conserve and restore our living planet. The Spotlight Issues of this year’s
Index includes a section on brands’ purchasing practices, which have come under
increasing scrutiny in recent weeks.
“In the midst of this global pandemic, the need for citizens to hold brands and
retailers to account is more pressing than ever before,” says Carry Somers,
co-founder and Global Operations Director of Fashion Revolution. “Over the past
weeks, we have seen the devastating impact of brands’ buying practices on some
of the most vulnerable workers overseas. Now, more than ever, we need to keep
asking #whomademyclothes and hold these brands, many of whom have made immense
profits in recent years, to account for their actions.”
As in past years, Fashion Revolution is calling on citizens to ask
#WhoMadeMyClothes? and demand that fashion brands protect the workers
in their supply chain, especially during this unprecedented global health
and economic crisis.
A new hashtag has also been launched for Fashion Revolution Week 2020:
#WhatsInMyClothes? By introducing a new campaign question and
highlighting the findings from Somers'
eXXpedition voyage to
research microplastic pollution, Fashion Revolution will shed light on the
substances hidden in our
clothes.
As part of this focus on the composition of our clothing, the Fashion
Transparency Index considers brands’ approaches to restricted substances,
their commitment to eliminating virgin plastics and the steps they are
taking to prevent microplastic pollution.
Read more about the campaign ...
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Apr 22, 2020 11am EDT / 8am PDT / 4pm BST / 5pm CEST