2020 Denim Sustainability Report

W E N VE A W E R O M A R O F S N O I T U L Y O R S T S E U V I D T N A I N M R I N E D A LT E E L B A N I S U S TA

ALT-WORLD T

his report focuses on alternative ways to produce denim. But the funny thing about the word “alternative” is how the ideas that are initially perceived as alternative soon enough become mainstream—and often times it’s for the better of mankind and the planet.

So-called alternative lifestyles—a dubious term to label any individual that doesn’t subscribe to traditional gender, marriage or societal norms—are now celebrated for their individuality (not to mention they inject heaps of creativity and passion into our industry). Alternative plant-based meat is now a $801 million industry, and it’s being flipped at your local Burger King. And Nirvana and Pearl Jam—arguably the godfathers of alt rock—are revered in the eyes of Gen Z, inspiring the next generation of artists the same way Elvis inspired The Beatles and James Brown inspired Michael Jackson—both of whom would have been considered “alternative” in their heyday.

If the alternative methods to indigo dyeing, transparency, design and marketing examined in this report have the same trajectory as the Beyond Burger or The Beatles, then it is safe to suggest that the denim industry is progressing in a more responsible direction. Investments across the denim supply chain are awakening a new wave of innovation that aims to eliminate waste, chemicals and denim’s reliance on water, and in the process, help hold companies accountable for their sustainability claims.

These solutions provide an alternative way to manufacture and conduct business, which may not be an easy pill to swallow for an industry as steeped in heritage and tradition as denim. However, if there is a lesson to learn from the social and environmental movements that have swept across the world in the past six months, it is this: we can correct past mistakes.

Now is the time for companies to come out of their corporate shell and become more human. Embrace alternative strategies that allow you to create with less. Provide an open forum for new voices. Allow the next generation to guide you, as they often see the potential in an alternative idea before anyone else. The world is watching.

Angela Velasquez Rivet executive editor

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

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NEW IDEAS From graphene denim to biodegradable stretch jeans, the denim supply chain continues to push boundaries

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DEEPER MEANING The pandemic is awakening a new sense of responsibility in the denim industry

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STARTING POINT A transparent supply chain begins with traceable fibers

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SHADES OF BLUE Sustainable indigo solutions are washing over the denim sector

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HEMP’S HEYDAY Hemp-blended denim is set to be next season’s ‘It’ fabrication

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PAST MEETS FUTURE Consumers, designers and retailers are discovering the upside of upcycling denim

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ECO ENGAGEMENT Players in the denim industry are opting for less waste and more substance in their marketing and event strategies

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GLOBAL CITIZENS The denim industry’s Italian-Californians chart a stylish course toward a more sustainable future

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SUPER MATERIAL Advance Denim debuts the first denim made with graphene.

As performance and sustainability gain influence with consumers, suppliers like Advance Denim understand it is not enough to provide one without the other. And the mill’s solution is Kyorene Graphene Denim, the first denim fabric infused with graphene nano particles, “the lightest, thinnest, hardest and strongest material known to man.”

Kyorene Graphene Denim is essentially an all-in-one fabric, and its application is a low impact, environmentally safe process. Described as a “super material” that is 1,000-times finer than human hair, yet is 100-times stronger than steel, the single-layer graphene fiber enhances denim with bacteriostatic and deodorizing properties, and effectively protects skin by blocking ultraviolet rays. Fabrics infused with graphene also possess strong cooling and wicking properties, and have far-infrared heating which can improve microcirculation and promote metabolism.

Since its discovery in 2004 by professors at the University of Manchester in the U.K., graphene has been applied to batteries, spacesuits, cut-free gloves, high performance bicycles and activewear, but its potential for everyday apparel like jeans, said Mark Ix, Advance Denim director of marketing, North America, is just beginning, especially as consumers are seeking antibacterial alternatives.

“As we learn more of the benefits of graphene, we feel [there will be] truly be more exciting applications,” he said. “It truly is a future fiber.” —Angela Velasquez

2020 RIVET DENIM REPORT

DESIGN GLOBA L LY, DEL I V ER LOCA L LY Twin Dragon expands its sustainable footprint in Mexico.

As the pandemic reignites conversations about nearshoring for denim brands in the U.S., Twin Dragon is positioning itself as a local alternative for environmentally-produced fabrics. The global company, which already has a footprint in Mexico, China, Vietnam and Nicaragua, opened a brand-new factory in Mexico on June 1.

Located in Tamaulipas, Mexico, the new facility stretches over 1.5 million square feet and employs roughly 1,000 employees. The mill will produce 100 percent denim and denim-related products, and is set to produce between 22 million and 25 million yards annually, said Bo Dean, Twin Dragon vice president of sales.

Equipped with resource-saving machinery, the Tamaulipas facility will be Twin Dragon’s most sustainable mill yet. “We aim to provide all options in protecting our environment with our manufacturers in this region to maintain standards upholding to official requirements as well as offering a competitive edge to the market,” Dean said.

The mill, he added, is the first in North and Central America to offer eco finishing, which Dean described as a waterless finish applied to fabrics that reduces energy and chemical usage during the wash and laser processes. “We are also one of the first mills in Mexico to use liquid indigo, which also reduces water usage and allows for zero discharge of hazardous chemicals (ZDHC),” Dean said.

With the mindset to “design global, deliver local,” the new addition to the Twin Dragon portfolio is just one part of the mill’s extensive strategy to give clients sustainable alternatives closer to home. Clients have access to fabrics made with recycled and biodegradable polyester, Tencel, Gracell and recycled cotton.

“We have been investing in environmental and sustainable practices since 2015 and will continue to move forward in this direction,” Dean said.

“This is the only way we can continue to maintain business while preserving the environment for now and for future generations to come.” —AV

GOA L OR IENTED Calik Denim puts a sustainable business strategy in place.

Though Calik Denim addresses resource management with Denethic and Washpro—innovations that require less water, chemicals and energy—the denim mill is fine-tuning its sustainable journey. The phrase, “Passion for Denim, Passion for Life,” serves as a new framework for the company as it works to turn its sustainable business model into a strategy to achieve a set of sustainable targets by 2025.

“With an understanding of answering to the needs of a changing world, we have decided to focus on three main pillars to achieve our purpose: leading innovative products, creating a positive impact for our stakeholders, and reducing our impact on the environment,” said Selen Ergül, Calik Denim marketing communications executive.

Under each of these pillars, Calik will work on certain material issues focusing R&D on product quality, safety and sustainable raw material procurement, and improving water stewardship and chemi-

cals management. The company, Ergül said, plans to invest in research projects that are capable of “igniting conversation throughout the ecosystem” and to invest in partnerships that would support its vision.

The strategy, she added, contributes to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Decent Work and Economic Growth (8), Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (9), Reduced Inequalities (10), Responsible Consumption and Production (12), Climate Action (13), Life Below Water (14), Life on Land (15) and Partnerships for the Goals (17).

“We are aware that the global challenges and trends such as climate change, resource scarcity, changing consumer behaviors, new technologies and digitalization affect all industries,” Ergül said. “With this understanding, we know that denim industry is facing environmental and social changes and risks. We aim to manage these risks proactively and turn them into opportunities, manage the impact of denim on life and to create positive value for our stakeholders. We aim to become a pioneer for the transformation of denim industry.”—AV

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NATUR AL ELEMENT Candiani Denim wants to replenish the planet’s natural resources with jeans.

Sometimes it takes a denim pioneer to introduce a game-changing solution for the very product it helped put on the map. Or so was the case for Candiani Denim, which recently debuted plant-based biodegradable stretch denim.

The mill’s Coreva stretch technology is made with organic cotton wrapped around a natural rubber core. By replacing the common synthetic and petrol-based elastomers with a new, custom-engineered component, Candiani has achieved the first-ever biodegradable stretch denim fabric without compromising elasticity and recovery properties. The result means brands can offer stretch jeans made from renewable resources and free from plastics and microplastics.

“At Candiani we are innovation purists,” said Alberto Candiani, owner of Candiani Denim.

“Back in the early ’90s, we felt like stretch denim needed to be more feminine and so we blended aesthetics and performance in order to give a classier twist to our beloved ‘rustic’ fabric,” he said. “Shortly after, comfort, even for men’s jeans, was in demand by the whole industry.

As we were the ‘stretch denim leaders’ we knew we could raise the bar of sustainable innovation through our R&D.”

As the company began to examine renewable resources, the mill soon landed on biodegradability as the way forward. Coreva, Candiani said, is a “fabric born from a genuine vision for the future of denim, always looking at full circularity as the final answer to the landfill issue.”

Biodegradable is emerging as a buzzword in F/W 21-22 fabric collections, however, Candiani pointed out three key distinctions about Coreva. It is the only 100 percent biodegradable stretch yarn coming from 100 percent renewable natural sources. Coreva’s performance at high elasticity is better than common elastomers, he said. And it allows denim to “return to nature what comes from nature,” meaning garments made with Coreva can be composted at the end of their lifecycle and bio-fertilize the same fields where Candiani sources its cotton with full traceability and transparency.

Denham the Jeanmaker, Hiut Denim, Stella McCartney and Triarchy are among the 11 key brands that have signed on as early adopters of Coreva. The list is a true reflection of the global scope of sustainable fashion brands that align with Candiani’s passion for R&D and innovation. The mill plans to eventually make Coreva available to more brands in early 2021.

Though Candiani said his company is several years away from scaling Coreva across its entire range of stretch denim, the innovation (and positive industry feedback) is motivating him to research other segments that can be biodegradable, especially indigo dyes.

“That is our new challenge and we are on it, big time,” Candiani said. “We have begun exploring natural indigo and its clean applications through advanced complementary technologies, like nitrogen and Kitotex, so that all of our sludge can become bio-fertilizer too.”

“Again, it’s all about the vision and how to make it happen through R&D and pretty crazy hard-working people,” he said. —AV

2020 RIVET DENIM REPORT

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PL ATINUM STATUS Creating the first C2C Platinum certified denim is the beginning for Rajby.

As Cradle to Cradle (C2C) certified denim becomes more accessible, denim mills are challenging themselves to reach higher levels of circularity. Rajby kicked off the year by introducing the first C2C Platinum certified denim called Beluga, a 100 percent organic cotton, non-indigo natural fabric made in an entirely closed loop process. Along with being 100 percent recyclable and biodegradable, Beluga is made using renewable energy sources, and in an organizational setup that has remarkable CSR compliance records.

Though the premise was simple enough, according to Safdar Shah, Rajby senior manager of R&D—the mill wanted to eliminate “the bad” and add “all the good” to denim’s lifecycle—executing the project was not without a unique set of challenges. “The biggest ask that probably made this certificate the most difficult to achieve is to take care of issues that are beyond our control,” he said.

After achieving C2C’s Gold certificate in 2019, Rajby had already overcome all the in-house hurdles and was set to go beyond. For the Platinum certificate, however, the mill had to ensure the off-setting of carbon even at the level of cotton transportation—from field to ginning factories—and ensure not just chemicals were C2C certified, but also the individual component of a compound chemical would be duly

verified. At the retail level, Rajby had to guarantee that garments made with the fabric would be sold by a retailer (in this case, C&A) with a recycling system in place to receive the garment at the end of its lifecycle.

“So, more than 90 percent of the time taken to get the platinum certificate was consumed to ensure active cycling mechanism with traceability,” he said.

Despite the challenges, Sadaf described Beluga as “just a milestone” in Rajby’s journey toward circularity. The company, he said, strongly believes in C2C because the protocol is proven to make a sustainable impact. “We have been following other sustainability approaches, but the level of transparency and traceability that we have seen in C2C is something that we believe will actually make the real difference,” he said. “It is not just being witnessed in documents but it actually makes sure that real things are happening at the real grounds from start to end.”

The company plans to carve out more C2C innovations, including certified indigo denim once there are indigo sources that meet the qualifications. “Rajby’s R&D will always be digging out the next level possibilities and for this specific aspect, color denim will be our first priority,” he said. “We did not stop our efforts during the pandemic days and, of course, we will be even more vibrant in normal circumstance.” —AV

2020 RIVET DENIM REPORT

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L A BOUND Saitex moves forward with Los Angeles ‘factory of the future.’

Vietnam denim manufacturer Saitex is sticking with plans to open up its first U.S. operation in the City of Angels. With American clients like J.Crew, Everlane, Target, Outerknown and more, the denim heavy hitter has been plotting a stateside move since before the pandemic struck. In April, founder and chief executive Sanjeev Bahl told Kingpins podcast host Alison Nieder he believes the factory is still on track to be fully operational by Q3 or Q4 of this year, despite the challenges imposed by the spread of the coronavirus.

Characterizing the new facility as the “factory of the future,” Bahl said it would encompass all of the technology, robotics, artificial intelligence and digital assets the company has cultivated thus far in its Vietnam factory.

Saitex has prided itself on carrying the sustainability torch for the denim industry, and the Los Angeles facility will incorporate the manufacturer’s most successful advancements. Run with clean, renewable energy, its Vietnam factory is the first in Asia to achieve B Corp status. “We would mirror what we have scaled in our Vietnam facilities,” Bahl told Rivet of the new factory, which will include solar thermal, water recycling and clean energy that doesn’t rely on fossil fuels. The plant will be “fairly automated,” he added, and will operate on Industry 4.0 Standards via the use of lasers, ozone, e-flow and one-step wash technologies that will further reduce its CO2 footprint.

Initially, the factory will produce 600,000 units per year, though Bahl said he expects the capacity to increase gradually and peak at 1.2 million units per year.

The L.A. experiment could determine Saitex’s future stateside plans, he said. “Based on the success of our first foray into manufacturing in the U.S., it would allow us to expand into different geographies,” he said. Benefits to that strategy would include the development of collaborative relationships and agile distribution, he said.

First, though, the new operation must work to build up its customer base. Brands seeking to push their businesses forward into the 21st century will relish having all of the elements of production under one roof, Bahl said. “Organizations who seek

on-shored smart manufacturing with speed and realistic pricing will benefit from our manufacturing infrastructure,” he said.

They’ll have to do some acclimating when it comes to pricing, he admitted. “Traditionally, factories in the U.S. are two times more expensive than Far East manufacturing for premium jeans,” he said. “We intend to come in at one-and-a-half times on the cost, but the added advantage for our clients would be our development capabilities.”

Travel restrictions implemented in light of the COVID-19 crisis will mean development and production will straddle two hemispheres, however.

“For the current situation and the foreseeable future, with overseas travel constraints, the U.S. facility would be able to develop product for Vietnam manufacturing,” Bahl said, since the equipment and chemistry will be seamlessly aligned between the two facilities. “This further blended cost model would make our proposition even more attractive,” he added. —Kate Nishimura

Biodegradable organic dyes as well as Analine free dyeing Low Environmental impact

2020 RIVET DENIM REPORT

We use organic cotton, recycled yarns, biodegradable polyester, we make sure to source the most sustainable options in our production.

TOGETHER TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE!

70% Less Water

23% Less Energy

Less Carbon Footprint

This makes SIDDIQSONS known for its high tech operations and cutting edge innovations along with being one of the most sustainable mills in Pakistan.

WE USE ONE GLASS OF WATER INSTEAD OF 400 GLASSES TO COMPLETE GARMENT PROCESS.

It is a laundry process that eliminates all the key elements of environmental issues resulting from denim processing. The key metric is the ability to recycle the water being used. It will use laser technology to reduce chemicals such as permanganate that goes onto garments during dry processing.

17% Less Co2 Emissions

Our 'One

glass One garment' collection at SIDDIQSONS comes from the first and only laundry in

Pakistan by Jeanologia

This technology is also being used to eliminate scraping during dry processing which is traditionally done by hand and in turn is harmful for the environment and employees that work in these units. Additionally, it uses ozone to eliminate the chemicals in bleach so that you are able to pull color o the fabric.

This collaboration with Jeanlogia became very important as it brings SIDDIQSONS into the next level of invements that will take place in the denim industry.

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GOLDEN OPPORTUNIT Y Artistic Fabric Mills turns waste into C2C Gold certified fabrics.

Though waste has always been an issue in manufacturing, attention on what to do with it—or how to lessen it—has never been greater than it is now, with investments being poured into closing the loop. Artistic Fabric Mills (AFM) is doing its part with Earthmatic, the first-ever Cradle to Cradle Gold certified denim fabric made with recycled mill waste.

The Earthmatic collection includes four fabrics varying in weight from 9.5 oz. to 12.5 oz., and come in several constructions including comfort stretch, rigid and an option for shirting. Each fabric is a blend of organic cotton and 5 percent recycled mill waste and is dyed and finished using AFM’s Double Zero Technology, which eliminates waste water in both stages. The fabric range is also produced using 50 percent renewable energy.

“The intention to use recycled cotton waste, sourced and processed at our own mill, was very clear from the start,” said AFM

director Haya Iqbal Ahmed. “However, this elongated the certification process which is extremely rigorous and it took us almost a year to get the certification in January 2020.”

Recycling is a major focal point for AFM. Nearly all of the company’s articles have recycled cotton content from its recycling plant. Along with importing discarded jeans and shredding them into fiber to make new fabrics, AFM collects an average of more than 88,000 lbs. of textile waste per month from its own production, which is cycled back into its manufacturing process.

“While this helps treat the massive waste problem of the apparel retail industry, it makes you question how the supply chain is handling its own waste, which is often times quite toxic in nature,” Ahmed said.

Brands and consumers, however, are taking note of efforts to close to the loop. Most clients are aware of the C2C certification and what it means, Admed said. “However, I think understanding of how rigorous and detailed the certification process is and exactly what the assessment categories encompass, is not widely known,” she added.

AFM is taking steps to educate through product guides, and just as importantly, make Earthmatic accessible. “AFM is a sustainable denim manufacturer and all our developments are mindful of our customer’s price points,” she said.

“The focus is always on creating fabrics that are both functional and financially feasible for the brands that we work with. We believe that this is the only way the industry will be able to shift towards a cleaner supply chain, and our Earthmatic C2C certified range is no different.”—AV

2020 RIVET DENIM REPORT

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DEEPER MEANING The pandemic is awakening a new sense of responsibility in the denim industry. w o r d s _____ L IZ WARR EN

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hough the definition of sustainability has always been up for debate, the COVID-19 crisis has forced denim experts to reconsider the true meaning and value of sustainable denim. What many have found is that sustainability’s benefits have stretched far beyond environmental and societal, and become the indicator of whether a business will fail or succeed. It’s no longer nice for a company to be sustainable—it’s essential. And consumers are taking note.

On the business side, the pandemic exposed areas in which companies could shorten and optimize their supply chains, and highlighted the benefits of local, slow production.

On the consumer side, it demonstrated the true value of purchasing fewer, but better, items.

As a result, many in the industry are using this time to reexamine their processes, set new sustainability goals and prepare for a post-pandemic consumer who will shape the future of fashion.

Amy Leverton,

founder and owner, Denim Dudes On defining sustainability Sustainability to me is about a holistic approach to life: looking at the way we each live our daily lives, from carbon footprint, to home recycling, to the brands we buy into. For those of us in the apparel industry, there is so much hard work to do. As a trend forecaster, I can’t make my clients stop producing clothes, but I have the power to influence the way in which they produce. So, for me personally,

2020 RIVET DENIM REPORT

sustainability is about altering my behavior as an individual to make the least impact on my environment and encourage those around me to do the same.

On how COVID-19 changed your perception of sustainability in denim I have noticed many changes in my outlook and perspective, from physical to philosophical. My life has gone back to a version of me as a teenager; a period in my life when I created for the pleasure of it, enjoyed nature on a more regular basis and was a more adventurous and creative person because I had the time to be. Now that the rug has been pulled from under us and we can no longer rely on the things that we thought we had to do, I am realizing that I could have stopped them at any time.

This isn’t to say that I have figured out a new plan or way of life for myself postCOVID-19, but I am assessing all these things and figuring out what I would like my denim future to look like. I will certainly be making changes. My goal is to align with people, companies and processes that I truly believe in, support and nurture talent that I feel inspired by, and say no more often.

ation of waste or unnecessary use of natural resources. Sustainability begins the moment data is assigned to current usage and waste, and records show continual improvement.

On how COVID-19 changed your perception of sustainability in denim I really don’t see how a pandemic could possibly change my perception. The fact is that the world has shut down and obviously, we have less waste and our CO2 footprint has been reduced.

Nothing has changed in our plans or mind. We have always believed in sustainable manufacturing and farming. In 2020, we launched Transformers Foundation 2020 in order to promote education to consumers and businesses about how to implement sustainable practices, and what is real change and what is greenwashing.

Andrew Olah,

Haya Iqbal Ahmed,

On defining sustainability We consider sustainability to be a commitment to the process of avoiding depletion of natural resources and damage to the environment through reckless cre-

On defining sustainability Sustainability is the study of a product’s lifecycle to measure and improve its environmental and socio-economic impact— including the natural resources it consumes, amount of waste it

founder, Kingpins Show, Transformers Foundation

director, Artistic Fabric Mills

generates and wellbeing of workers. This, of course, involves product design, production, distribution and sales, but also includes the after-sale life of the product and the impact created by its consumption. Therefore, when thinking about sustainability, we have to be mindful of not only how a product is created, but also how it is consumed—and, ultimately, what happens to it at the end of its lifecycle—and make informed decisions to improve its impact.

On how COVID-19 changed your perception of sustainability in denim In general, COVID-19 has forced us to reflect on the impact that industries have had on the environment. It is no coincidence that after just a few weeks of lockdown, several countries experienced improved air quality and witnessed the ecosystem healing. I believe that, for the denim industry, this is a sobering thought that should push us to authentically improve our practices if we want the planet to not only exist, but thrive for future generations. This means that, along with using sustainable fibers and reducing water and energy consumption and the use of harmful chemicals, we must also scale sustainably and reduce the waste generated by our industry.

This is an opportunity to reset, and at Artistic Fabric Mills, we have defined three goals that we believe need immediate action. The first is to tackle the issue of excess inventory. We are finding ways to work with our brand partners to reduce, reuse and recycle deadstock, surplus production and leftover inventory. Second, reduce our de-

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pendency on water- and energy-thirsty crops, like virgin cotton, by switching to alternative options such as hemp, recycled cotton, Tencel and biodegradable fibers, and focus on protective finishes to offer value. And third, scale up sustainably by investing in the most sustainable technology available today. Green purchasing, water recycling, automated and eco-friendly machinery are key areas of investment for us moving forward. It’s hard to say what the consumer’s mindset will be in the aftermath of COVID-19, but we’re committed to doing our part to better educate the consumer on the merits of sustainable choices and strengthen our circular mission by closing the loop on our manufacturing process.

Maurice Malone,

owner and designer, Williamsburg Garment Company, Inc. and Maurice Malone

On how COVID-19 changed your perception of sustainability in denim COVID-19 created a new sales category. Adding mask production was a no-brainer for brands that could produce domestically, as imports could be seized.

Small fabric scraps, unnecessary samples and styles could be cut up and repurposed as stylish masks.

I have always thought that it is important to manufacture essential products here at home. I don’t think it’s smart for the U.S. manufacturers of technology, healthcare, or the military industries to be so reliant on outsourced supply chains, and COVID-19 has shown us that. I believe COVID-19 will make many companies look to diversify their supply chains.

criteria in which to guide us to more sustainable materials and production processes. This topto-bottom review of not only our product but our footprint from a company office, distribution and store fleet led us to the promise that by 2023, 80 percent of our products would have sustainable properties.

That promise is not something we take lightly, and we are transparently sharing the approach and progress of our Sustainable For All Mankind platform through a robust section on our website.

Suzanne Silverstein,

president, 7 For All Mankind

On defining sustainability I define sustainability in fashion as products made in a way that is healthy for the environment and produced with materials that are recycled, reusable or do not produce lots of non-reusable or harmful waste.

On how COVID-19 changed your perception of sustainability in denim COVID-19 has not changed the way we see sustainability, but may have accelerated it for other organizations. We recently completed a ninemonth intensive review of our materials, manufacturing and labor practices and developed a framework of measurable

C R ED I T: P R ES S TI G I E UX

On defining sustainability Sustainability is our present and future. It’s our responsibility as business owners and consumers to take immediate and longterm action to re-define how we are operating to minimize our environmental impact.

Katrin Ley,

managing director, Fashion for Good On defining sustainability Holistically, we view sustainable under the framework of a circular system. Fashion for Good judges materials and textiles on the basis of the “Five Goods” Cradle to Cradle framework, the guiding principle of

2020 RIVET DENIM REPORT

all Fashion for Good initiatives. It looks at how sustainability is integrated across the whole supply chain of a good or product, and makes sure it is good in five important ways: materials, economy, energy, water and lives.

On how COVID-19 changed your perception of sustainability in denim Innovation, particularly in challenging times, has proven its relevance time and again to reinvigorate business as usual to achieve organizational objectives. We’re presented with an opportunity to reevaluate practices and better plan, streamline and coordinate our efforts to maintain the momentum we have achieved and to ensure our efforts remain on track once we are on the other side of this.

COVID-19 has shown the importance of embedding innovation and sustainability within the organization to help weather times of challenge. It’s an issue that every industry is facing and highlights the need for collaboration throughout the supply chain to drive the implementation of new innovations.

Andrea Venier,

managing director, Officina+39

On how COVID-19 changed your perception of sustainability in denim It will depend a lot on whether the COVID-19 is impacting each region, and by the degree of maturity with respect to sustainability of each region. For a certain period, people will generally have less money to spend on clothing. I think people will be more careful about spending their money on buying products of superior quality. We have to go back to high quality products like in the ’80s and part of the ’90s. This is for me the only future.

Brands will have to attract consumers again, but also with beautiful products. Fashion must be beautiful. It must generate emotions. To do that, brands will have to recover consumer confidence by offering transparent, sustainable, durable and quality products. People will probably buy less, but they will be willing to spend more on a better product.

Even before COVID-19, we had been carrying out an internal process involving and giving value to our people, those who design and build our technologies, those who use them to concretely wash and finish garments, and to all the people that are wearing the garments made with Tonello technologies.

The sensitivity toward people in general is something we think consumers are increasingly developing, and that’s why we hope this consciousness toward a truly responsible product can help them make the right choice.

Enrique Silla, founder, Jeanologia

Alice Tonello,

R&D and marketing director, Tonello On defining sustainability I would prefer to speak about the broader concept of responsibility rather than sustainability. To me this means respecting the planet, taking care of it and its people and the lives of all of us.

On defining sustainability Sustainability, first and foremost, is an ethical mindset. I think the value of sustainability depends on how we define it for ourselves and then put that meaning into practice. It’s about loving and respecting what nature offers us, and finding innovative solutions to current global challenges.

On how COVID-19 changed your perception of sustainability in denim Unfortunately, the word sustainability has sometimes been overused as a marketing tool, and not as a real commitment.

On defining sustainability Sustainability is no longer an option; it’s a must. It is important to keep in mind that it is increasingly important and decisive for consumers when buying a product. It is also creatively rewarding and opens our minds to new and better ways of doing

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things. It is the future and new way of life.

On how COVID-19 changed your perception of sustainability in denim It’s time to act. All industry stakeholders need to come together to transform the textile industry. Getting started on the road to sustainability helps create a virtuous circle, and it is the first step to achieving the detoxification and dehydration of the textile industry.

After COVID-19, eco-sustainable production will become obligatory. Only the companies that have put people and planet before profits, and have a purpose, will be able to survive.

Sustainability and sanitization will be the keys for the fast recovery of our industry. Now we need to gain the consumers’ trust through sanitization and through sustainability.

Digitization is also a necessity—from digital design and sourcing to digital showrooms. These are already there, but we need to accelerate and connect designers with wash developers digitally.

Alberto De Conti,

head of fashion division, Rudolf Group On defining sustainability Sustainability applied to chemistry means improving the efficiency with which natural resources are used to meet human needs. And that encompasses the design, manufacturing and use of efficient, effective, safe and more environmentally benign chemical products and processes.

On how COVID-19 changed your perception of sustainability in denim The unexpected has happened.

Fashion, luxury labels and denim manufacturers use their facilities for coronavirus relief. Take the Armani group as an example, which announced that all of its Italian production plants switched to manufacturing of single-use medical overalls. And in this effort to protect health care workers, new knowledge is acquired, new skills are being learned and a new market is potentially being discovered in the process. And that is fashionable protective equipment for ordinary people who, because of their jobs, find themselves thrown in the fray, risking their own health to keep their communities moving.

Drivers, riders, supermarket staff and others are not necessarily equipped with professional protection. They might not even want to wear professional gear, as they still want to be able to express their own personality through their clothing. Technology and science are supporting this process to get to denim that looks the part and is truly protective.

Berke Aydemir,

global technical sales and marketing manager, Naveena Denim Mills On defining sustainability For us, sustainability is a never-ending process of constant improvement for present and future generations. It is about natural resources, but it is also about people and the conditions that they live in. That is why we focus on three pillars: We endeavor to inspire with innovation, empower those around us, and restore by reducing our impact on the environment. We believe that, at the end of the day, sustainability is intrinsically linked to generosity. That’s why we have called our last collection Jeanerosity, referring to denim’s role for shifting the mindset from a profit-oriented approach to a meaningful one.

On how COVID-19 changed your perception of sustainability in denim If there is one positive thing about this crisis, it is that it has really shown everyone how interconnected we are and how we should treat nature, others around us and, finally, ourselves, with kindness. It has increased awareness about sustainability in its broader understanding encompassing economic, environmental and societal issues.

For the fashion industry, in particular, this means that fast-fashion will have to be redefined and that brands will increasingly focus on production processes that will not fill the landfills. On the consumer side, we anticipate that remote working will continue to be a part of our lives in the post-COVID-19 world. Accordingly, the demand for comfortable and functionable fabrics will be on the rise.

On the other hand, after the much expected “revenge shopping” period, spending power will probably decrease rapidly in the short to medium term, meaning that consumers will be more likely to spend on long-lasting, season-less and basic pieces.

N SEASON

IN SEASON F/W 21-22 DENIM & TRIMS LOOK BOOK DOWNLOAD NOW

STARTING

POINT Transparency in the denim industry begins with traceable fibers.

w o r d s _____ ANG E L A V EL A S QUEZ

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he denim industry is in the midst of an information revolution. For years, the supply chain, brands, retailers and consumers relied on blanket terms like “organic,” “recycled” and “eco” to decipher whether a garment is sustainable, resulting in the prevalence of greenwashing. Third-party auditors and certification programs—like the Global Organic Textile Standard, Bluesign and Cradle to Cradle—have been called upon to help validate sustainable claims within the supply chain, but the requirements, in large part, remain veiled by industry speak, forcing consumers to accept information at face value.

But times are changing. This year alone has brought a series of unfortunate events that are, in turn, forcing the fashion industry to own up to the injustices, falsehoods and bad practices it has turned a blind eye to for decades. Thanks to social media, consumers, more than ever, are plugged into the validity of the stories and values brands are marketing to them, and traceability is one way they can fact-check these claims.

In the denim industry, conversations about transparency

begin with traceable fibers. “Traceability provides the accountability and transparency of origin and quality, as well as environmental and social impact of fibers,” said Tricia Carey, Lenzing’s director of global business development for denim.

The viability, quality and growing practices of cotton crops around the world vary greatly. “As a consequence, buyers of cotton deserve to know where their cotton comes from and how it was grown, both in terms of environmental practices as well as labor standards,” said Jennifer Crumpler, e3 Cotton manager and fiber development manager at Bayer CropScience.

In this sense, traceability provides transparency for mills, brands, retailers and consumers. “For many years, the different stakeholders throughout the entire fiber value chain have not fully understood each partner, and we work every day to provide that education, awareness and understanding to everyone,” she said.

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Each season, however, there is greater access to information and the technology to share, and brands are willing to pull back the curtain and provide that information. As Carey pointed out, “What is there to hide?”

How traceable fibers work Lenzing made inroads in circularity with the 2017 launch of Refibra, the first cellulose fiber featuring recycled material on a commercial scale. The fiber also introduced a new identification system that makes it possible to identify the Refibra fiber in the finished textile.

To make Refibra, Lenzing blends wood pulp and upcycled cotton pulp, which is then dissolved with a solvent. A fiber identification is added to the fiber during this solvent stage.

This identification information can be verified at four global testing labs Lenzing utilizes for fabric certification. All certified fabrics are registered in Lenzing’s “e-branding database,” through which retailers apply for a license to use the Refibra Technology brand name. The certification is valid for two years.

While the circularity of upcycled cotton is the most important factor for Refibra, fiber identification assures brands of the recycled content, Carey explained. Many brands have made public commitments to recycling or reducing their impacts, and the fiber identification in Refibra substantiates these claims.

Demand for traceable fibers is primarily driven by 100 percent sustainable fibers pledges made by the world’s top 100 fashion brands, said Amit Gautam, CEO of TextileGenesis, the maker of Fibercoins traceable technology. “It’s not possible to tell a credible sustainability story without underpinning it with transparency and traceability,” he said.

TextileGenesis digitizes fiber volume at the point of origin, thereby controlling the amount of authentic sustainable fibers entering the supply chain network. It creates a complete digital chain of custody across all supply chain tiers from fiber through to retail, saving the entire network time and the cost incurred from using paper or PDF transaction certificates, Gautam explained.

Since 2019, Lenzing has collaborated with TextileGenesis to use its blockchain technology to support its Tencel branded fiber business, ensuring the complete transparency and traceability of its fibers in the finished garment for brands and consumers. “The technology of TextileGenesis is more than just traceability, as it can also review the impact and efficiency of the supply chain,” Carey said.

“Matching physical fiber identification with digital blockchain provides the ultimate checks and balances.”

Traceable technology company FibreTrace has been developed to ensure every member in the supply network has the ability and opportunity to partake in the technology from raw fiber to spinner, weaver, dyer, manufacturer, brand and customer through to reuse and recycling.

The company’s data provides real-time verifiable insight, which FibreTrace director Danielle Statham said allows for a single,

reliable view of the truth. “We can display scientific data surrounding raw fibers and create a unique passport of the item to be read and tracked at every stage of the supply chain from farm to shelf and beyond,” she said.

The FibreTrace system uses patented nanotechnology particles embedded in cellulose fiber. These fibers can be mixed into any natural or man-made fiber at the very start of the production process with no impact on texture or performance. The fabric can be dyed, washed, bleached and lasered with no damage to the tracing particles. They will still be instantly readable using handheld scanners at any stage in the supply chain, so users can verify the entire supply chain in real time.

Each audit is recorded on the blockchain, ensuring the information is secure, accessible and irrefutable. The

“ M AT CH I N G P H YS ICA L F IB ER IN DEN T IF ICAT ION W I T H D IG I TA L B LOCKCH A IN P ROV IDE S T H E U LT IM AT E CH ECKS A N D B A L A NCE S.” — T R IC I A C A R E Y, L E N Z I N G data, Statham described, creates an actionable AI-powered supply chain offering valuable business insights. “We hope to create access to one of the world’s largest databases of sustainable product manufacturing,” she added.

Oritain takes a different approach to traceable technology. Founded in 2008, the company has transitioned from being a traceable technology for meat and agriculture products, to working with some of the largest cotton producers in the world, including Cotton USA. Instead of relying on a traceable additive to existing fiber, Oritain technology determines a fiber’s “fingerprint” by analyzing its trace elements and isotopes, which are elements that exist naturally in all living things and are impacted by their direct environment, like climate conditions and rainfall, according to Ben Tomkins, Oritain business development manager U.K. The fingerprint, which can be audited to check authenticity, can provide information about the fiber’s coun-

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try of origin, farm of origin and region of origin. This, Tomkins noted, means Oritain is scalable, flexible and can be implemented immediately into existing supply chains.

Bayer CropScience’s e3 Cotton program is designed to trace cotton from the field in which it is grown through to finished garments or home goods. “We utilize a database collection service called MyFarms that provides not only traceability from the individual field through to the cotton gin, but allows us to collect key cotton growing metrics for each farmer in our program so that growing practices are made transparent to cotton buyers,” Crumpler said.

Data collected includes the origin of the cotton grown (at the field level), as well as sustainability measures in seven key areas: water efficiency, pesticide management and usage, soil and fertility management, greenhouse gas reduction, energy conservation, worker health and safety, and identity preservation. The data can be accessed by textile mills, brands and retailers at no cost with the permission of e3 sustainable cotton.

“Today, more than ever before, brands, retailers and consumers want to know they are receiving legitimate products that have been made responsibly and live up to their claims,” said Jean Hegedus, The Lycra Company sustainability director. “Having a system in place that can track and trace products is critical to that effort.”

The Lycra Company has several initiatives related to traceability. Lycra fibers have a unique tracer embedded in them so they can be identified throughout the distribution chain all the way to the consumer, she explained. This includes the firm’s recycled fiber offerings.

The entire EcoMade family of products—Lycra, Lycra T400, Coolmax and Thermolite EcoMade fibers—has attained GRS certification.

“This standard allows users to track and verify the content of recycled materials throughout the supply chain and also includes stringent environmental, social and chemical requirements,” Hegedus said.

In the traceability sphere, Cotton Incorporated’s role is largely to advise the industry on the development of tools. The non-profit research organization serves as “an agnostic analyst of the efficacy and viability of technologies related to traceability and as a convener of supply chain decision makers,” said Jesse Daystar, Ph.D., Cotton Incorporated vice president and chief sustainability officer.

Every bale of U.S. cotton is connected to High Volume Instrument (HVI) data that includes the physical characteristics of the bale’s cotton fiber, including length, uniformity, micronaire (an indicator of maturity and fineness), strength and color.

All that data is then associated with a Permanent Bale Identification (PBI) tag unique to that specific bale of cotton. “The PBI is important as it provides access to the fiber data for matching fiber qualities at the mill level, as well as providing the ginning location,” said Vikki Martin, Cotton Incorporated vice president of fiber competition. A bale management system is linked to the PBI data, giving spinning mills the ability to control raw fiber material.

Currently, the entire U.S. cotton industry is working with the supply chain to develop the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol. This volun-

tary program will help document and encourage farming sustainability practices to meet the nation’s 10-year sustainability goals while creating systems that enable brands to meet their sustainable fiber sourcing goals by using U.S.grown cotton, Daystar explained.

“This system will work with the PBI and blockchain technology to create and track U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol bales as they become incorporated into the supply chain,” Daystar said.

Cost of traceability The key to increasing cotton traceability at scale, Daystar said, is to create systems that introduce minimal or no additional cost into the supply chain. Some brands have overcome many technical and financial hurdles already, investing the time and resources to create traceability in their supply chain. And programs like the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol are exploring their role in improving supply chain traceability, she noted.

However, geographically diverse supply chains, combined with the fact that cotton is purchased on a quality basis, don’t make this an easy task. “As we look towards the future, I suspect the industry will be agile, increasing their

2020 RIVET DENIM REPORT

focus on shorter and more transparent supply chains to mitigate risks from future supply disruptions,” Daystar said.

Certainly, tracer technologies will continue to evolve while new technologies are being developed, Hegedus said, but implementation cost and complexity are likely to play a role. The cost of sustainability remains a hurdle for many companies throughout the supply chain, but for many, innovations like traceable fibers represent the only way forward.

“It is very hard to put a value on anything you cannot measure,” Statham said, adding that FibreTrace’s cost is minimal at 5 cents to 10 cents per pound of cotton or raw fiber. “Depending on volume when this is spread across a brand’s product category, we have worked hard to make the cost of FibreTrace almost negligible, particularly when we understand what true transparency really equates to,” she said.

And the implications of not having a robust, scientific traceability solution in place, Tomkins noted, can have substantial financial, reputational and operational effects on a business.

Building a critical mass of sustainable fiber producers and brands will be key for scalability, Gautam said. And if done well, he said supply-chain traceability can actually lower costs and improve efficiency across the supplier network. “Suppliers and brands can focus on more value-added activities instead of manually reviewing each product for valid traceability certificates and

the constant back-and-forth communication across the entire chain,” he added.

Denim demands As the denim industry works to clean up its image, traceable fibers will become an integral part of brand storytelling. “It goes without saying that the denim market is particularly keen on understanding where their cotton comes from and how it was grown,” Crumpler said.

Denim brands, she said, are prepared to use traceability in their communication to consumers, and those that already do so have garnered positive reactions. Crumpler said promoting the traceability angle increased jeans sales and, as a consequence, helped to sell more cotton, thanks to transparency. “I think that this is a very crucial turning point for many brands, and the decisions they make over the next few years will have lasting consequences,” she said.

Traceability is increasingly becoming an essential line item. A number of brands and retailers are requiring partners to hold certain certifications as a threshold for doing business, Hegedus said. “Similarly, research indicates a growing number of consumers want to know what’s in their clothes, who made them...so we see brands responding to this,” she added.

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l_____OR ITA IN LA BEL

According to Fashion Revolution’s 2020 Fashion Transparency Index, brands are moving in the right direction. Of the 250 brands and retailers reviewed, the non-profit found that 40 percent are now publishing a list of their first-tier manufacturers. However, few are sharing details. Half of the reviewed brands are mapping at least one full raw-material supply chain, usually cotton, viscose, wool, recycled polyester, leather or rubber. Certification systems, blockchain and DNA technology are the common tools they use to achieve traceability, Fashion Revolution said.

Transparency forces accountability, which results in change, according to Fashion Revolution. Next year, the organization hopes to see 50 percent or more of brands publishing a supplier list and still more disclosing their processing facilities, mills and raw-material providers further down the tiers of the supply chain. “We know that exploitation tends to thrive in hidden places, which is why focusing on transparency beyond the first tier will become increasingly important,” the organization stated.

Companies are successfully using traceable technologies today to tell a real story about their garments—how they were made and who made them. Everlane, Mud Jeans, G-Star Raw, Wrangler and The R Collective are among the labels working to pull back the curtain and share details about the suppliers and factories that bring their businesses to life.

Though the technology facilitates the storytelling, Hegedus said consumers care less about the tech itself. Brands, she suggested, should focus on product assurance and the “human element” that traceability provides. It should answer such questions as, ‘is this

product from a brand that is aligned with my values? And ‘was it made in a responsible way?’, she said.

FibreTrace technology allows consumers to interact with brands through augmented reality that leverages product labels and in-store FibreTrace scanners. “When every fiber tells a story, brands can enforce a sustainable change through the power of accountability,” Statham said. By engaging with the technology, consumers will “feel part of the positive change.”

The company is currently working closely within the supply chain, including numerous “mainstream” denim brands across the globe that Statham said lead the industry in sustainability.

“The denim industry has generated enormous positive impacts of transparency of its supply chain,” she said.

“We are very proud to be working with some of the most brilliant minds of the denim industry and learn collectively to bring to the market a product that restores trust, shares insights and integrity.”

Future fibers Many believe the COVID-19 pandemic will only further accelerate existing efforts to create a more sustainable and transparent supply chain.

Sustainability, Tomkins said, will be used to regain consumer trust post-pandemic and offer a means for

2020 RIVET DENIM REPORT

brands to differentiate their value proposition following an initial slump in sales. “The recent outbreak has only heightened our minds to the impacts and fragility of a globalized world,” he said.

The financial strains caused by the global pandemic will force consumers to re-evaluate their purchases and give their money to companies they feel they can trust. In turn, Crumpler said the coronavirus will likely create consumers who are even more demanding when it comes to understanding the origin of their clothes.

“And this will likely happen, not just as an emotional response to the coronavirus, but as a proactive way of better understanding the environment in which we live on the planet,” she said. “I think the coronavirus has allowed, or in many cases, required end consumers to understand the consequences of every decision they make, and their fiber choices should be just as important as their food choices.”

Carey said traceability across all fibers will continue to take

root. “One of the key learnings from the coronavirus is that we are globally interconnected,” she said. Knowing a product’s origins and keeping supply chains accountable are of paramount importance.

“Consumers want to know more about their purchases and traceability is part of the storytelling,” she added.

And as clothing companies begin to rebuild their businesses, the savviest will take an honest look at the policies they have in place and how they can better themselves for the sake of their employees, consumers and environment.

“We have all rewired our businesses and interactions within daily life and there has most definitely been a spotlight on integrity and truth,” Statham said. “Transparency of best practice will be a critical advantage in any part of the supply chain and our view is that adaptation of data-driven transparency will be more critical than ever moving forward.”

S P O N S O R E D CONT ENT

Comfortable, Yet Versatile: Manufacturing New Denim in the New Normal

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mid the COVID-19-driven shift in consumer shopping habits, denim manufacturers are still faced with the challenge of creating eco-friendly, performance-driven and versatile apparel. According to Mr. Omer Ahmed, CEO at Artistic Milliners, denim brands can get a winning edge by offering jeans that are soft enough to be worn at home, but also provide enough stretch to be used as activewear.

In a conversation with Sourcing Journal, Ahmed shares thoughts on the industry’s ability to repurpose more materials toward changing consumer needs and remain relevant.

The industry has done a lot to clean up the production process, but what area still needs the most improvement?

There is still a lot to do on social compliance. Brands need to understand the long-term benefits of social compliance regulations and working with compliant factories. By doing business with compliant manufacturers, brands support a more responsible value chain enabling sustainable livelihoods, safer workplaces and an empowered workforce that will contribute to productivity and add credibility to their corporate responsibility.

How can the denim market continue its momentum toward greater sustainability amid the disruption from COVID-19?

It is very hard to forecast the next phase of the COVID-19 crisis, changing consumer sentiment and its effect on retail operations.

We all know that fashion spending has been discretionary for most consumers. Once the dust settles, recalibration is needed but in an agile and mindful way. Post-COVID will definitely make the brands focus more on circular models. It is not only about catering to the new generation’s demands for sustainable product, but also their commitment to purchase through a transparent supply chain. More denim brands and retailers are exploring emotional innovation; they’re more inclined to buy apparel from an environmentally ethical manufacturer that prioritizes worker wellbeing and personal advancement programs.

What’s been the single biggest innovation for your company over the last year that’s allowed you to stand out?

Within our Circular Blue Platform our design focus is circularity; employing degradable and recycled fibers and water-saving dyeing/finishing techniques to develop fabrics that are compliant with Ellen McArthur Guidelines and Cradle to Cradle Certification. Experiencing the new set of demands by consumer, we curated a new bucket of “multi-tasking” performance fabrics that are not only functional but also super-sustainable. The appeal for ultra-comfort has made us consider softness as an inherent feature embedded in fabric design enriched with stronger and circular fibers. This season, we are adding hemp as a renewable and anti-microbial fiber to our fabric constructions.

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SHADES OF B The environmental and cost benefits of indigo alternatives are washing over the jeans industry. w or d s _____ JASMI N MA L I K C H UA

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enim dyeing is unequivocally a dirty business.

It’s what makes rivers in Bangladesh, China, India and Mexico run with fetid streaks of dungaree blue. Much of the problem stems from jeans’ signature hue. From its synthesis to the dyeing process itself, indigo dye requires an inordinate amount of toxic chemicals. Worse, it generates an outsized amount of pollution.

A new breed of indigo alternatives, however, is paving the way for a new method of dyeing that is cleaner for the environment, healthier for workers and more cost effective for denim makers.

Indigo originally came from natural sources, but that is rarely the case today. Although the dye was once extracted from the leaves of the tropical indigo plant, the bulk of today’s pigment is chemically synthesized for ease of scalability and uniformity. There’s just one problem: synthetic indigo isn’t soluble in water. To be dissolved, it must undergo a chemical reaction called reduction, which removes oxygen from the indigo molecule. The process converts indigo into something called “white indigo” or “leuco indigo” that appears yellowish-green. When a submerged fabric resurfaces from the dyebath, the leuco indigo combines with atmospheric oxygen to return to its insoluble, saturated blue form.

Most reductions use sodium hydrosulfite, a water-soluble, albeit corrosive salt that ends up in the effluent as a byproduct. Because it cannot be treated, in the bestcase scenario, it enters the landfill. In the worst, it contaminates waterways. Even the indigo powder itself can pose an

inhalation hazard for mill workers by irritating their lungs.

Germany’s DyStar has long advocated the use of pre-reduced indigo solutions over the powdered form. A spinoff of former dye producers like Bayer, Hoechst and BASF, DyStar also eschews hydrogen sulfite for the reduction process. To make its DyStar Indigo Vat 40% Solution, which it dubs the “cleanest indigo on the market,” the company employs a technique called hydrogenation, “plus a little bit of alkaline,” said Guenther Widler, its head of denim technology. Just water comes out on the other end, a result that has won DyStar certifications from Bluesign, Cradle to Cradle, the Global Organic Textile Standard, Oeko-Tex and ToxFMD. “When we supply our pre-reduced indigo to customers, the customers don’t have to do the reduction process and there is almost no salt produced later in the process,” Widler said.

Instead of grappling with bags of indigo powder, DyStar’s customers are supplied with storage tanks, where the indigo solution resides until it’s ready to be pumped directly into the dyeing machines, “so the workers don’t come in touch with the indigo.”

A whopping 70,000 metric tons of indigo is used every year for denim products, according to DyStar. Of that, 67 percent comes in powdered form. Mills in China, in particular, rely heavily on indigo powder. Even so, a third of mills outside China have yet to embrace pre-reduced versions. This “big share” of indigo powder, Widler says, means mills must apply 90,000 metric tons of sodium hydrosulfite during reduction. “And we’re talking

BLUE about every year,” he said.

If all mills converted to pre-reduced indigo, “whether from DyStar or not,” the planet could see a savings of 30,000 metric tons of caustic soda and 60,000 metric tons of hydrogen sulfite. While some hydrogen sulfite will still be necessary to lock the indigo in its reduced state during the dyeing process, the amounts are nowhere near those employed during the reduction process.

DyStar was the first company to offer pre-reduced indigo more than a quarter of a century ago. Now, Widler says, companies have no excuses not to use it because it’s more widely available from various manufacturers. Like DyStar, many of them claim sustainability as their central ethos—and biggest selling point.

Sedo Manufacturing, for instance, hails its Smart Indigo as the “cleanest way” to use indigo. Instead of hazardous chemicals, the Swiss firm uses only indigo powder, water, caustic soda and electricity, according to managing director Herbert Guebeli. The only waste product is oxygen. On average, he said, customers report using 30 percent less water and 70 percent fewer chemicals during production. Smart Indigo, he noted, helped Italy’s PureDenim, its first client, receive the Greenpeace Detox My Fashion initiative’s stamp of approval, but the innovation also aligns with programs like Bluesign and Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals.

Because Smart Indigo requires fewer resources, it’s also the cheapest way to use indigo, Guebeli said. The electricity it harnesses is very slight. For every ton of liquid indigo—enough to dye up to 25,000 pairs of jeans— the

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process consumes $60 worth of electricity.

Certainly there are upfront investments, such as the purchase of machines, but customers can expect a return on investment within three years, Guebeli said. With the COVID-19 pandemic choking off revenues and leaving many brands in the red, a sustainable indigo solution that also saves money will be more attractive than ever. But that’s not the point. “In the end, we’d like to create cleaner fashion for everyone,” he said.

Sedo Manufacturing sees itself at the “startup stage,” but it’s ready to hit the necessary scale. “We have started successful installations in Italy, Pakistan, China and Bangladesh,” Guebeli said. It’s also in discussions with a handful of brands and retailers on “several capsule projects with good results.”

Archroma from Switzerland, too, touts its pre-reduced Denisol Indigo Pure Indigo 30 as a way to use less than half the amount of sodium hydrosulfite powdered indigo requires. At the same time, it’s investing in alternatives like Diresul Smartdenim Blue, a liquid sulfur blue dye designed to mimic indigo without being saddled with indigo’s limitations. In other words, it can use a dye bath that is completely sodium hydrosulfite-free. “We can replace this chemical by a natural reducing agent based on sugars, and this has a positive impact on the quality of the wastewater,” said Albert Llort, head of Archroma’s Global Competence Center for Denim.

Another upside? Unlike Archroma’s previous Indicolors line of indigo “clones,” Diresul Smartdenim Blue has a greener shade, has better fastness to minimize back

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staining and creates washdowns much closer to actual indigo than other dyestuffs. “We have even more flexibility with it because, for instance, you could replace a bleaching washdown which is made with hypochlorite, by using a much cleaner product like hydrogen peroxide,” Llort said.

There’s at least one impediment, however. Depending on the fabric, the contrast obtained with lasering can “sometimes be lower,” he admitted. Still, the indigo alternative could have more pluses than minuses: While conventional indigo has experienced price fluctuations over the years, Diresul Smartdenim Blue’s has been “more stable.” Production capacity can also be adjusted to market demand with the right investments. “Brands and retailers are very much interested in all new technologies that can offer improvements in terms of sustainability compared to current ones, but always with the goal to keep the ‘indigo look’ and at acceptable total cost,” Llort said.

Diversifying the type of chemistry used for coloration has its benefits, too, the biggest being that companies can be less yoked to potential raw-material speculation and the resulting cost variations.

Tinctorium, a startup from San Francisco, wants to disrupt indigo dyeing even further. Rather than use petroleum sources, the firm engineers microbes to mimic how an indigo plant makes green leaves that turn blue when crushed. No reduction process is needed.

“This is a completely radical and different approach to dye production compared to current chemical and plant processes,” said Michelle Zhu, CEO at Tinctorium. “The potential here is the opportunity to separate color production from the challenges with petroleum, eliminate the need for aniline and sodamide in the process and bypass the usage of reducing agents before application.”

Authentic shades aren’t a problem for Tinctorium’s bacteria. Because it’s creating the same dye molecule with the same

chemical structure, the colors achievable with Tinctorium’s solution should be no different. “The key to unlocking this will be in the purification and concentration steps of our process, which is the primary focus of our startup today,” she said.

Zhu is confident in Tinctorium’s ability to scale. The same type of process as her company’s already allows us to mass produce pharmaceutical drugs and now “millions of Impossible Burger patties every year,” she said. Rather, the company’s current challenge is improving microbe productivity and other downstream facets of the technology before it’s ready for primetime.

“Perhaps the other limitation I’ll share is that because we come from a bioengineering background, our expertise is not on the textile and dye chemistry side, so we’re always open to learning more from those in the industry who want to help bring fresh innovations to life,” Zhu added.

While Tinctorium’s product costs more than conventional indigo powder, she cautions it’s important to keep these prices in context. “The cost of the chemical inputs in the denim production process is a couple dimes on every pair of jeans,” she said. “It certainly makes you wonder what price of environmental or even human impact we pay just to make our clothes cheap.” Still, Tinctorium is on a quest to create an “uncompromising solution,” one that checks the boxes of performance, price and sustainability.

As for DyStar, any move away from powdered indigo is a good one. “We are not fighting against the other competitors; we are fighting to eliminate the powder,” Widler said. “The market is big enough for all of us.”

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EDIBLE COLORS For some dye producers, sustainability means shifting away from fossil fuels as a resource.

Case in point: Archroma’s EarthColors, a line of so-dubbed “biosynthetic” dyes, for cotton and other cellulosic-based fabrics, that are derived from natural raw materials such as almond shells, saw palmetto and rosemary leaves.

“One day, close to Christmas time, a period when we traditionally eat chestnuts in Spain, our head of R&D of special dyes, was enjoying some at home,” Nuria Estape, Archroma’s head of global marketing and promotion, explained of EarthColors’ genesis. “He suddenly realized that he didn’t see the shells as waste; he was seeing them as a mixture of complex natural polymers that nature offers us. At that very moment, l____ESPR IT COLLECTION MA DE WITH A RCH ROMA’S EA RTH COLOR S he realized that something completely different could be done with them.”

Lucchin, was inspired by the “heritage” of organic dyeing

Though Archroma doesn’t have natural solutions that benefits both humans and the environment. for every shade of dye, Estape says the industry needs

Because it uses only plants and vegetable waste, to rethink how it produces them in ways that minimize such as flowers, berries, and roots, any waste can be distheir impact on the environment while promoting the charged “directly into nature” without the need for filcircular-economy tenet that nothing goes to waste. ters since everything is compostable or biodegradable,

Creating EarthColors wasn’t easy. “We took the Lucchin said. The system can be installed on any Tonello best of different technologies to get a final dyestuff dyeing or washing machine, and the company describes that performs very similarly to synthetic dyes, [and] is its use as easy, “almost like preparing an herbal tea.” available at big scale, while using non-edible natural raw

“The system is designed to work in tandem— materials,” Estape said. “And it took more than six years serving two machines—and is scalable at high capabiluntil we got the first commercial product.” ities, ensuring the same reproducibility from sampling

Eventually, Archroma hopes to make the range to production,” Lucchin said. One challenge is the dyes’ amenable to fibers such as wool or synthetics, while fastness to light, but “the strengths and weaknesses further expanding its palette of colors. But uptake has of such a dyeing concept are the winning points of its been popular. Already, Archroma has found collaborauniqueness and originality,” he said. tors in brands like Esprit, G-Star Raw, Kathmandu and

Wake is gaining popularity among brands that Vaude, which have employed EarthColors in their lines. want to create “100 percent natural collections” in com It’s with a similar planet-first approach that Tonbination with natural fibers. “The demand for Wake with ello in Italy created what it bills the first “total natural brands is good and the feedback extremely positive,” dyeing system.” Wake, said marketing executive Alberto Lucchin said. —JMC

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l____ORTA

HEMP’S HEYDAY Hemp-blended denim is set to be next season’s ‘It’ fabrication. w o r d s _____ L IZ WARR EN

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ith a variety of uses and environmental benefits, hemp could be the sustainable alternative industries have long been searching for. The crop has been celebrated in recent years for its naturally antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-flammable, biodegradable and regenerative properties. And with collective concern surrounding climate change and post-COVID-19 safety, now may be the moment hemp goes mainstream.

The denim supply chain has already gotten to work preparing for new demand, which is coming from both consumers and brands, and is only expected to grow as awareness increases. If the trend continues, hemp could be the new “It” fiber featured in upcoming Fall/ Winter 2021-2022 collections and beyond.

But hemp is more than just a fiber. According to Eric Hrdlicka, Foison Textile’s managing director for North America, it’s a state of

mind destined to shape the entire industry.

“Hemp is best described as an organic movement,” he said. “Originally, mills pushed it to market, then drew back after facing manufacturing difficulties, as well as hand feel and aesthetic issues. Now, the environmental impact and messaging are leading brands to drive interest back toward the mills for new options.”

Turkish denim manufacturer Orta has responded to that interest with its Gen H concept, a hemp-blended cotton within its Denimimicry collection. With a 20 percent hemp warp and 20 percent recycled cotton weft, the midweight fabric features a stretch component that satisfies often-contradicting demands for both comfort and sustainability. The mill also developed CBDenim, a line of CBD-infused denim for a “blissful” consumer that wants to reap

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additional benefits from their clothing. CBD, an active ingredient in cannabis derived from the hemp plant, is believed to help reduce anxiety and pain.

“Gen H excited our customers from the very beginning,” said Zennure Danisman, Orta’s marketing and washing manager.

“We collaborated with Blackhorse Lane Atelier and London vintage men’s wear resource, The Vintage Showroom, to create beautiful silhouettes that attract our customers who love modern authenticity and craftsmanship.”

Orta recently produced a promotional video shot in a hemp field in Turkey to drum up even more publicity for the fiber. Hemp blended denim is expected to appeal to a variety of demographics, particularly eco-conscious Gen Z. Naveena Denim is also betting big on hemp denim, mixing the fiber with Tencel and Repreve recycled polyester. Including hemp in the weft and Tencel in the warp provides a unique jean reflective of authentic denim combined with the comfort of contemporary denim. “At Naveena, we are always on the lookout for more sustainable fibers and get inspired by what nature offers us,” said Berke Aydemir, Naveena global technical sales and marketing manager.

Foison, Rajby, Artistic Milliners and others are also putting their own spin on cottonized hemp, including mixing it with fibers like modal for softness and vibrancy, in preparation for what may inevitably become a hemp-positive industry. Cottonized hemp undergoes a process that softens the hemp fiber, using little energy or chemical processing, to make it look and feel more like cotton.

And brands are joining in, too. In 2019, heritage denim brand Levi’s debuted cottonized hemp in its Spring Wellthread x Outerknown collaboration, touting the line’s significant water savings.

The collection featured jeans and a Trucker jacket with Candiani’s cottonized hemp made of 70 percent cotton and 30 percent hemp.

Levi’s has since worked to incorporate hemp in more of its offering, an endeavor it plans to continue for future collections.

Farmers’ delight To understand the newfound popularity of hemp requires a look all the way back to the start of the supply chain.

Reports show that hemp is naturally pest- and pesticide-free and can actually provide value to the environment in which it’s planted. When grown, industrial hemp absorbs CO2 and has the potential to remove contamination and heavy metals from soil. Healthy soil means healthy crops and an overall more sustainable product.

As with every crop, there are downsides to growing hemp.

One of the biggest obstacles farmers face has been legislation because of its correlation to marijuana. Both the drug and the fiber are derived from the Cannabis sativa plant, though the latter only includes trace amounts of the psychoactive compound THC. Despite the distinction, hemp has carried a stigma that is only now lessening as a result of better education and easing regulations.

But more work still needs to be done where legislation is concerned.

“ H EM P IS B E S T DE SCR IB ED AS A N ORG A N IC MOV EM EN T.” — E R IC H R D L IC K A , FO I S O N T E X T IL E

The only way to distinguish hemp from marijuana is to measure the concentration of THC. According to U.S. government standards, to qualify as hemp, the plant must contain less than 3/10ths of 1 percent of THC. Laura Dixon, owner of the denim consultancy, Three

By One Europe, explained in a panel that hemp may not be a practical crop for small farmers because of these nuances.

As it stands, hemp farmers would need drug licenses and be subject to periodic criminal checks. And as agricultural policies vary throughout the world, countries with higher allowances would have a competitive advantage.

“From a farmer’s point of view, there needs to be an allowance for a higher level of THC for them to be able to stay within the law,” she said. “So there are quite a lot of challenges going forward with hemp, but hopefully in the future, legislation will open up a little bit more, and it will become a more viable crop.”

At the end of 2018, growing hemp was made legal in the U.S., which could be a contributing factor in B2B research firm MarketsandMarkets’ prediction that the industrial hemp market would grow from $4.6 billion in 2019 to $26.6 billion by 2025.

Processing problems But it’s not just strict legislation that poses a challenge for farmers cultivating hemp. According to Omer Ahmed, Artistic Milliners CEO, both the crop and its processing technologies are hard to come by. “There is a limited supply of hemp, which can really hinder its scalability,” he said.

“Growing hemp is relatively easy. The real challenge is processing the hemp—not just the evolution of cleaner and more efficient technology, but the technology’s accessibility to other countries that can potentially grow hemp.”

Ahmed pointed to Pakistan, explaining that the re-

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Fruitful future As the industry continues to experiment with hemp, it has the opportunity to apply all of the lessons learned in recent years amid the shift to sustainability. Experts keen on bringing hemp further into fashion, say the same amount of care and consideration should be

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gion has the ideal environment in which to grow hemp, but lacks access to processing technology.

Kursad Cakilcioglu, Rajby’s head of R&D, agrees. “We need to motivate hemp production, because hemp can provide a fully sustainable product which we are all looking for,” he said. “In order to achieve this goal, hemp should be more commonly available and the cottonization process should be more feasible for every supplier.”

Currently, the two main types of hemp that can be used in textiles are wet spun hemp and cottonized hemp. Wet spun hemp produces a more rigid fabric similar to linen, which, when used for denim may only appeal to denim consumers who prefer a stiff, rawlike fabric. On the other hand, the cottonized hemp has the potential for real innovation in the denim space and, as a result, is often the form mills experiment with.

The process of creating cottonized hemp involves pre-treating the fiber with a chemical process to make it more closely resemble cotton so it can be spun on the same machine. This produces shorter, weaker fibers that can break more easily during the spinning and weaving stages. While the crop is touted for its sustainability, processing can often result in waste because of its susceptibility to damage.

Orta’s Danisman noted that hemp has higher water absorbency than cotton and can have inconsistencies in terms of humidity between different bales and dispatches of hemp. For Orta, which supplies hemp fiber in bales, these nuances posed a challenge initially.

“At the beginning of our trials, we learned that hemp bales are hard to open and mix with cotton, as hemp in bale form is almost close to felt and has a rough touch compared to cotton,” Danisman said.

“That is why we use cottonized hemp.”

A rough touch is one of the main reasons why hemp has flown under fashion’s radar for so long. Hemp has been around for centuries, appearing in everything from sails on ships to cordage.

It wasn’t truly embraced in fashion until the 1980s when softening techniques were made available—and even then, the technology wasn’t refined enough to create the soft hand feel consumers demand from their apparel.

Even in 2020, this remains one of the biggest challenges when working with hemp, experts say. “Hemp has a negative effect on the fabric hand feel, and may become stiffer and, more importantly, cause a scratchy fabric surface,” Danisman said. “That’s why, while developing the fabrics with hemp, we also work on the finishing steps in order to avoid these qualities, which are not skin-friendly.”

To make hemp more palatable to wear, Orta produced a finishing process called Alchemy that increases softness and adds anti-pilling and wrinkle-free properties to denim made with hemp.

given to hemp as it is to every other element of the supply chain.

And since greenwashing is a threat to many industries, sufficient research is just as important for sourcing hemp as it is for other fibers. “We need to be sure of the hemp source because many suppliers are mentioning hemp even though they’re not in the main hemp family,” Rajby’s Cakilcioglu said. “To make it usable, they apply a lot of different processes which are not traceable.”

“Hemp denim’s position in the industry created and will continue to create a heavy demand on the raw material,” Danisman said. “Since there’s limited source in the supply chain, we are also doing our research in order to prevent sourcing difficulties in the future.”

Orta is also focusing its efforts on sourcing hemp sustainably. Its main hemp supplier is a member of The European Confederation of Flax and Hemp (CELC), which ensures sustainable sourcing methods including retting, a system of harvesting hemp that naturally separates the fibers from the rest of the stalk. “Since it doesn’t use chemicals or water throughout the process, field retting is the most environment-friendly method for us in our cottonized hemp supply,” Danisman said.

China, Europe and India are some of the most popular regions for sourcing hemp. Based in Italy, Candiani acquires its hemp from Belgium and France to keep its supply chain as short as possible—but soon, it could get even shorter. The denim mill is currently working with farmers throughout Italy to create regenerative farming with hemp.

The denim industry can also apply the lessons it has learned in waste management to its use of hemp. A crop with numerous uses—virtually every part of the plant serves a purpose—there is little to no waste associated with the fiber. As Three By One Europe’s Dixon explained, it can be used in all parts of denim, and not just in the fabric.

“If you think about the components of a pair of jeans, you can use the fiber, not only in the fabric, but you could also make the buttons out of the bioplastic, and you could

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make the labeling and hangtags out of paper,” she said. “There are quite a lot of parts the denim industry could use hemp for.”

But while hemp has been touted as a miracle fiber in the fashion community, experts say a jean made completely of the substance is little more than a dream for now. “When the hemp ratio in a cotton blend is increased, it’s possible to experience a sharp decrease in yarn strength,” Danisman said. “Therefore, we prefer to use the wiser amount, instead of mainly focusing on increasing the hemp amount, in order to have the fabric that embraces long-term durability and acceptable strength that stands for the test of time.”

That’s not the only argument against a 100 percent hemp jean. For starters, there simply isn’t enough hemp that’s currently being grown to support that goal. Additionally, financial concerns can play a large role in hemp’s adoption. “The value of hemp is only recently appreciated and there are not many suppliers offering fibers at the moment,” Aydemir said, adding that there’s still a lot of waste

happening in the spinning process. “Under all of these circumstances, prices of hemp-blended denims are higher than other denim fabrics.”

As with other materials, once hemp becomes more available and popular, prices will become more affordable.

The question then becomes whether companies should wait for lower prices or spearhead the movement for the sake of a more sustainable world. For Danisman, it’s the latter.

“We believe it is time to rethink value for today’s eco-modern world. It’s not about how much it costs,” she said. “The real question should be, ‘What is the cost to the denim industry if we lose the next generation of conscious-forward consumers by only valuing price?’ But perhaps the most important question is ‘What is the value of denim to you?’”

S P O N S O R E D CONT ENT

Demand-Driven Supply Models Remain the Key to Reducing Overproduction

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lthough top denim manufacturers are conjuring new ways to clean up the production process, material consumption and overproduction remain inhibitors to sustainability goals.

Daniella Ambrogi, vice president of marketing at fashion technology firm Lectra, believes the increased adoption of two factors will improve sustainability within this process: demand-driven supply models, which reduce overproduction, and smart material management technology, which reduces cutting waste.

Ambrogi further dove into the demand-driven supply chain in a conversation with Sourcing Journal.

How can mining and analyzing data help position mills and brands for greater agility and resiliency?

For brands to succeed in an increasingly competitive fashion market, they must be more responsive to consumer trends and market shifts. Information is crucial, and having robust, real-time data—as well as the design and manufacturing agility to act on it—is one of the most important differentiators. Data helps optimize day-to-day pricing, assortments and discounts for products you already offer. The more connectivity you have across your brand and your supply chain, the more strategically aligned you’ll be to succeed. Aside from a leaner, more efficient business, this connectivity also creates greater sustainability.

There’s less cash flow throughout the supply chain because of COVID-19. How can everyone work together to weather the storm?

E-commerce is going to be more important than ever until people feel more confident walking into stores, so companies all along the supply chain must work together to be more responsive to consumer demands. This makes it more pivotal to move to a more demand-driven model to empower business resilience now and be more responsive to market shifts in the future. Another key will be investment in Product Experience Management (PXM) solutions, which integrate PLM, PIM and DAM in one single platform, offering companies supply chain transparency and real-time coordination with all stakeholders in the fashion process, regardless of globalization trends.

What can apparel learn from previous economic downturns as it looks to recover from the current situation?

Economic downturns are usually caused by factors largely outside the domain of fashion and its supply chain, but they impact the industry nonetheless. Even if companies suffer for extrinsic reasons, these downturns do tend to expose the cracks in business models. What we’re learning is that we need a highly digital model to be more efficient in production, more responsive to market trends and more resilient to major tectonic shifts. The difference now is that we were already undergoing a major industry sea change to digitization and from supply-driven to demand-driven, and this downturn is accelerating that shift.

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hether it’s a mindset forced by financial restraints, genuine concern for the environment or the result of spending long stretches of time indoors revaluating possessions, brands and retailers are anticipating a post-pandemic consumer who will want to shop less and shop smarter.

“The new normal is really thinking about what one wants and what one really needs,” said Mitchell Kass, owner and creative director of Trend Council, an online trend forecasting company. “It also is going to make us look much deeper into social responsibility and consumption.”

This new mindset is an opportunity for denim designers to tee up upcycled denim as a rags-to-riches story. Denim, after all, is often an entry point for designers interested in upcycled fashion.

Eco and socially responsible production processes, cruelty-free garments and circular design are “the ingredients” in fashion’s future, said Fabrizio Consoli, founder of upcycled denim brand Blue Of A Kind.

The popularity of upcycled denim, Consoli says, speaks to the durable and democratic nature of the fabric, not to mention heaps of jeans that exist. With jeans being part of mainstream culture since the 1950s, the quantity of old jeans made with more or less the same ingredients (cotton and indigo) may be as high as 5 billion pairs, Consoli said. And because of this consistency, he said, brands are allowed to think about small-scale manufacturing as opposed to one-off upcycled products.

At Blue Of A Kind, sourcing garments is just another part of the creative process, alongside design. Since the women’s brand does not use any kind of industrial washing, attention is paid to unwanted jeans that already have an interesting look and feel.

It is only then, Consoli said, when the focus shifts to how the garments can be reimagined into completely new products.

Upcycled fashion is also finding a home on the runway. A May 2020 report from fashion search engine Tagwalk reported that fully sustainable and upcycled looks were featured about 100 percent more often in F/W 20-21 collections than they were in F/W19-20 collections.

Jean Paul Gaultier was among the designers who turned to upcycling. The designer closed out his 50-year career with a farewell collection that used archival materials from previous collections. The majority of fabrics used in Maison Margiela’s show were reclaimed. Likewise, Viktor & Rolf pivoted to using upcycled materials for its entire F/W 20-21 collection. And of these eco-conscious looks, Tagwalk reported that one of the most commonly featured materials was sustainable or upcycled denim, which made up 5 percent of the responsibly made items in F/W 20-21 collections.

Though it’s making headway on the runway now, upcycled denim began to filter into fashion as early as 2016, Kass said, when craft-minded Etsy and reseller Poshmark became a bigger

PAST MEETS FUTURE Consumers, designers and retailers are discovering the upside of upcycling denim. w ords _____ A N G E LA V E LA S Q U E Z

part of the retail conversation. “Etsy sellers upcycled for you, launching ideas and trends that resonated on social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram,” he explained. Meanwhile, Poshmark became a marketplace for DIYers to buy existing apparel and accessories to do their own mashup, one of a kind creations.

Months-long shelter-in-place orders around the world have led consumers to shop their closets and try their hands at re-fashioning their fashion. Searches for denim customization tips skyrocketed within the first few months of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began sweeping the world. According to data pulled from influencer marketing technology platform Traackr between January and April, influencer posts about DIY denim increased by 125 percent, with a 186 percent increase in

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engagement.

Pinterest searches also saw an uptick in fashion-related crafts. The two-week period between March 16 and March 29—around the same time that U.S. lockdown orders started taking effect—saw a 599 percent spike in jeans embroidery searches and a 154 percent spike in closet organization searches compared to the same searches two weeks prior.

And just as Gen Z has been the cohort to embrace upcycling as a hobby, Kass believes the group will be the most impactful in bringing upcycling forward. “This generation has just learned how to sew masks and bake bread,” Kass said. “They never experienced the ’80s thrift store thrill and they are the generation most seeded in saving the planet, as it will be theirs longer than any current generation. Less

consumption equals more creative upcycling.”

“I would not underestimate that denim has represented, for decades, the uniform of youth at every latitude,” Consoli added. “Acts of rebellion and disobedience have always been performed in jeans, and what is upcycling after all, if not a statement of rebellion towards the way fashion operates?”

Gen Z retailers, like Urban Outfitters, certainly see the pendulum swinging. The retailer’s Urban Renewal initiative repurposes and reinvents sustainably-sourced vintage pieces. Garments—which are often one-of-a-kind—are either sold in their original state, fashioned out of deadstock materials, or remade into pieces that resonate with the current style. The line spans overdyed vintage Levi’s 501 jeans and tie-dye tees, to patchwork denim throw pillows, and is sold in dedicated areas adjacent to Urban Outfitter’s brand new products—a merchandising strategy that mimics Gen Z’s own piecemeal approach to dressing.

The designers showing upcycled denim on the runway, however, are not Gen Z. While the sustainable benefits of using what already exists is clear, Kass says upcycled denim may be another veiled attempt to encourage consumption, especially when the brand does not carry a sustainable ethos across its entire manufacturing process. “For many designers it is a fashion move as the very model of retail is produce, sell, repeat,” he said. “Especially pre-COVID-19 where our retail landscape was flooded with fast disposable fashion, particularly in the junior market.”

And on the opposite end of the price spectrum, Kass sees established fashion houses adopting upcycling as a strategic move to stay relevant. As luxury brands lose their older loyalists, Kass said they are struggling to find market share in a younger generation. “Many are grabbing more avant-garde designers to shake up the label into a new vision and grabbing upcycling techniques to look current,” he said.

LVMH-owned Givenchy nabbed headlines for a S/S 20 collection dense with upcycled denim garments, including Bermuda shorts, bleached cutoffs, distressed jeans and a two-tone coat dress. The pieces were paired with silk blazers and blouses—a juxtaposition that then-Givenchy artistic director Clare Waight Keller said was a reflection of fashion in the ’90s when she began her career at Calvin Klein.

During her trans-Atlantic travel, she saw women in New York dress relaxed and casual; in Paris excess and luxury were still en mode.

While Givenchy was lauded for the visually-compelling and wearable approach to sustainable denim, the luxury house retreated to its wheelhouse of strong shoulder suiting and red carpet looks for F/W ’20.

U.K.-based designer Matty Bovan sourced donated garments from heritage Italian brand Fiorucci to upcycle into

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new denim pieces for F/W 20-21. In Bovan’s case, however, the deconstructed Swarovski crystal-covered denim garments fit into the young designer’s collage-like aesthetic and small scale production.

The most recognized designer specifically creating upcycled denim, Kass noted, may be Lutz Huelle, the German-born, Paris-based designer who has made repurposed denim outerwear a signature in his eponymous women’s collection. Though Huelle has introduced softer fabrics like metallic lame and dotted mesh into his work, upcycled denim continues to punctuate his collections for 2020. Items like gabardine trench coats spliced together with a jean Trucker jacket and a belted denim vest with a Victorian-esque collar made from black tulle, have become some of the plays on duality that fashion and denim watchers have come to expect from the designer.

Huelle, for one, believes he has only — G R EG L AU R E N, D ES I G N E R scratched the surface of what’s possible with denim. “Denim is one of those basic, everyday wardrobe materials,” he said. “I love how universal and iconic it is, and because it’s so iconic, it’s easy to push it in different directions, reinvent it and rework it in different ways.”

That same appreciation for denim runs through designer Greg Lauren’s blood. The Los Angeles designer based his eponymous label on upcycling military and denim garments into pieces that offer a fresh new vision for American men’s wear.

Lauren, the nephew of Ralph Lauren, grew up around vintage clothing. “I was taught at a young age how beautiful a piece of clothing’s patina was, how different fabrics age and what that meant,” he said. But he grew conflicted about how a garment’s history, and the story of the original wearer, could be purchased.

“I started to feel like, wait a minute, so I’ve earned this garment because I woke up early and got to the Rose Bowl before anyone else to find the perfect piece, so that I could feel like I actually experienced the stories that that piece was so rich with and so full of,” he said.

That feeling led Lauren to explore how existing fashion can help tell new stories, starting with a suit made from deconstructed vintage duffel bags. “I was not thinking about efficiency. I was an artist trying to explore this idea of who we are and who we want to be and who we should be,” he said. “What I didn’t realize [was] that those ideas were actually very much in alignment with upcycling and sustainability.”

Nearly a decade later, Lauren hasn’t turned back, and upcycled denim remains a stronghold in his collections. “Faded denim is such a part of our collective consciousness that upcycled denim will always have a

l____BLUE OF A KIND

“ U P CYCL I N G I S CO M P L E T E LY A N T I T H E T ICA L T O S CA L I N G.”

home in the fashion world because it’s the one fabric that we always want used and soft and worn,” he said. “It’s one of the great contradictions of denim. We want it to look like we’ve had it for 10 years, whether we do the work or not.”

Just as exhaustive, he pointed out, is designing upcycled garments. “Upcycling is completely antithetical to scaling,” Lauren said. Though he describes it as a “joyous” process, he said upcycling requires manpower and it takes people wanting to do it, starting with the owner of the company.

The biggest challenge, he added, is replicating samples.

“Once you have the vision, then you have to deconstruct it, you have to respect it, you have to take it apart in order to rebuild something,” Lauren explained. “What we’ve learned through trial and error is how to bring an operational approach to the artisanal production of pieces that use repurposed fabrics that are all different. They may have a similar anatomy but, like fingerprints, are all unique.”

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It’s a process that his team has nailed down, resulting in a high-profile collaboration with streetwear purveyor Kith in 2019 and more recently, the F/W 20-21 launch of GL Scraps, an initiative that began when Lauren realized he and his team needed to use a growing accumulation of scraps from production, not just store them. Local quilters are now turning scrap materials like vintage U.S. army tents into yardage that Lauren then repurposes in new garments, including a three-piece suit.

Repurposed military garments are in the cards for Blue Of A Kind, too, as the brand is working to extend its upcycling process to different materials and categories. “Denim and military apparel are hands down the two winners in upcycling,” Consoli said.

The transition toward a fully responsible fashion industry, however, is a longer process. But upcycling will remain one tool in the designer toolbox to produce more sustainably.

“I believe at the moment ‘sustainability,’ it is on the lips of many

but in the collections of few,” Consoli said. “The direction is right, but we are not quite there yet.” On the other hand, he said the audience is now going from curious to interested.

“Undoubtedly, seeing upcycled garment on catwalks will significantly help accelerate a process, which, in my opinion, is now simply unstoppable,” he said.

Lauren expects the walls built around sustainability to come down as more designers showcase how upcycled and sustainable fashion can be executed in beautiful and desirable ways. “We’ve been able to create pieces that still appeal to those who love fashion and who are excited by fashion and want pieces they can covet,” he said.

Upcycled fashion, he added, doesn’t have to be strange or made with fabrics that don’t work together. “It can be incredibly cool, aesthetically innovative,” Lauren said. “It can do what fashion should do—be a reflection of the times.”

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‘Responsible Sourcing’ Becomes the New Mantra for Siddiqsons

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enim manufacturer Siddiqsons has made it a priority to provide consumers with the best quality fabric while committing to 100 percent transparency in the process. But CEO Abdur Rahim Rafi believes that the company is taking a step beyond sustainability—opting to promote “responsible sourcing”—as it delivers on current fashion trends.

In a chat with Rivet, Rafi shared how his company continues to innovate in the denim space, particularly highlighting a partnership with textile finishing technologies company Jeanologia. In adopting Jeanologia’s Laundry 5.Zero production plant, Siddiqsons is the only denim manufacturer in Pakistan with the eco-friendly technology.

Denim is a classic but it has steep competition from active wear. How can denim brands compete?

Denim has its own heritage and is widely known for its uniqueness. With changing trends and evolving new patterns there is a wide range of fabrics available in the market suited for varying purposes, especially as people prefer different garments for different occasions. To compete with high elastic fabrics like sportswear, denim manufacturers need to add elasticity and stretchability in their fabric constructions. Our Touch Tech Series, which focuses on extreme elasticity and recovery, are the model solutions for creating a completely new range of stretchable denim with extreme comfort and premium look.

How can the denim market continue its momentum toward greater sustainability amid the disruption from COVID-19?

The word sustainability is used too much. We are focusing on “Responsible Sourcing.” Responsible sourcing is about taking care of your employees, working with the right chemical suppliers, working with the best cotton farmers and focusing on the right brands. COVID-19 has given us a chance to widen our perspective and focus on production in a more ethical and conscious manner. We adapt to the new ways of producing goods hygienically and the overall supply chain must be upgraded accordingly.

The industry has done a lot to clean up the production process, but what area still needs the most improvement?

The only way to produce 100 percent quality goods is to follow the pattern of circular economy. We must make sure that nothing we produce ends up being a part of the landfill if it is recyclable.

Planning ahead is the only solution to providing luxury brands with their cutting-edge demands. At Siddiqsons, we have sourced every single raw material for production of garments starting from a bale of cotton to the trims on garments. This is what makes us a vertical denim mill and ultimately minimizes impact on landfill contribution.

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ECO ENGAGEMEN Players in the denim industry are opting for less waste and more substance in their marketing and event strategies. w o r d s _____ ANG E L A V EL A S QUEZ

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hile denim brands, suppliers and event organizers have peppered their calendars with digital events for some time now, the pandemic has forced companies to embrace these technologies as a means to stay connected. For some, it allows them to continue to promote product and generate revenue from a distance. And in the midst of this chaos, the sustainable benefits that come with transitioning in-person events to the digital world have become a silver lining.

Those in the denim space, however, know that an industry as tactile, collaborative and, in many ways, traditional as denim will gather once again—albeit in fewer numbers and in scaled-down environments.

In other words: excess is out, and environmentalism is in.

It’s a mindset that began to take shape pre pandemic as companies sought ways to reduce packaging, plastic and paper used for events and promotional materials—steps that complimented their ever-growing roster of sustainable product lines. And all signs point to sustainable marketing becoming even more important, especially in the current climate that thrives on call-out culture.

From how they engage with influencers, to the type of cutlery provided at events, denim brands that tout eco-friendly manufacturing, and organizations that benefit financially from hosting sustainable events, will be motivated—and pressured—more than ever to look internally at their own wasteful habits.

Thanks, but no thanks A group of editors from Marie Claire and Bustle pulled a surprise move on PR companies last November, when in the lead up to holiday season they released an open letter urging brands to refrain from “blind gifting” and using excess packaging.

“While we are grateful for the opportunity to experience new products and brands, we are making the effort to prioritize sustainability both professionally and in our personal closets,” the letter stated.

Though ‘gifting’—a marketing strategy that helps

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“ W E CA N ’ T E X P EC T E V E RYO N E T O B E A S PA S S IO N AT E , B U T W E DO K N OW W H O A P P R EC I AT E S T H E S U S TA I N A B L E S T E P S T H AT W E ’ R E TA K I N G.”

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— AU B R E Y N O DA R S E C H R I ST E N S E N , B OY I S H J E A N S

place products in front of influential people like celebrities and editors—has been an industry standard for decades, the era of Instagram and image-driven marketing ushered in a more lavish approach to the giveaways. Influencers, brands and even Depop sellers have built social media fame through ‘unboxing’ videos that showcase products in beautiful but excessive packaging.

Unboxing has evolved from being a differentiator to a must-have tactic designed to earn more social media clout. Expectedly, Kim Kardashian has proven to be a master at unboxing ideas—delivering KKW fragrances in breakable chocolate molds and gifting famous friends with her entire Skims shapewear line. To promote her collaboration with sunglass designer Carolina Lemke, Kardashian sent influencers the $90 frames on a trio of 3D masks of her face, which went viral on social media.

A tipping point, perhaps, was the launch of Adidas’ new Ivy Park collection with Beyoncé in January 2020, which rolled out across Instagram. Reese Witherspoon, Yara Shahidi, Laverne Cox, Ellen DeGeneres, Zendaya and Cardi B were among the who’s who of celebrities that received branded trunks (and in some cases, garment racks, too) filled with the sold-out collection. Would-be consumers took note and shared gripes about the marketing ploy, raising questions about the lack of plus size influencers that received the gifts and the environmental toll it required to haul the goods across the U.S. From environmental and ethical standpoints, gifting is increasingly difficult to navigate. “We are all aware that this is extremely wasteful,” said Ani Wells, the founder of Simply Suzette, an online platform that bridges the gap between the denim industry and consumers.

To make gifting a more sustainable process, Wells urges companies to make sure they are choosing their collaborations responsibly and not sending out mass

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product to expansive PR lists. “This will not only help with waste and emissions, but it will also help with the success of your campaign by only focusing on high potential collaborators,” she said.

Wells’ stance on gifting is that individuals should only accept a gift if they plan to use it personally for a long time, and if it adds value to the message they’re sending. “I personally have never considered myself an influencer, but I do get offered product from time to time,” she said. “Most of the time I decline, as it is not something I need. But, the ones I accept I believe will help me educate my followers and actually allow me to experience the product/brand firsthand before I put my full support behind it.”

Boyish Jeans takes this approach to gifting, too. “We are careful about who we work with in terms of sustainable fashion influencers,” said Boyish marketing director Aubrey Nodarse Christensen. “We can’t expect everyone to be as passionate, but we do know who appreciates the sustainable steps that we’re taking.”

Rather than reach out to influencers with just the offer of free jeans, Nodarse Christensen takes time to educate and explain why Boyish is different. “They want to support this type of movement,” she said, adding that one influencer overseas turned down a pair of jeans because the carbon emissions to get the package to her wouldn’t be worth it for the environment.

Show and tell “Make sure your message matches your actions,” said Tricia Carey, director of global business development for denim at Lenzing.

Though sustainability has become the focal point for exhibitors and programming at trade shows, it was only in the past year that Carey said she started to see events consider waste. “Trade show spaces still tend to be quite wasteful,” she said. “Think about how many resources go into building a raw space into a temporary showroom for two or three days.”

Event organizers, however, toe a delicate line between satisfying exhibitors and attendees and sacrificing flourishes in lieu of creating a smaller environmental footprint.

“Our passion is to provide a unique ambiance with ideal working conditions,” said Sebastian Klinder, Munich Fabric Start (MFS) managing director, adding that MFS works with “great conviction” to implement sustainable measures to create less waste. “To us, sustainability is a mindset which we try to practice as well as possible during the realization of each of our trade shows.”

The company uses recyclable carpets as well as reusable, color neutral and high quality materials for stand and

2020 RIVET DENIM REPORT

REAL TAL K Everyone likes a present, but editors are inundated with objects that may end up in a landfill.

Tchotchkes Every company likes a clever branding opportunity, but how often do you use a yo-yo? Swap business card holders? Or carry a pencil case? Before placing a bulk order for novelty giveaways, consider the likelihood of said item landing in the trash, especially as people try to minimalize their offices and homes. And while items like denim pencil cases and pouches are a resourceful way to upcycle scrap materials, save these items for schools and hygiene kits for shelters.

Tote bags Every denim head needs a sturdy denim tote bag, but they don’t need 50 of them. While totes are a reusable and functional giveaway, most people in the industry have already accumulated a collection or at least a few favorites they like to use. To prevent tote bags from ending up in a landfill the next time a denim lover cleans out their closet, consider teaming up with a trims supplier or designer to add details that will elevate the bag beyond a basic tote. Think low-key branding and premium materials. Or better yet, give attendees the option to donate their bag to a local charity.

forum constructions. The lighting is primarily energy saving and supplemented by the venue’s solar cells. In terms of catering, the show takes care to source locally and avoid single use tableware. “The product, personal exchange and creating new business opportunities will always remain essential elements of our trade shows,” Klinder said.

Other shows are taking notable steps to go green, too.

At the January Coterie event in New York, attendees were given one-of-a-kind tote bags made from upcycled signage from previous shows. Denim Premiere Vision has scaled-down its trend section, requiring fewer samples to show what’s new for the season. And though it was cancelled due to the pandemic, Kingpins Amsterdam had selected a new venue that was built using reclaimed materials.

Focus groups When it comes to producing sustainability events sustainably, Wells said there’s a dearth of “revolutionary ideas,” but it isn’t due to a lack of caring. Many event and marketing departments are operated by small teams that are often preoccupied with making sure the event functions smoothly.

Waste, Wells added, is usually the lowest priority when this happens. “A lot of the times these marketing activations

Events The trendiest venues are often in the most inconvenient locations for public transportation. Consider spaces in centrally located neighborhoods—be it close to a main thoroughfare for drivers, or near an accessible subway line.

It’s not only less polluting, but it will help ensure attendees actually show up. And curb temporary signage by prepping guests beforehand with an email that includes essential details, like the social media handles and WiFi passwords.

Gifting Communication is the best way to get your jeans on the behinds of influential people without waste. If you have a new jean style you’d like to promote, check with influencers first to see if it suits their personal style. Camouflage prints and short shorts are not everyone’s cup of tea. Or better yet, allow them to select the fit and wash they are most likely to wear, and always ask for their size. A super stretch skinny jean will not fit like a pair of 100 percent cotton mom jeans in the same size. —AV

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get thrown together very quickly, and I think we really need to account for more time to put meaningful activations together,” she said.

It’s a scenario that Nodarse Christensen knows all too well, as she manages influencer outreach, events and Cool to Care, Boyish’s philanthropic program that hosts activities like beach cleanups and other forms of activisim. She has come to rely on a team of sustainable vendors to help execute events with a minimal impact on the environment.

In Southern California, for instance, the brand works with a plant-based caterer, Pink Salt, which makes food in a low waste, compostable manner. “We had probably 100 people coming to our event, so you would imagine numerous trash cans filled, but at the end of our event we had just a small little trash bag,” Nodarse Christensen said. “With each event that we do and each effort that we make, we try the next time to be even more sustainable. Obviously, it’s an evolution.”

But small steps don’t go unnoticed. To make an in-person event less wasteful, Wells suggests brands look to what causes the most waste—usually cutlery, plates, cups— and start from there. When possible, use reusable service ware that can be rented from various companies, or look into compostable options, which are growing in number.

“Just be sure you are taking your compost waste to a designated composting facility,” she noted.

One example of small steps with a big impact, Carey added, was a January event held by Guess in New York City to educate press about its sustainable strategy. The brand’s marketing team collaborated with Guess director of corporate sustainability Jaclyn Allen to develop a concept that mirrored the brand’s environmental values. The breakfast featured an herb potting station, edible centerpieces and organic produce for attendees to take home. Guests were also encouraged to bring at least one piece of clothing to recycle, though many brought bags of duds to discard.

Some companies, however, may not be as well versed in what type of sustainable alternatives exist for their events

and marketing efforts. “We haven’t been asked [about sustainable events] from companies as much as we propose sustainable,” said Liron David, founder and CEO of Eventique, a New York City-based event producer.

For David, the first order of business is to hone in on the goal of the event. When he meets with a client, he asks why they want to put on an event, which opens up opportunities to introduce new ideas that are more efficient, innovative and oftentimes less expensive. To make events more environmentally sound, David looks at what is required, how he can eliminate printing and how he can use materials that can be recycled and repurposed for another event.

Digital screens, for example, are an easy alternative to traditional signage, not to mention are often more aesthetically pleasing, informative and editable.

Putting on a sustainable event also requires restraint. An event producer needs to be unafraid of checking a client when they lose sight of the purpose of the event. “You can get your message across without necessarily having to spend endless dollars,” he said.

Information is crucial to spreading awareness about sustainability, but how that information is shared is evolving, too.

Companies are scaling back on the number of paper products distributed at events. Carey is encouraged by seeing that some trade shows are enforcing no handouts policies. Lenzing has “dramatically reduced” the number of printed handouts, either by reducing paper size, using recycled paper or opting instead for QR codes, but overall Carey said the company found that customers have stopped taking brochures.

“Keep printouts to a minimum and opt for PDF versions,”

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Wells said. Plus, digital versions can be easily shared with colleagues and link to hi-res imagery, which content creators need.

And if the health of the planet isn’t enough for companies to evaluate their marketing and event tactics, the financial ramifications and the health guidelines forced by COVID-19 may speed up this ‘less is more’ mantra as budgets will be tightened.

Because of social distancing, instead of inviting “the whole world,” David said companies will have to curate a list of the most important people to have at their event. “You have to make sure those 50 people are the people you need to be in the room versus first come first serve,” he said.

Wells agreed with the sentiment. “When you are clear on what the goal is, you can then invite the right people,” she said. “If there are people participating in your event that do not add value, that is a waste.”

S P O N S O R E D CONT ENT

How Alternative Financing Strengthens a Sustainable Supply Chain

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hile manufacturers have been upping their sustainability commitments, the financial institutions that often support them are looking to incentivize them for their efforts.

Companies that shift operations to a low-carbon emission model and implement eco-friendly waste management will stand out as more attractive prospects to lenders, according to Catherine Alvino, Marketing Manager at Tradewind Finance.

Alvino discusses how trade financing plays a role in bolstering sustainability across supply chains.

What impact does creating more sustainable and responsible operations have on a company’s ability to get financing?

Financial institutions recognize the threat of climate change and have launched initiatives, including financing that promotes sustainable behavior in their clients, to combat this threat. Apart from banks, alternative lenders are becoming more selective, favoring partners that are following sustainable production methods and other green protocols. As some emerging economies have not had the resources and guidance to transition to more sustainable models, some lending firms are considering financing companies that are taking first steps toward sustainability goals.

How can trade finance help apparel companies achieve their goals toward sustainability?

Companies must be able to address core operational requirements like filling orders and paying suppliers on time. With addi-

tional working capital, companies can invest in other initiatives like cleaner production techniques and R&D for eco-friendly clothing, and overall have more liquidity. When working capital is available, buyers and suppliers may be more incentivized to work together on achieving sustainable goals.

There’s less cash flow throughout the supply chain because of COVID-19. How can everyone work together to weather the storm?

With the negative impact on cash flow due to COVID-19, transparency between buyers and suppliers is key to preserving relationships. Buyers who choose not to pay their suppliers can risk losing them. To overcome cash flow hurdles, companies can pursue alternative financing such as trade finance to optimize working capital throughout the supply chain. Tradewind Finance can finance payment terms up to 180 days to improve cash flow during this difficult period.

How do you advise companies about investing in sustainability when the return might be years down the road?

Many corporations are requiring their supplier networks to adopt sustainable measures and are more actively overseeing that these measures are being met. Creating the foundation for lasting business relationships now can have a positive impact on financials down the road, even though it may not be realized immediately.

Also, adhering to strong environmental standards can improve the morale and management of a company and boost their reputation.

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GLOBAL The denim industry’s Italian-Californians chart a stylish course toward a more sustainable future. w o r d s _____ KATE NI S H I M UR A

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he marriage of Italian design sensibilities and Californian holistic approaches to sustainability has birthed some of the sharpest minds in denim. Throughout their collective decades of work, industry stalwarts Adriano Goldschmied, Maurizio Donadi and Stefano Aldighieri have helped to popularize— and now, revolutionize—the world’s favorite fabric.

The industry might not have risen to prominence without the keen aesthetic eye of Goldschmied, known to many as the Godfather of Denim. Now, the designer is focused on prompting the sustainable rebirth of jeans worldwide.

Donadi has focused on crafting a circular model for a category once synonymous with waste. At Atelier & Repairs, which he co-founded, reclaimed garments and textiles are reengineered for continued use, granting them a second life.

A veteran of some of the industry’s most prominent and influential labels, Aldighieri now lends his talents and process-driven environmental wisdom to brands across the globe.

Rivet spoke with the denim aficionados about how the industry they love got to this point—and how it can chart a sustainable path forward.

CITIZEN In terms of sustainability, where and when did the denim industry go wrong?

Maurizio Donadi: Denim was originally intended as a durable work uniform and it stayed as such for about 70 years.

After World War II there was a major social change and the ‘attitude of jeans’ became an American staple. By the ’70s, denim was a fundamental part of the everyday wardrobe and a huge business opportunity that many companies couldn’t pass. The past 30-40 years represented an indiscriminate, chaotic, greedy and often dishonest marketing and commercial assault to convince global citizens that billions of pairs of poorly designed and badly made jeans are indispensable in the quantities produced.

Adriano Goldschmied: In the early ’80s we were focused on just creating amazing new products by leading the fashion trends using our Italian passion and ability for craftsmanship. There were no limits to achieve our aesthetic goals. We were thinking to create unique jeans and at that time, we were not even thinking about the fact that our design work had a big influence on massive jean production in the world. Lavanderia Martelli in Italy (today Elleti) was the place where everything was possible, where we developed the stone wash, the acid wash, the bleach and many other

2020 RIVET DENIM REPORT

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F ROM LEFT: MAU R IZIO DON A DI; A DR IA N O GOLDSCH MIED; STEFA N O AL DI G HI E RI

uses for chemicals. We didn’t realize that we created an eco-disaster in denim.

Stefano Aldighieri: One could argue that it was never environmentally great to begin with; I often say that if denim did not exist today, we would not be allowed to invent it. Between the massive amounts of water needed to grow cotton, to process the fabric, to wash the garments, the chemicals and the waste, there are several problem areas. These were of course exacerbated once we started mass production and industrial washing.

How has the term ‘sustainability’ evolved throughout your career in the industry?

MD: I think it is our sense of responsibility to be the driver of all good decisions. I was never comfortable with the idea of global domination, unrealistic commercial growth, dishonest marketing campaigns and the exploitation of suppliers.

The term, ‘sustainability’ never appealed to me. It is the illusion that a paradise exists. The human species seems to be a polluter by nature. The only way to limit the depletion of natural resources and maintain ecological balance is to limit production which is possible only if enforced. Companies will have to be smaller and they will have to be content with smaller profits. Utopia? Maybe. But a great alternative to extinction.

AG: The term ‘sustainability’ was not known at all during my time. It wasn’t until the late ’80s to early ’90s, after the global success of denim finishings, when we started to realize that we were going in a very wrong direction. We understood that as designers we were driving the industry to a dead end and that we had the responsibility to make a real change. Under the influence of the fights of Greenpeace, brands like Patagonia, personalities like Doug Tompkins, together with designers like Katherine Hammett and Marithé + François Girbaud, I changed my vision, and since then my priority was to make sustainable products. In 1992 I launched my first eco-line, A Gold E, that was done entirely in Tencel.

SA: Like everybody else, at the beginning I was not really aware of the heavy footprint that our industry was responsible for. I had an uneasy feeling going to the laundries and seeing processes and chemicals used, but never really understood the scale of the issue.

My wake-up call came during the time I worked at Levi Strauss & Co. in San Francisco, when I had the opportunity to tour the organic cotton farms in the San Joaquin Valley (the same tour that gave Yvon Chouinard the push to dramatically transform Patagonia). From that moment, I tried to understand more about the impact of our industry. Unfortunately, the more you dig, the more you find. At that point you realize that if you knowingly carry on doing things the same way, you become a criminal.

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What is denim’s biggest environmental crime?

MD: The denim crime is total. From water consumption to chemical use, from dye treatments to contaminated crops, from challenging labor conditions to massive overproduction, the denim industry generates an extraordinary negative impact on people and on our planet.

AG: So many—not only in the environment, but also in the social development of the business.

Cotton is a fiber that needs a lot of water, a lot of land, chemicals and energy. Today, there are alternatives that are more friendly, with less impact. The creation of the indigo color needs hazardous chemicals and elements derived from oil. This needs to be changed for the better. Indigo dye takes tons of water and energy, and new ways of dyeing are on the way.

When it comes to garment finishing, the traditional polluting washing systems are still the majority of global production, and there are better alternatives available. The denim business is also way behind in digitalization and optimizing the production process.

SA: To me the biggest problems started with the proliferation of brands, retailers, factories, laundries—all of a sudden, everybody was making and selling denim products. We quickly reached saturation point and the insane race to the (price) bottom started, only leaving losers behind. The only differentiation became the price point, and in their quest to preserve their margins, most large brands and retailers shut down manufacturing at home and rushed offshore.

The biggest losers were the environment and factory workers everywhere. In the West, they were losing their jobs, and in the East they were being exploited.

Which new technologies and alternatives do you think will have the greatest positive impact on the sector?

MD: I cannot frankly answer this question. I am not technically qualified to mention which technologies will have a positive impact in our sector will be. However, I know there are many textile, chemical and manufacturing companies that are leading by example in creating product and systems that are clean, creative and innovative for the people and the planet. My point of view is that the most sustainable jean is the one not produced, so I dedicate my efforts to recondition what already exists. The leftovers of finished goods and textiles in the world are truly unmeasurable, and denim in particular is huge part of that. My mission is to clean the mess, not adding wood to the fire.

AG: New fibers in modern farms will bring a lot of improvements and much less impact. In nature we have all that we need, including indigo.

Bio-technology will change the way of making the indigo.

New dyeing systems like foam dyes and others are on the way with gigantic savings of water. Automation and artificial intelligence

will change the nature of traditional manufacturing companies, including the introduction of laser, ozone and nano-technology, among many others.

The digitalization of the entire process from design to marketplaces and sourcing is bringing a totally new method of work, making brands more efficient and saving money that they can designate to other critical areas, like a substantial benefit for workers and social activities.

SA: Thankfully technology is helping our industry to reduce the impact in many aspects. The recycling of raw materials is now possible, less harmful chemicals have been developed, harsh laundry processes are now being done with a combination of lasers and ozone processes. While perhaps still not perfect, it’s a huge step in the right direction. The sooner we can completely eliminate pumice stones, bleach and potassium permanganate from our factories, the better for all.

What is the industry’s next step toward sustainability in a post-COVID-19 world?

MD: The natural and human resources needed to maintain and grow the denim industry will greatly limit any ambition for a cleaner planet and the well-being of its citizens. We produce too much. As the second largest polluter in the world, the industry of apparel and textile must be regulated. It is maybe a harsh alternative, but the only one that can stop this legalized crime.

AG: Consumers will ask for more sustainable, circular and more transparent products and the industry will try to accelerate this process. However, I think the big point is the sustainability for people and workers. We face a big contraction of numbers for the global production that means more unemployment and the serious problem of reorganization of our segment. I think that hopefully the crisis will be a huge occasion to design a new society more fairly for everybody, where the dollar is not the only value and where the wellness and health of people comes first.

Sustainability has to be a part of the new normal, which hopefully will be better than the old one.

SA: Every cloud comes with a silver lining. In our case, the whole industry had to stop completely. While very dramatic for many companies, this forced pause is making us all reconsider priorities and needs. The biggest and most noticeable change, in my opinion, is going to be a much-needed reduction of volume of apparel produced. Even before the crisis, we already knew that about one-third of all the garments made would never be sold, and that three quarters of the ones made would end up in a landfill soon. This was an unsustainable situation which needed correcting. Our ultimate goal must be a working circular economy.

The New Wave report is a Sourcing Journal Media publication, which was created with support from our partners: