Denim Première Vision / Smart Talks Report

Smart Talks Report 18-19 May 2016

DENIM PREMIÈRE VISION SMART TALKS: SUSTAINABILITY IS INNOVATION. Last May 18th and 19th, Denim Première Vision held its 18th edition at the Fira Montjuïc in Barcelona, gathering the international denim community for two days of business, networking and meeting: 3,803 international visitors - Fashion brands, premium denim brands, pure players, large distribution companies, independent stylists, big luxury names – and 95 exhibitors among the most influential companies in the denim industry..

This edition was the occasion for the leading show to launch the Denim Première Vision x Blue Lab area dedicated to responsible denim. In this space created in partnership with Amsterdam-based platform Blue Lab*, Denim Première Vision initiated the first Smart Talks. Moderated by Giusy Bettoni, Première Vision’s consultant in sustainable innovationand CEO of C.L.A.S.S., these talks gave visitors a way to approach and better understand the key opportunities and innovations in terms of responsible creation and production in the denim industry, based on the experience of professional guests – exhibitors and brands: Over three sessions, denim experts talked about how they incorporate sustainability in their production and creation processes. And above all, they shared their ways of stimulating their customers – brands or final consumers - to buy more responsible products. ‘Make it sexy’ is one way to do it, but it requires more than that.

#smart.talks

may 2016 After a quick introduction, and before discussion and exchange of ideas, Chantal Malingrey shared the main results and the key figures of the Smart Facts study: a survey Denim Première Vision’s exhibitors completed in order to highlight and communicate their Smart Facts – commitments and initiatives in terms of sustainable creation and production.

#smart.talks

barcelona may 2016

* Blue Lab is the world's first and only independent Denim Laundry Platform dedicated to education, training, sustainability and trend research

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Smart Talks Report 18-19 May 2016

THE SMART FACTS STUDY – KEY FIGURES. For several months, Première Vision had been working on a study launched towards all its exhibitors to know more about their Smart Facts and processes.

A survey they could choose to answer or not, as well as to highlight the smart initiatives they want, the questions being not mandatory.

The organizers of Denim Première Vision are now working on tools and means to communicate on the exhibitors’ smart facts and initiatives, and to create visibility for the companies that took part to the questionnaire.

2/3 of the companies that were willing to answer -and thus that are the most involved in sustainable issuescome from Europe and Turkey. Among them, 75% have a CSR person or department which shows their actual concern.

Through this unique study, the aim was to allow every exhibitor at Première Vision shows to point out their key smart values, which are: p The traceability of material sourcing p The transparency of their production processes p The Environmental and social commitments

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Smart Talks Report 18-19 May 2016

The main results regarding Denim Première Vision’s exhibiting companies:

Raw material sourcing ¡ 90% of exhibitors have at least one supplier in Europe 71% of them in Italy Turkey comes second (68% of answers) followed by China, Spain, Germany and France ¡ A large majority of exhibitors do control the origins of materials, 93% of them being totally or at least partly traceable.

Production processes ¡ 86% of the companies’ production units are based in Europe and Turkey, the rest being in Asia: • 50% have at least one production unit in Turkey • 36% have at least one production unit in Europe. ¡ 93% of the exhibitors’ production processes are totally or partly transparent and traceable

Environmental values Most of the companies’ initiatives in terms of environment are private and in-house ones detached from certification: they are willing to improve by themselves, considering it is important for their own functioning. ¡ 75% of the companies declare to have in-house initiatives to manage energies: photo-voltaic systems, in-house energy production units or windmills; ¡ 75% of exhibitors have set up initiatives, mainly private ones, to improve water saving: Recycling old waters thanks to in-house treatment plants, re-using rain water; ¡ 90% of exhibitors declared they have specific policies to reduce the use of chemicals: replacing chemical use by laser or other technologies; working with certified responsible suppliers; following strict national laws such as European ones Social commitments ¡ 96% of the exhibitors work under strict national laws.

But it is important to note that in the meantime, they all develop internal policies to improve work conditions showing their concern.

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Smart Talks Report 18-19 May 2016

THE SMART TALKS - REPORT Chantal Malingrey, Director of Denim Première Vision, and Ugur Yilmaz, director of Blue Lab, opened this first series of Smart Talks.

As explained by Chantal Malingrey, «the Denim Smart Talks are part of our Smart Creation platform.

Sustainability - integrated in style, performance, innovation and creation - has become a competitive factor and a new value throughout the fashion industry. It is also a challenge for the denim industry, being one of the most advanced areas.

Through its Smart Creation program, Première Vision is proposing new studies and activities designed to identify and communicate its exhibitors’ Smart Facts: initiatives in sustainable creation and production.

Since November 15, Denim Première Vision has its own program of Smart Creation.

This season, Denim Première Vision has joined forces with the platform Blue Lab and has created a special area, dedicated to responsible denim. Together with Blue Lab we want to contribute to the industry with more sustainable values.

It is a place to discover the latest news and innovations in sustainable denim developments. It is also a place for our Smart Talks, where industry professionals and experts can share their experience on how to activate the fashion value chain in a responsible manner.»

Ugur Yilmaz to add: "We call it Smart Talks because in our business, everybody talks about sustainability, but we call it smart, because we need to find smart ways to make our business more sustainable."

The speakers • Trevor Harrison – Design Director, Pepe Jeans • Ebru Ozaydin - Heads of Sales and Marketing, Calik Denim • Guislain Dumont - Collection Manager for Pants, Jules • Thibault Greuzat – CEO, Dorlet • Salman Choudhry – Founder & CEO, ODO denim • Carmen Silla – Marketing, Jeanologia • Andreas Guggenbühl – Co-Founder, Selfnation • Miguel Sanchez – Head of Global Business Development, Denim & Casualwear, Archroma

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Smart Talks Report 18-19 May 2016

Do we need a ‘smart talk’ about denim?

Yes we do. Integrating responsibility into the denim process has become a competitive advantage for brands and an extra value for consumers. At the same time there’s a lot of confusion about sustainable practices.

There’s a general lack of information whatever is available, is often unclear and sometimes incorrect.

Giusy Bettoni, moderator of the Smart Talks, asked the guests to share their ideas on how to communicate properly about sustainability.

Trevor Harrison, addressed the audience: «It starts with you all, brands and industry players. You’ve got to start to get knowledge about the industry and all the new technologies. Once you have the knowledge it’s easy to start develop products in that direction. You will be amazed of the things you can do, anything is possible today» Ebru Ozaydin, talked about her responsibility ‘in the middle’ of the production chain: «We really want to help the other players in the supply chain. As a supplier in between chemical companies, farmers, brands and consumers, we need to give more information to the brands, it’s a collaborative mindset. And if we don’t know the answer, we are not afraid to ask around» Guislain Dumont explained: «We look at the pros and cons of innovations -not just at the green hangtag- to find out if they really make a difference and communicate this to our customers. We realized that we actually have little knowledge in this field and that we couldn’t explore this by ourselves. We associated with Blue Lab to educate ourselves and to share knowledge with their partners.»

Responsibility needs sexier marketing

Giusy Bettoni stated that ‘sustainability’ isn’t a good word these days. It has turned into a hollow phrase and lost its meaning and attraction for consumers.

Ebru: "I think we need to change the language to the final consumer, because we are dealing with a really different generation now" Trevor: "The word sustainability is not sexy at all. You need cool, explanatory campaigns and products and then people will buy into it. At Pepe Jeans we worked very hard on True Blue, a line with 0% chemicals in the washing process and less than 5 litres of water used on every pair of jeans. The sell-through was one of the best ever. This was not because of the sustainability, but because it was a beautiful product."

Miguel Sanchez to add: "We distinguish conventional denim and ‘more sustainable’ denim. I don’t like to say ‘sustainable’ denim, because there is no clear definition."

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Smart Talks Report 18-19 May 2016

Innovation: we need storymakers

Innovation is key in adopting more sustainable processes.

As Giusy Bettoni said, «we have storytellers in this industry, but we need more storymakers».

She pointed out that it’s not possible for all companies to adopt innovation; it requires strong dedication to adopt this into the company structure.

Thibault Greuzat, explained: "We offer our customers new things and we share our knowhow on how things are created. As a partner of Blue Lab we have a showroom in their space with our machines and collection. We plan to put a 3D printer there as well. This will enable us to design and make products in only a few hours."

Miguel Sanchez, pointed out that the industry may very well run out of resources for denim production, by using so many resources. That’s why Archroma developed Advantage Denim: "It’s a more sustainable denim that uses a minimum amount of resources. It uses dyes that are 100% fixed, which means that we don’t need water to wash off the chemicals. They don’t bleed in the wash so we don’t produce affluences with chemical residues."

Start-ups with innovation in their DNA offer interesting possibilities for companies that want to adopt (bigger or smaller) sustainable processes. Two start-ups joined the Smart Talks.

ODO Denim launched a fabric that’s ‘stain and stink resistant’. The company’s mission is to offer an intelligent solution to consumers, to save on laundry washes.

Salman Choudry, founder and CEO: "We have added silver fibres to the yarn to prevent bacteria growth. This technology can be used for all denims. We want to give consumers the freedom to wear clothes as long as they want, without washing."

Swiss company Selfnation developed an algorithm for affordable, custom-made jeans. It enables companies to offer a special product and at the same time save energy and resources that are normally used for mass production.

CEO and co-founder Andreas Guggenbühl: "Producing without stock and perfect fitting jeans are our main things. Custom-made production is time consuming but we have developed a custom made technology that is profitable for the company and offers the customer perfect fitting jeans."

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Smart Talks Report 18-19 May 2016

The future of denim

The future of denim depends on dedication to innovation and developing a new way of design-thinking, involving other ways of using resources.

Trevor: "You have to make a product that looks exactly the same with the chemicals as it does without the chemicals. And that can actually be done. And the fact that we’re doing it actively inside our companies will turn it into a standard for the industry in say, ten years."

Hemotion is a design philosophy developed by François Girbaud in collaboration with Jeanologia. Hemotion challenges designers to look at the world from a new perspective: from the bottom to the top. It’s a creative way to make people understand their responsibility.

Francois Girbaud: "Hem’ is the bottom of the trousers, mixed with ‘emotion’ it creates Hemotion.

Jeans are about being sexy and original. We should not forget that. Hemotion is a think-thank for designers and suppliers and we want to inspire them to be more creative –startin g with the hems for instance-, to think different. We have all the technology to be more sustainable, now we need to be more creative and to think about how we are going to explain to consumers what they are buying, and whether it’s good or not good."

Giusy Bettoni rounded up the Smart Talks with a positive remark: "We are here to communicate about the companies that are making a commitment and people have never been more committed to sustainability as they are now. The projects we talked about during these Smart Talks prove that things can be really fantastic and innovative and offer good performance at the same time."

Contacts: Denim Première Vision Press Office 2e Bureau Igor Robinet-Slansky Marie-Laure Girardon T. +33(0)1 70 38 70 30 T. +33(0)1 42 33 93 18 M. +33(0)6 42 06 31 02 m.girardon@2e-bureau.com i.robinet@premierevision.com

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