Rivet Denim Sustainability Report by Sourcing Journal

N A E J Y P A R E H T A N D W E N A H A T I S A W Y G T N I I L V I L B O A V N E I A S I T S U IM S N E S D E T A . R HOW C O I P T R S I O R C E N T I C T A R A THA H C T N A DOMIN

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ustainability makes the difference between good and bad. We are made for good,” said Adriano Goldschmied, the “Godfather of Denim” and advisor to eco-innovating startups like Tinctorium and Wiser Wash. It’s a simple and universally understood interpretation of an ambiguous term used to describe products that in the last few years have gone from being niche and unfashionable to serving as the future of fashion. In 2019, major players across all tiers of fashion made ambitious sustainable pledges. Inditex announced that all of the cotton, linen and polyester used by fast fashion retailer Zara will be organic, sustainable or recycled by 2025. Gap Inc. laid out plans to accelerate sustainable product innovation for its Old Navy and Banana Republic brands, including using new wash processes for denim that reduce water usage by 20 percent and procuring its cotton from more sustainable sources. Levi Strauss & Co. said it intends to achieve a 90 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and use 100 percent renewable energy throughout its facilities by 2025. And in large part, sustainability is being led by the global denim industry’s laborious effort to undo the century’s worth of damage it has done to the environment. Sustainable innovation begins with the supply chain, which Rivet has seen embrace the challenge as the new way forward. There are fewer sustainable capsule collections as mills scale organic cotton, cellulosic fibers and recycled components across their entire production. Laser technologies are driving brands to reconsider their traditional labor- and resource-intensive finishing processes. (Read “Buttoned Up” on page 16.) Even indigo—arguably the defining characteristic of denim—is being reconsidered through a green lens with biologically synthesized indigo, aniline-free indigo and dye processes that reduce water usage by 99 percent. (Read “True Blue” on page 6.) Through these innovations, the denim industry inches closer to a circular economy—a topic that picked up momentum this year with the launch of Ellen MacArthur’s Jeans Redesign, an initiative that brought over 40 denim experts to establish a baseline for material health, recyclability and traceability. (Read “Eternal Life” on page 12.) And with clothing re-commerce on track to become a $51 billion business in 2023, according to GlobalData, denim companies are reaping the financial benefits of circular business models. (Read “Re-Sale Revolution” on page 18.) While the definition of sustainability—and the path to it—may vary from business to business and individual to individual, the results of sustainable and responsible design are proving to be win-wins for both the environment and the denim industry. Angela Velasquez Rivet executive editor

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

BETTER TOGETHER Brands, mills, retailers and fiber companies are working across the supply chain to create sustainable solutions

TRUE BLUE A look at the newest innovations that are delivering blue while staying green

INNOVATIVE INGREDIENTS The material advancements that are changing the way denim is made—for the better

ETERNAL LIFE The push toward a circular economy

BUTTONED UP No detail is too small in the quest for sustainability

RESALE REVOLUTION Re-commerce is becoming big businesses

FINISH LINE Lasering a new path to better denim production

TAKING THE LONG VIEW The damage wasn’t done overnight, and neither will the cleanup

THE NEXT WAVE Water conservation is just one part of sustainable denim

FUTURE FACING Brands and suppliers are setting aggressive goals to undo the damage they’ve caused

BETTER TOGETHER By pooling resources, the industry is gaining momentum in its quest for greater sustainability.

Out of the Blue Lenzing’s new Sustainable Denim Wardrobe, called Broadband, redefines denim with unique fabrics that combine Tencel Lyocell and Tencel x Refibra Lyocell fibers, cotton, linen, recycled cotton and spandex. Lenzing collaborated with mills like Anubha, Atlantic Mills, Indigo Istanbul, Kaihara, KG Denim and Stella Blue with garment processing by Jeanologia. Escuela de Arte Superior y de Diseño de Valencia and U.K.-based specialists Endrime and Blackhorse Lane Ateliers provided design input.

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Cropping Up Levi Strauss and Outerknown are doubling down on cottonized hemp, this time by

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integrating traditional indigodyeing techniques to create “true blue” denim. It is a less stiff, more cotton-like alternative to regular hemp—and a stronger, water-saving substitute for conventional cotton. Every garment, including a tapered-fit 502 jean, a fleece-lined trucker jacket and western shirts, is designed for 100 percent recyclability, and the hemp Levi’s uses is rain-fed.

Make a Splash Gap Inc. has partnered with its Arvind Limited to open an innovation center featuring installations that showcase best practices for water management and available recycling technologies, a library and lab space to develop water management solutions. The two are also investing in a water treatment facility that will eliminate the use of fresh water at Arvind’s denim mill in Ahmedabad, saving 3 billion liters of fresh water by the end of 2020.

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Crystal Clear Cone Denim and Crystal International Group have bowed Crystal X Cone Collaboration, a capsule featuring responsible cotton, recycled content and laser finishing. The capsule aims to provide a new level of sustainable denim solutions and fabric offerings. The Crystal X Cone Collaboration expands the sustainable denim offered as part of Cone Denim’s Sustainblue Collection and brings new capabilities to customers as part of Crystal’s Eco Blu Collection.

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Collaboration is key for the denim industry as it works to become more environmentally responsible. To that end, mills, fiber companies, brands and retailers are increasingly reaching across the supply chain to create new solutions, novel applications and interesting collections that couldn’t be achieved as singular efforts. Here are a few of the promising new tie-ups.

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TRUE BLUE Dyeing alternatives allow the industry to maintain denim’s trademark hue without the detrimental side effects.

Human Resources Wrangler launched the second edition of its Icons collection of heritage designs, this time featuring its brand new Indigood foam dyeing process, which was four years in the making. Indigood uses foam dyeing technology to suspend indigo, replacing the traditional water vats and chemical baths of conventional indigo dyeing, reducing by 100 percent the amount of water required to turn raw denim into indigo blue. The new dyeing process also reduces energy use and waste by more than 60 percent compared to the conventional denim dyeing process, according to Wrangler. Indigood was developed in partnership with recycled yarn manufacturer Recover, denim mill Tejidos Royo and Texas Tech University.

Natural Selection New fashion biotech firm Tinctorium has developed a new biologically synthesized indigo that avoids many toxic chemicals. The firm, which earned valuable connections and $250,000 in seed money through Indiebio’s accelerator program, counts Adriano Goldschmied as an advisor. Tinctorium has set out to provide a solution to two synthetic indigo problems: the petroleum base that must be used to create it and the toxic chemicals that are required to introduce it into fabric.

2019 DENIM REPORT

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Efficiency Expert Karl Mayer has unveiled Greendye, a new technology developed by the textile machinery firm that will be offered in tandem to its other water-saving dyeing technologies, the Prodye-S and the Prodye-R. The tech will utilize a nitrogen atmosphere to infuse more efficiency into the dyeing process. The new machinery will inject a high concentration of indigo dye into the nitrogen-heavy environment of its dyeing vats, allowing it to diffuse and migrate “more intensely” compared to traditional dyeing technology.

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Blue jeans are a staple in wardrobes around the world, but the dyeing process used to get those classic tones has come under fire. As a result, the denim industry is committed to better chemical management and resource preservation. The latest innovations offer a variety of options for delivering on the look consumers love while protecting the planet.

Fluid Situation Archroma’s new Diresul Smartdenim Blue is a liquid sulfur blue dye that “clones” indigo and can be applied in all the standard dyeing methods for sulfur dyes, including pad-ox, pad-steam and exhaust. Additionally, the liquid sulfur dye meets the requirements of the major brand and retailer manufacturing restricted substances list and eco-labels like Cradle to Cradle, and it is aniline-free, the company reported. Diresul Smartdenim Blue offers color fastness to minimize back staining, and allows brands to create overall wash-downs much closer to actual indigo than any other dyestuff.

Indigo Standards Artistic Milliners partnered with chemical manufacturer DyStar to develop Crystal Clear, an indigo dyeing process that uses an organic fixing agent requiring no salt and 70 percent less chemicals. The hydro-free dye process leaves clean and recyclable water effluent without any salt by-products. Unlike conventional systems in which indigo dyestuff is stored after the dyeing process and only about 20 percent reused due to salt formation. Crystal Clear calls for pre-reduced liquid indigo and allows indigo recovery up to 100 percent.

INNOVATIVE INGR EDIENTS Recycled & Ready Finnish textile startup Infinited Fiber Company (IFC) announced in April that it has raised 3.7 million euros ($4.1 million) in funding to ramp up capacity for its recycled cellulose fibers. IFC’s technology can turn materials containing cellulose like textile, cardboard and agriculture waste into new natural fiber. The company is currently running a 50-ton pilot plant in Finland and plans to increase the annual capacity of textile fiber production up to 500 tons. Investors include H&M Group, the Finnish state-owned energy company Fortum, and Virala, a digital marketing firm. The recycled fiber is targeted to high-volume garment and textile applications like denim, T-shirts, sweaters, bed linens and non-woven materials. The fiber boasts a natural soft look and touch, antibacterial and bio-degradable properties and consistent quality. Infinited Fiber has a 30 percent to 40 percent better color uptake than competing fibers, meaning it requires less energy and chemicals. Meanwhile, production water usage for 1 kg of Infinited Fiber is 50 liters, compared to cotton fiber that requires 20,000 liters per kilogram. It’s also cost competitive, according to the company. “A problem in the textile industry is the growing demand for cotton that simply isn’t available,” said Petri Alava, CEO of IFC. “We have proven that, for example in denim applications, the commercial quality requirements can be reached with our Infinited Fiber. The global denim industry is pushing us to bring our solutions to the market.” IFC aligns with H&M’s goals to become fully circular. The group aims for 100 percent recycled or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030.

ORGANIC ORIGINS Cone Denim recently introduced its Organic Cotton Capsule collection of denim fabrics in the company’s iconic silhouettes made with 100 percent organically grown cotton. The cotton used in the collection is grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizers, according to Cone, and it’s grown using methods and materials with a lower environmental impact. The capsule is part of Cone’s Sustainblue product range, which prioritizes fibers and yarns that have a reduce, reuse or recycle component. For instance, Cone became the first fabric producer in North Amer-

ica to use Tencel x Refibra fibers in denim fabrics this year. Pierette Scavuzzo, Cone Denim director of product design, said the organic cotton denim illustrates how the mill is “building sustainable components in our most authentic expressions as we continue our commitment to furthering sustainability.” Cone debuted the collection at Kingpins Amsterdam in April, where the topic of sustainability was non-negotiable for most attendees. Sample garments were designed using 100 percent organic cotton denim, bio-degradable trim, wooden buttons and cotton sewing thread, providing “nature-friendly” design inspiration for brands and designers.

WINNER’S CIRCLE

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The basic building blocks for jeans is changing—and that’s a good thing.

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Denim mill Candiani SpA won the ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award, held in conjunction with the ITMA 2019 textile machinery trade show. The company received the acknowledgement for its innovative product, Candiani Re-Gen, a “circular denim” fabric created from regenerated and recycled raw materials. Fifty percent of the Re-Gen fabric comprises Tencel x Refibra Lyocell, made of pulp from cotton scraps and wood pulp using Lenzing’s efficient closed-loop process. The other 50 percent consists of post-industrial recycled Candiani fibers. Candiani’s fabrics are also dyed using green technologies, resulting in a substantial reduction in the use of water and chemicals in the material production and jeans washing process.

MUSEUM BR INGS CIRCUL A R IT Y TO L IF E With “circularity” entering the vernacular of fashion-savvy consumers, a new exhibit and shop in Amsterdam takes a closer look at the innovation behind the science of making circular apparel. Fashion for Good launched “Reborn” in October 2019, a new exhibit at the organization’s Fashion for Good Experience, the first interactive tech museum dedicated to sustainable fashion innovation. Through Reborn, Fashion for Good highlights a range of innovations that are needed in extending the lifecycle of clothes and to keep them from being burned or ending up in landfills. The exhibit features circular apparel and footwear, including items from unisex workwear brand Silfi and a capsule collection of Cradle to Cradle certified apparel by C&A. The exhibit also includes an exclusive look at designer Tess van Zalinge’s reworked bridal gown collection, bags and accessories made from old sails by Mafia, and WAO shoes that can be ground up into compost. Throughout the space, attendees have the opportunity to learn about the human impact of apparel construction, including insights into the many hands that touch each product before it hits the racks.

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Visitors to the exhibit can shop circular products in the Good Shop and participate in events, workshops and panel discussions aligned around Reborn. Fashion for Good is a global initiative that unites brands, retailers, the supply chain and other stakeholders to advance sustainability. Circularity is one of its core ambitions. In its hub in Amsterdam, Fashion for Good houses a Circular Apparel Community, a co-working space where it provides open-source resources like its Good Fashion Guide about Cradle to Cradle clothing. Prior exhibits at the Fashion for Good Experience have focused on transparency in fashion and companies pursuing initiatives to reduce their water consumption.

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Denim’s Detox Can Only Happen with Education

enim sustainability requires an ongoing commitment from all industry stakeholders, propelled forward by behind-thescenes heavy lifting. For Artistic Milliners, it means focusing on innovation and technology by making sustainability a default element in design, whether it’s a fabric or garment wash. “Working with trustworthy vendors in the supply chain, we constantly research better options for developing our product,” said Omer Ahmed, Managing Director at Artistic Milliners. Ahmed shared his perspective on the state of sustainability within denim—where we are and where we need to be. Is the industry making progress or does greenwashing still exist? We’re in a time of transition in the fashion industry, where the need for urgency for “detoxification” comes directly from consumers as they push us to clean up our act. Visionary companies have already done their homework, transforming the way they produce. Technology and innovation play a big

role in designing sustainable product, but people should understand it needs a big investment of time and human resources. With that said, anything you can procure and embed in your product doesn’t make you sustainable—it’s an approach, a philosophy, a commitment that has to be embraced at all levels of the company. I believe our industry will do its own “de-

tox”—it’s already started—since, unfortunately, there are bad examples we need to get rid of. What needs to happen next to rapidly advance denim sustainability? The consumer doesn’t want to be a part of environmental crime anymore. Our industry is a big part of the problem, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be a big part of the solution. Gen Z is even more pushy than their predecessors—they literally want all of us to be an open book. Social media plays an important role for spreading the word, either for the do-gooders or the frauds. I would say it’s not the next thing or shift, but it’s already a consequence where we all have

to focus on doing our best. How can brands, factories and retailers work together to market the benefits of sustainability to consumers? It’s not marketing; it’s educating. Brands are expected to take up this mission, but the problem is their marketing teams also need to educate themselves about technological advancements and innovation when it comes to sustainability. This can only be possible with flawless communication in the supply chain and supporting each other. It is obligatory for all of us to educate denim consumers before complaining that they’re not ready to pay for an upcharge.

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Sustainable clothing brand Amour Vert opened its first New York City location in Nolita this fall, providing consumers an immersive experience designed to educate on sustainable fabrics and responsible design. The store is green, both figuratively and literally, decorated with freshly planted foliage inside and out. Since it was founded in 2010 as a wholesale company, Amour Vert has integrated sustainability into every facet of the business, from biodegradable packaging to signature eco-friendly fabrics. The brand’s core ingredients include Tencel, organic cotton, ethical wool, OEKO-Tex mulberry silk and its signature modal fabric made from sustainably harvested beechwood fibers. Its denim is also responsibly produced. Since last year, Amour Vert has collaborated with premium denim brand Agolde on an exclusive organic cotton denim collection. Styles include skinny and straight leg silhouettes, all of which are ethically made in Los Angeles at a vertically integrated denim production facility. A store in New York City helps cement Amour Vert as a serious player into the sustainable fashion space. The city has seen a wave of eco-minded brands and retailers move in, including Nudie Jeans, Everlane, Reformation and Naadam, a sustainable cashmere brand. “It’s a prime location in the city where locals and tourists alike will see

us—and that’s all you can ask for in a brick-and-mortar location, which serves as a great tool for brand awareness and customer acquisition,” said CEO Aaron Hoey, who spearheaded the company’s move from wholesale to direct to consumer in 2016. This marks the 10th storefront for the company, which has locations throughout California, Georgia and Washington. A San Francisco-based company, Amour Vert makes 97 percent of its products in California—most within just a few miles of its offices. “In-house production is a huge advantage for us for a number of reasons,” said Hoey. “It’s greener—we prototype designs right in our office, which creates less waste during production and removes the need for shipping samples—and it’s also speedier.” He added that within just one day, his team could come up with a design, manufacture it and offer it online. In this sense, Amour Vert offers sustainable fast fashion—a term previously considered an oxymoron. Next up, the company will double down on e-commerce growth and open three to five stores in 2020, some of which may be in the New York City area. “I’d love to grow brand awareness in one particular market, especially such an influential market as New York,” said Hoey. “We’re on the hunt for new locations.”

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Designing in Value & Sustainability

here’s no reason that sustainable denim manufacturing has to equate to a decrease in quality. Just ask Kaltex, a pioneer in the use of water-saving technologies that’s partnered with such leaders as Tonello and Jeanologia in its commitment to reduce usage of water, chemicals and energy. The company has made no secret about its feelings that sustainability doesn’t mean sacrifice, and Richard Tobin, vice president of sales and marketing at Kaltex America, shared his thoughts on how the industry can work together to further its accomplishments. How can the industry work together to market the benefits of sustainability to consumers? One way would be to develop co-branded programs around sustainable products, and then use social media to further leverage the programs via defined benefits and features. For example, developing a contest to raise awareness of the program could be effective.

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What have you learned with each new advancement toward a more responsible production process? Our roster of eco initiatives runs the gamut from housing our own heat recovery plant that generates electricity for manufacturing, to the adoption of BCI Cotton, to Dry Dye, which brings the wash down process to a 20-minute

cycle. We’ve learned that it’s important to embrace all new technologies and to not dismiss anything. Maintaining an open mind and always being willing to learn has helped us grow and discover new sustainable techniques. What do you see as the next shift that needs to happen to advance denim sustainability? Retailers need to lose the low-cost mentality and instead champion products with solid value propositions, allowing them to raise pricing to offset the cost of manufacturing more sustainably. How has the demand for denim out of Mexico changed

in the last year? The demand has actually flattened, but there have been conversations developing among forward-thinking brands and cultures to return. The market demands flexibility, fast turn around and customization, which it can achieve in Mexico. Kaltex Denim offers on-site development and with its mill, finishing facilities, laundry, digital printing, and cut and sew all on one campus. How are you balancing performance with aesthetics when it comes to denim design? In my opinion, the performance fibers are easily assimilated into design with no loss of aesthetics.

ETERNAL The denim industry continues to push toward a circular economy to eliminate waste and overconsumption. w o rds _____ JASMI N MA L I K C H UA

ew garments are as tailor-made for the circular economy as denim. When Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss invented rivet-reinforced blue jeans as we know them in 1850s San Francisco, they conceived of them as workwear for prospectors in the grip of the gold rush. For circularity pundits, who want to keep resources in circulation as long as possible, denim is the antithesis of throwaway fashion that is worn fleetingly and then chucked aside. “Denim was always meant to be lasting,” said Marisa Ma, co-founder of Atelier & Repairs, a Los Angeles-based firm that creates one-of-a-kind clothing from castoff textiles and trims. “No employer of miners wanted their jeans to rip, so everything was created for enduring use.” But denim’s hard-as-nails construction can also work against it. The same rivets that prevent tearing, for instance, are difficult for recyclers to remove and result in large swathes of fabric being cut off and landfilled or incinerated at the end of jeans’ life. Modern-day consumers prefer denim with a little bit of stretch, which means mixing cotton yarns with small amounts of Spandex or Lycra. Because blended fibers are nearly impossible to tease apart into their original constituents, “this really severely impacts the recyclability of the garment,” said Jade Wilting, partnership and community manager of Circle Economy’s textile program in Amsterdam. Neither have take-back programs or recycling techniques achieved the breadth of scale necessary to channel unwanted jeans into new apparel manufacturing and other high-value applications. At present, most garments that cannot be reused are “downcycled” into rags, upholstery stuffing and housing insulation. “Some chemical recycling technologies are out there, but they are still not optimized to handle the waste we currently have because this waste was never designed to be reused in the first place,” said Adriana Galijasevic, G-Star Raw’s denim and sustainability expert. For people like Ma, downcycling denim is almost criminal. “There was a purpose and a reason for why it was designed the way it was,” she said. “But that’s the biggest riddle of all: How do we encourage longevity with today’s business metrics?” To be sure, circularity in any industry, denim or otherwise, is an uphill task. Most modern supply chains are based on a linear take-make-dispose model. “It’s not easy retrofitting needed infrastructure,” said Roian Atwood, senior director of global sustainable business at Kontoor Brands, which operates Lee and Wrangler. But denim can be the poster child for circular fashion. It just needs a few nudges in the right direction. “Denim can be a circular product if it’s designed to last for a long time, if it’s made with great materials and if it’s made so that it can be made 2019 DENIM REPORT

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again into a new garment,” said Francois Souchet, Make Fashion Circular lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. In July, the U.K. nonprofit launched Jeans Redesign, an initiative that is rallying brands such as C&A, Gap, H&M, Lee, Outerknown and Tommy Hilfiger to tackle the waste and pollution in denim production today. Initial guidelines have called for the removal (or at least minimization) of rivets in favor of tack stitching, a material composition that is at least 98 percent cellulose fibers by weight and components that are easy to remove or disassemble. “Our aim is to use the learnings from this project in a bigger scale in our way to become fully circular in all our production processes,” a spokesperson for H&M said. “We see participating in this project as a next step in our already extensive work in applying circular-economy principles in our business, all the way from the design stage, use of materials and production until the final product reaches our customers and the product-use stage.” There have already been efforts to create more circular denim. H&M has been incorporating recovered cotton from its garment-takeback program into select items since 2015. Three years later, C&A and G-Star Raw

Madewell has keyed into summer’s prairie trend with a 15-piece collection with Christy Dawn, founder of the eponymous line of sustainable apparel, using deadstock. The limited-edition garments were produced in Los Angeles to minimize their environmental impact….

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LIFE

BRANDS CLOSING THE LOOP

Converse has teamed with vintage retailer Beyond Retro to make a line of sneakers that feature uppers made of upcycled denim fabric. The Renew Denim Collection uses at least one pair of upcycled jeans per pair; in total, the collection is set to repurpose tens of thousands of jeans this season….

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Madewell has also teamed with ThredUp to give shoppers in four cities the opportunity to purchase pre-worn denim for a fraction of the original price. Madewell refurbishes each garment and sells them for $50…..

Argentum, a Mexico-based textile company, is working with

Taylor Stitch’s take-back program Restitch features workwear as the theme for its third edition. The 25-piece capsule includes restyled pieces from the company’s takeback program plus vintage pieces, which account for the smaller sub-group of items that have been rebuilt….

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unveiled their versions of the “world’s most sustainable jeans,” which the Cradle to Cradle Product Innovation Institute anointed with its Gold-level seal of approval for their holistic approaches to human and environmental health, material reutilization, renewable energy use, carbon management, water stewardship and social justice. Lenzing, too, has been increasing the proportion of recycled cotton scraps in its Tencel x Refibra fibers, which have appeared in collections by AG Adriano Goldschmied, Guess and Levi Strauss. Hélène Smits from Circle Economy wants to see more of this, however. “Incorporating recycled cotton, whether mechanically or chemically, is still not widespread and requires not only technical innovation but also setting up new circular supply chains,” she said. “Circularity is about materials and design, but it is also about new processes and systems.” It’s also a philosophy, said Megan Stoneburner Azim, director of sustainability and sourcing at Outerknown, which backs its organic-cotton SEA (Social Environmental Accountability) jeans with a lifetime repairs warranty. “To build circular denim, the industry must use safe and renewable materials, ensure durable and long-lasting garments, put mechanisms in place to collect and sort used product when worn through, and

an unnamed American company to launch a line of “circular” workwear, which will be produced by third-party factories with a “social component” attached. The company will collect used garments in the United States and Mexico and extract their fibers to create new clothing to be sold online.….

drive material innovation for recyclability,” Stoneburner Azim said. “The the less you buy. If fewer clothes are being bought, fewer garments end No. 1 priority is to keep a style in circulation as long as possible.” up as waste in landfills.” Mud Jeans even offers free repairs to active Indeed, recycling is just one facet of the circularity model, and leasers. “We want our customers to use their jeans as long as possible,” arguably its least important. Not only does recycling any product deVijgeboom said. grade its quality, according to Souchet, but it also nullifies all of the Younger consumers are certainly keen on access over ownership. energy, labor and resources that go into its design and production. Already, 62 percent of millennials and 57 percent of teenagers said they “More value is derived by maintaining wish brands offered more ways to rent or the integrity of the product,” he said. “So borrow items, according to Cassandra, a you need to share, repair, rent, resale and business intelligence company that spe" T H E A DVA N TAG E O F K E E P I N G G A R M E N T S cializes in young people. basically keep the product in its current shape and use it to the maximum. And I N C I R C U L AT I O N I S T O P R E V E N T OV E R C O N “The fashion industry is quickly wakthen once you can’t use the product anying up to this,” said Martijn Hagman, chief S U M P T I O N . I F F E W E R C L O T H E S A R E B E I N G financial officer at Tommy Hilfiger, which more, then you can look at recycling.” Sweden’s Nudie Jeans, for instance, was the first to offer jeans made from 100 B O U G H T, F E W E R G A R M E N T S E N D U P I N buys back unwanted jeans that it resells percent recycled-cotton fabric on a wide L A N D F I L L S.” as part of its Re-use range. In the Netherscale. While the brand will continue to collands, Mud Jeans is the first—and so far laborate with the PVH Product Innovation only—denim brand that lets customers Center—Tommy Hilfiger is owned by PVH — D io n V ijg eb o o m , M ud Je a n s rent its items for a monthly fee, which Corp.—to develop and marshal innovaprovides a healthier margin per item. Antions in sustainability, Hagman calls these other upside to this “sharing” model? Less trash. options “exciting alternatives,” and ones he is keen to explore at some “The main advantage of keeping garments in circulation is to prepoint. vent overconsumption,” said Dion Vijgeboom, the company’s co-own“There is a true opportunity in these new models of consumption and er. “The longer you keep garments ‘alive’ by repairing, rental and resale, businesses that do not look into them risk being left behind,” he said.

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Opening the Book on Sustainability

n order for sustainability to advance in a meaningful way, it’s imperative that companies lift the hood on their operations to share what’s working—and what’s not. Matthew Fuhr, president of Siddiqsons, talked with Rivet about the evolution of the denim industry, how the company’s sustainability efforts have helped the denim mill rebrand and build market share in the U.S. and Europe, and the role transparency plays in getting the end consumer on board. How can companies avoid greenwashing in the race to source, produce and sell sustainably? Sustainability efforts only become relevant when companies can provide the transparency of how the formula was created in the first place. Wet processing traditionally has been very opaque and viewed as the “secret sauce” differentiating one company from another. Siddiqsons has adopted soft-

2019 DENIM REPORT

ware that will provide the actual formula that will measure water consumption, chemical usage and energy consumption. As a vertical company, Siddiqsons’ vision is to create denim fabric with the intent of only being processed (wet and dry) in a sustainable manner. Thus, there’s a need to provide the formula to our partners so they can market to consumers highlighting significant improvement in using artisanship and

chemistry in a clean, green and sustainable manner. How can the industry market the benefits of sustainability to consumers? Transparency is a critical term in marketing to consumers today. If a brand is going to discuss data about how to improve, then the supply chain must provide data to substantiate change. All the data so far has been created in a B2B environment. This data must now become consumer-facing. What needs to happen next to rapidly advance denim sustainability? The next big shift will come in supply-chain process changes to reduce lead time and assist

in overall inventory management. Our industry is quickly becoming a fulfillment economy that will require not only sustainability but creating product and producing in a manner that achieves the customers’ expectations on how long a semi-custom jean will take to produce. What role does collaboration play in sustainable manufacturing? Collaboration is very important to not only achieve sustainable manufacturing but also to modify the overall supply chain to meet the demands of the consumer today. In order to change, all parties need to open up their process and procedures to adapt to the market.

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BUTTONED UP

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he sustainability of a jean is tied to every stylistic choice that a designer makes—down to the last rivet. With global brands like Nudie Jeans trading in leather for Jacron patches made from recycled paper, and animal rights groups like PETA publicly urging Levi’s to use vegan leather patches—and going as far as purchasing the minimum number of shares in the company required to submit shareholder resolutions and to speak at annual meetings—the supply chain is taking a closer look at adopting sustainable practices and materials for trims. Like the cotton growing, weaving and finishing that come before it, denim-trim suppliers are taking measures to reduce their intake of water, chemicals, energy and raw materials. “There is a misconception that because a trim is such a small part of the overall garment, the choice of materials doesn’t matter. But it really does,” said Debbie Shakespeare, Avery Dennison RBIS senior director of sustainability and compliance. “Even the small choices have an impact.”

2019 DENIM REPORT

Sustainability backed by experience

Trim companies prove that no detail is too small when creating ethically made collections. wor ds _____ A N GEL A V EL A S Q U E Z

As the world’s largest zipper manufacturer, YKK understands its role in establishing best practices. “Many brands, including YKK, which established an environmental pledge in 1994, have been implementing sustainable practices for decades but the younger generation has brought sustainability in fashion to the forefront in recent years,” said Brian Miller, director and business leader for pants and workwear industries at YKK USA Inc. When it comes to requesting sustainable trims, suppliers said the denim and outdoor industries are ahead of other apparel categories. “Brands in the denim sector are one of the pioneers in incorporating sustainable practices in their production. We see a new trend of brands inquiring about supply chain and wanting to be as transparent as possible with their customers,” said Daniel Obayashi, national marketing manager at YKK USA Inc. In 2011, Metalbottoni developed No Impact, a product line that uses recycled raw materials, no synthetic chemicals, “rational” use of water and energy, reduced CO2 emission and processing cycles with a low environmental impact. No Impact was developed specifically for the denim industry. At that time, Metalbottoni was witnessing the denim market moving toward sustainability. However, the company said demand for sustainable products and productions has increased in the past two to three years, and in the past 12 months it’s also expanded to the ready-towear brands. And denim stalwarts are often leading the conversation. While startup brands may have a running start by building sustainability into their DNA, brands like Levi’s have examined sustainable trims for more than a decade. The brand was the first to broach the topic to Buenos Aires, Argentina-based trim supplier Apholos Brand Identity, which is a prime example of old dogs learning new tricks. The 100-year-old company has reduced water usage by 80 percent by treating and reusing water from its own plating plant. “Plating metal, if not carefully done, can be highly contaminating. We recycled 100 percent all of the zinc alloy scrap generated,” said Luciana Botner, Apholos’ creative director. “The atmosphere of the plant and the conditions in which the employees work is also part of our sustainable policy, and, of course, all of the above affects cost.” The company’s sustainable product portfolio includes 50 percent recycled brass and copper trims and 100 percent raw zinc alloy buttons,

tack made in one single piece. “They are made using 100 percent recycled zamac and simply polished with porcelain chips,” Botner said. “Although our plating process is carried out with the best practices on sustainability, the fact that trims are used raw and plated at the end means less material added to the process, less footprint.” “While there has been talk about sustainability in fashion for over a decade now, we feel that in the past year there has been more interest than ever on the subject,” she added.

and premium brands, such as Levi’s and Diesel, are using Prym’s Fashion’s LIFE products. “Today’s consumers expect brands to offer products that are completely sustainable and show some sort of social responsibility. In our sales and development meetings, sustainability is always one of the first topics of conversation—the level of interest is overwhelming at times,” Moore said. Launched earlier this year, LIFE-certified fasteners are made to adhere to fewer harmful substances, eliminate heavy metals and require less material inputs and energy. Made from plastic water bottles, ecoWhite Good practices, better designs snaps eliminate the use of crude oil and associated processing compared With no singular definition of sustainability, and each brand havto plastic snaps made with traditional raw materials. Meanwhile, Prym’s ing its own sustainable goals, trim suppliers have to offer multiple ecoGreen snaps are made from plant-based renewable resources, such as eco alternatives. potato starch, and reduce fossil resources and greenhouse gas emissions. To fill the wide scope of needs, Italian zipper and button manufacturer These snaps, Moore added, are designed to provide the ultimate solution Riri Group offers zipper tape made with recycled polyester, metal compofor a total eco-friendly package. nents made with only renewable energy and monomaterial metal chains Up next? Moore said plastic snaps made from recycled ocean plastic, and zippers to improve the recyclability of components. called ecoBlue, are in the works Along with sustainability, brands are seeking options that don’t sacRecycled materials are piquing the interest of denim brands. Last year, rifice creativity. Metalbottoni launched labels made with recycled leather and recycled Vivolo, a leather accessories maker out of Italy, provides sustainable polyester. The materials are sourced from the waste of other processes. solutions with a wide range of non-leather “Moreover, we developed a special project eco-friendly materials derived from celluof a jeans button made completely in coplose and textile fibers, recycled materials, per, which is not only recycled but can be " T H E R E I S A M I S C O N C E P T I O N T H AT silicon and many others made with low-imrecycled again, since it has not undergone pact production processes. B ECAU S E A T R I M I S S U C H A S M A L L PA R T chemical treatments,” a Metalbottoni While denim brands’ use of leather spokesperson said. O F T H E OV E R A L L G A R M E N T, T H E C H O I C E has come under scrutiny recently, Vivolo Avery Dennison’s Jacron materials use founder and CEO Luciano Vivolo said one O F M AT E R I A L S DO E S N ’ T M AT T E R . B U T I T Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified shouldn’t count out natural leather just fibers. “Our most recent addition to our JaR E A L LY DO E S.” yet, adding that most of the company’s cron portfolio is a thicker, pressed material finished products do not require washing that mimics the appearance of leather. It — Debbie S h a ke sp e a re, Av er y D ennis o n treatments; those that do are washed using has a pressed grain that looks authentically machinery that saves 30 percent more waworn,” Shakespeare said. ter than standard ones. Heat embossing, or etching—leather’s most storied and efficient Transparent path techniques, he added—is considered one of the most environmentally The future of sustainable trims relies on consumer demand—not only for respectful, requiring only high temperature. accessible, environmentally friendly products, but also for transparency. YKK has a suite of eco-friendly products developed especially for the Leather accessories suppliers are working to correct misconceptions denim industry, including the Elements collection of shank buttons and about how they source hides. “Not many people know that most of our rivets that uses 89 percent less water, 46 percent less electricity, and elimproduction actually consists of waste material from the food industry. inates all toxic chemicals used in finishing. YKK also offers a classic 3Y These leathers do not belong to protected species, and we give them anjean and other metal zippers with a Natulon tape made from 100 percent other purpose, avoiding them being discharged as garbage,” Vivolo said. recycled PET polyester. These two products used together reduce the wa“It is crucial for our industry to keep the environmental impact as low as ter, energy and chemicals used in trims, which helps to shrink a garment’s possible while maintaining a solid control over the whole supply chain overall environmental footprint. and being aware of the origin of the production materials.” The company is working on new technologies, such as CO2 and soluAvery Dennison offers digital tools that track the provenance and jourtion dyeing, to reduce water usage, and it’s developing the next generation ney of a product and allows customers to measure the material impact of of metal parts finishing to eliminate the use of harmful chemicals. its products in the areas of water, energy and oil. “It helps our customers “To help guide these efforts and ensure we are employing sustainable make sustainable choices on the products they select,” Shakespeare said. practices globally, we have established a Fastening Sustainability Depart“Knowing your supply chain and how they conduct business is key ment in [our] Japan HQ focused solely on these areas. With our culture of to creating a more circular economy,” she added. “It is important to align eco-innovation, we strive to be a leader in sustainability for the industry,” your brand’s sustainability goals with your business partners’ in order Obayashi said. to reduce the overall impact this industry has on the environment and Sustainability has achieved such a critical status in the public’s conthe world. Sustainable products don’t mean you have to compromise on sciousness today that Prym Fashion CEO Brian Moore said mass market quality or design.”

RE-SALE E-VOLUTION

How the denim market is capitalizing on re-commerce for revenue gains and environmental rewards. w ords _____ JA S M I N M A LI K CH UA

sed. Secondhand. Thrifted. Pre-loved. Whatever you call it, resale is becoming big business. The proof is in the statistics: Not only has the clothing re-commerce market grown 21 times faster than its retail counterpart over the past three years, according to secondhand e-tailer ThredUp, which crunched the numbers with analytics firm GlobalData for its 2019 resale report, but it’s also poised to more than double in value from $24 billion today to $51 billion in 2023. The trend is driven by millennials and Gen Z—which is to say, 18- to 37-year-olds—who are snapping up secondhand apparel 2.5 times faster than other age groups. One in three Gen Z-ers will buy something preowned in 2019, ThredUp found. It’s in this milieu that denim, which was first designed as workwear, is uniquely positioned for success. “Well-made denim wears well, it holds up well and it gets more interesting with time,” said Andy Ruben, CEO and founder of Yerdle, a California for-benefit company that creates white-label resale programs for brands such as Eileen Fisher, Patagonia and Taylor Stitch. For the most part, denim resale occurs in third-party secondhand marketplaces like ThredUp, Depop, Poshmark and The RealReal online and consignment boutiques. There are exceptions, of course, such as Sweden’s Nudie Jeans, which, in addition to offering free repairs on its denim for life, boasts a buy-back program that funnels into its Re-use range of cleaned and mended “pre-loved” garments. Eileen Fisher’s Renew, Patagonia’s Worn Wear and Taylor Stitch’s Restitch platforms offer lightly used denim as part of their general assortment. And Levi Strauss, after acquiring 65,000 pieces of archival-quality jeans from a collector, introduced in 2017 its Authorized Vintage collection of pre-worn original styles like the 501, 505 and 517 in its New York and San Francisco stores. While resale accounts for just a sliver of traditional-retailer bottom lines—Eileen Fisher told the Wall Street Journal in August that used goods make up 1 percent of its sales—this may be changing quickly. Nudie Jeans, for instance, saw demand for its Re-use denim double in 2018. The same year, it repaired 55,173 pairs of jeans, reclaimed 10,557 and resold 2,900. Jeans that don’t make the cut because of minor defects are turned into bucket hats, shorts or patches. “The resale business is the perfect way of taking a wider responsibility for our products and verifying that the material resources are reused in the best possible way” said Kevin Gelsi, sustainability coordinator at Nudie Jeans. Indeed, prolonging the life of a garment, experts said, is the most effective way to reduce its environmental impact—even more so than recycling, which typically requires another significant round of inputs. Brit2019 DENIM REPORT

l_____NU DI E J EAN S

MATE R IALS

Green Chemicals

Recycled Water

Recycled Fibers Cotton, Polyester

P ROC E SS

Solar Power

Laser

Ozone

admdenim.com

Resale’s Impact

56M The number of women who bought secondhand products in 2018, up from 44 million in 2017 (GlobalData)

20 l_____NU D I E J E A N S

ain’s Waste & Resources Action Program estimates that extending the life of a garment by just three months can slash its carbon, waste and water footprints by 5 percent to 10 percent. But resale can have financial benefits for the brand or retailer, too, by generating more bang for the buck. “Selling a garment twice or even more times is a lot more profitable than the linear one-sale-per-garment model.” Gelsi said. Boosting brand value is another plus, according to Gwen Cunningham, lead of the Circle Textiles program at Circle Economy, an Amsterdam-based nonprofit that helps businesses explore circular modes of consumption. “Having a resale model is, in itself, a testament to the quality, durability, relevance and timelessness of the brand,” said Cunningham, who cohelms Switching Gear, a project that promotes re-commerce and rental strategies. “And when done well, that is the strong message it can send to the consumer: ‘Our product is beautiful and has value and worth, whether new or used.’” The pros add up when brands take the reins of their own resale programs. Buy-back schemes can help broker long-term relationships, since a “consumer who has previously bought a product is incentivized to bring it back once they no longer need or want it for themselves and therefore re-engage with the brand,” she said. Nudie Jeans offers customers who bring in their old jeans 20 percent off a new pair, while Patagonia doles out credit for the goods it accepts in the form of a gift card. For every item it takes back, Eileen Fisher hands over a $5 Renew Rewards card that can be redeemed through the brand’s website or at one of its physical storefronts. Re-commerce might even draw new customers to products that were “once unattainable to them,” Cunningham said. Case in point: Worn Wear items at Patagonia have their prices slashed by around half. At Eileen Fisher, a used Renew garment costs roughly a quarter of its brandnew counterpart. In addition to new customers, resale can unlock valuable information on current shoppers. “The brands that we work with own all of that cus2019 DENIM REPORT

10 to 15 times How much faster online resale is estimated to grow compared with fast fashion, department stores and off-price chains (Cowen & Co.)

40% The percentage of consumers who consider the resale value of an item before buying it (GlobalData)

56% The percentage of TheRealReal consignors who cite sustainability as a key motivation to consign (The RealReal)

82% The carbon-footprint reduction buying one used item creates (Green Story)

tomer data,” said Ruben. “And so there is a tremendous amount of insight beyond the transaction itself, like the understanding of how people are using the product, when they’re coming back or what the cycles are.” While one concern brands and retailers have voiced is whether the secondary market might eat into existing sales, Ruben said he hasn’t seen that happen with any of Yerdle’s partners. “What the actual data says is that they tend to grow their businesses in whole new ways that don’t put their business at risk,” he said. He compares fears around cannibalization to a similar fuss over e-commerce 15 years ago. Clinging to the status quo, in the latter case, meant not serving customers’ changing needs. That’s not to say there aren’t challenges. “A specific resale model may suit a certain brand, product or market perfectly and be an ill fit for another similar brand,” said Cunningham, who is developing a resale business-model archetypes framework through Switching Gear. “Designing the right model is critical.” Scalability, too, is an issue, where operational systems and infrastructure are concerned. “There is a need for capacities in collection, cleaning, sorting, repair, laundry, secondhand merchandising and more,” she said. “The vast majority of brands are swimming in uncharted territory and they’ll need to build a new end-of-use or circular supply chain. Doing so will require expertise beyond their current means, as well as strong partnerships and collaborations.” But denim aligns perfectly with this oncoming customer shift, Ruben said, which means that brands that fail to seize the opportunities in resale are bound to regret it. “If brands are not involved, they’re losing the customers,” Ruben said.

Resale’s Impact

72% Percentage of secondhand shoppers who shifted spend away from traditional retailers to buy more used items (GlobalData)

1 in 3 How many Gen Z-ers will buy secondhand in 2019 (GlobalData)

S P O N S O R E D CO N T ENT

Green Denim’s Ripple Effect

mall ripples can lead to big changes. Rather than being daunted by the size of the challenge of advancing sustainability in the denim industry, companies are taking the necessary steps to achieve change. For Lenzing, taking this tack has translated into advancing circularity in a momentous way thanks to its innovative fiber technology. Tricia Carey, director of global business development for denim, shared thoughts on today’s progress, promise and problems. Circularity has become a focus in the denim community. Why is it important and is it achievable? Circularity can happen in a variety of ways, from resale to rental to recycling. It’s somewhat daunting to think about post-consumer or textile-to-textile recycling, so we need to break that down into progression to reach a desired end-point. There are “small circles,” or little ways, we can look at circularity before tackling the

“larger circles.” For examples, the production process of TENCEL™ Lyocell is closed loop to reuse solvent at a rate of 99.9 percent—a small circle of recycling. When we make TENCEL™ x REFIBRA™ denim we add to the circularity by taking post-industrial cotton scraps to make a new fiber—an even larger circle. At the next level, TENCEL™ and TENCEL™ x REFIBRA™ are compostable and biodegradable, completing a full cycle from nature and back to

nature. Each season we need to think of progress, not perfection. How can branded fibers help increase consumer confidence in denim sustainability? Branded fibers mean confidence for both the supply chain and the consumer. The TENCEL™ brand stands for quality, from pulp to production. It’s also the full package of customer support provided, and we have a fabric certification and licensing program to communicate to consumers. On a consumer level we have campaigns to educate about fibers and sustainability. We have developed social media platforms—@carvedinblue and @tencel_usa—to connect with customers and even have a “Where to Buy” section on our

website. Through our co-branding campaigns with 3x1, Boyish, Closed, DL1961, Mavi, Guess and Kings of Indigo we are able to explain more about TENCEL™ with the message of our brand partners. What is the next shift that needs to happen to rapidly advance denim sustainability? Over the past two years we have seen many commitments and goals set by brands. It’s wonderful to see, especially the material strategies. What we don’t see is the financial investment required to achieve these goals. Who’s paying for this—is it the brand or retailer making the investment? The next shift we need is financial investment. Without it, brands and retailers cannot achieve their goals.

FINISH Advancement in laser technologies is changing denim production for the better, down to the fiber. w o rds _____ ANG E L A VE L A S QUEZ

hen Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) announced Project FLX in 2018, it sent a signal to the industry that the future is automation. By replacing manual finishing techniques with laser, LS&Co. president and CEO Chip Bergh said the brand is “addressing both agility and sustainability without compromising the authenticity our consumers expect from us.” “This is the future of jeans manufacturing, and LS&Co. is well-positioned to lead the way,” Bergh said. Advancements in laser finishing—and the benefits that come with it—make it an easy sale to denim brands seeking ways to reduce their environmental footprint and minimize time to market. With the adoption of laser, Levi’s said it is reducing finishing time from two to three pairs per hour to 90 seconds per garment and eliminating thousands of chemical formulations from its supply chain. But the launch of Project FLX also did something that many denim brands have tried and failed: It led consumers to press pause and think about how their jeans are made. While brands’ B2C communication efforts about water consumption, cotton cultivation and CO2 emissions often fall flat, one does not need to be a wiz at science to understand the powerful visual of a fiery laser etching designs across a pair of jeans. The buzz Levi’s built around Project FLX served as an example to other brands about how laser could be packaged as a story about sustainability and innovation. Gap Inc., Kontoor Brands and PVH Group have since joined the dialogue by emphasizing the use of laser finishing for some of their denim products to consumers. Laser finishing is part of Fast Retailing’s plot to reduce the amount of water used in its jean production by 90 to 99 percent starting in 2020, and even Nike began touting the technology in the promotion for its Fall ’19 sneaker collaboration with Levi’s. And it turned out that Project FLX was just the first chapter of Levi’s laser journey. In June 2019, the brand added a customization element to the story by launching Future Finish, the first online customization platform that allows consumers to custom-finish Levi’s jeans through lasers. Friendly fire

Laser finishing adds a Sci-Fi element to fashion, but it begins with triedand-true fabric R&D. The addition of laser led Levi’s to reevaluate some of the fabrics in its production line in favor of fabrics with good light sensitivity. “Our fabric team has done a great job over the past two years working with our mill partners to redevelop some fabrics, and also set up 2019 DENIM REPORT

l_____O RTA

an approach for all new fabrics,” said Bart Sights, Levi Strauss & Co. vice president of technical innovation. The most common issue denim designers face using laser is that the wear patterns look fake because they are missing layers of “high and low” as seen on naturally worn and faded jeans, said Henry Wong, Artistic Fabric and Garment Industries (AFGI) director of product development and marketing for North America. “That is because the laser often burns off too much dyestuff, leaving no middle range of colors to create a natural fade,” he said. AFGI’s solution to this problem is M-Power denim fabrics, which Wong said supports the layers of different intensities of fading in laser work in an aesthetically pleasing way. “We have seen interest in this since

LINE the early days of using lasers, which often created markings that looked yellowish, brownish or blueish, while the desire was a clean white design with layers of faded denim.” Although the indigo dyeing process is the most important process that affects the laser efficiency, Orta marketing and washing manager Zennure Danisman said the fiber blend and the construction of the fabric are important parameters, too. Orta’s Light Force denim fabrics react quickly to laser, while maintaining its stretch and strength properties. “The laser performance of a fabric is determined by the engineering of fiber, fabric structure, dyeing and finishing properties,” she said. “All these parameters have a significant effect on the laser performance of the fabric.”

While more denim companies are paying closer attention to laser finishing, the technology isn’t new to the denim industry. At best, the adoption and advancement of laser could be described as a slow burn. Italian garment finishing company Tonello purchased its first laser in 1995, which R&D manager Alice Tonello likened to a “gimmick” to create novelty designs like flowers and basic abrasions. “Brands, especially Italian and premium ones, were not completely ready for such effects, considering them fake and not marketable,” she said. When Spanish finishing technology firm Jeanologia unveiled its laser technology in 1999, the market was still in the throes of using sandblasting and potassium permanganate. “At the time, we were like a voice in the desert,” said Carmen Silla, Jeanologia marketing manager. “It took time for the industry to change their mindset and see the benefits of this powerful technology.” The last couple of years has seen the capabilities of laser technology and demand for it align. Tonello’s Laser Blaze machine creates vintage effects, as well as patterns, patches, personalized graphics and 3D effects, on many different types of fabrics. Meanwhile, Jeanologia’s portfolio of laser machines, which are used by Levi’s, is powered by eMark laser software, which provides brands a variety of tools to replicate authentic wear effects. Now that there’s an urgency in the industry to create desirable products using more sustainable and efficient methods, Tonello said brands— from basic to premium—are more willing to explore laser technology in new and creative ways. But laser remains just one part of a designer’s arsenal. In order to have a sustainable impact and achieve the natural, worn-in look consumers want, laser needs to be integrated with other washing and finishing technologies like waterless ozone and nano bubble finishing. In the short term, Wong said brands will rely on “a mixture of laser and hand finishing with the goal of minimizing chemical and

l_____L E V I ’ S

Fired up

water usage.” That will likely change, Silla said, as the technology becomes more accurate, faster and widely used by major denim players and as more mills create laser friendly fabrics. “The brands and production centers that do not adopt the technology in less than five years will be out of the picture,” she said. Levi’s Sights conceded that laser finishing remains an imperfect science, but he believes the technology will advance through experimentation and collaboration. “With Project FLX, we have faced limitations from day one, but we always seem to overcome them,” he said. “Innovating through a constraint like no manual applications has actually made us better, and of course more sustainable.” There are likely more chapters to come. Levi’s is continuing to work with Jeanologia to improve efficiencies and advance the technology to meet its operating model. “We have seen great progress in the past three years, and I fully anticipate that advancements will continue,” Sights said.

TAKING THE LONG VIEW Environmental damage didn’t happen overnight and neither will the clean up, making sustainability an investment with delayed dividends.

l_____CA N DIA N I

w o rds _____ KATE NI SHIM UR A

n the apparel industry, denim’s negative environmental impact ranks second to none. The world’s most beloved fabric is encumbered by myriad issues at the supply chain level, from water waste to toxic chemical runoff. But denim is dynamic. Just as it shifts shapes and silhouettes depending on seasonal trends, the material’s manufacturers are morphing their behind-the-scenes operations to meet modern standards for sustainability. Mills across the world are looking to new methods of crafting denim, using fabrication and finishing techniques that rely on chemical processes and machinery that reduce or eliminate adverse environmental effects. This shift is fueled by hefty investments some of which return immediate rewards but most are future-facing, long-term ventures that will pay off in myriad ways—just not any time soon. The issues that have led to the climate crisis took decades to evolve, so similarly the solutions will take time. Here, mill executives discuss the critical changes they’re making today to ensure their operations are easier on the environment tomorrow. 2019 DENIM REPORT

Water Conservation

“It’s the future; there is no other alternative,” said Jose Rafael Royo, sales director for Tejidos Royo, when asked about why his mill is investing in long-term sustainable solutions. “Sustainability is not a fashion tool. It is a reality and we must change the way we do things,” he added. Figures vary depending on who one asks, but most denim experts assert that it takes between 800 and 1,500 gallons of water to produce just one pair of standard jeans. Tejidos Royo has spent a decade looking at ways to slash that number. With the help of Gaston Systems, which created a low-moisture foam application system, and Ink My Denims, which crafts custom washes, Tejidos Royo finally landed on a waterless indigo dye that the company insists is 100 percent sustainable. “Money is not always the reason for adopting new ways of doing things. Sometimes you will save money, and others you will have to invest a lot to change the way things are done,” Royo explained. In the formation of Dry Indigo, Tejidos Royo had to shell out for a slasher machine that combines the process of dyeing and sizing.

Though the company has made significant investments into waterless dyeing, Royo said that it’s ended up saving on chemical use and energy consumption. Dry Indigo launched to the masses at the October 2019 Kingpins Amsterdam show. “We have changed the process of dyeing indigo,” Royo said. “For the last 10 years we have invested time, money and human resources. It will take time to recover the three of them, but today we have the cleanest way of dyeing indigo in the world.” Smarter Ingredients

“Sustainability is a long-term plan made of continuous investments to support the organic evolution of the process and the product,” said Alberto Candiani, owner of Candiani Denim. “All mills should be looking to be more efficient, producing with a lower impact,” he added. The 80-year-old mill, founded by Candiani’s great-grandfather, has come to specialize in “smarter, responsibly sourced ingredients” like recycled cotton in the form of Tencel’s Refibra, along with “bio-synthetic dyestuff, technologies like Kitotex and our nitrogen dyeing system,” he said. Investing in sustainable elastomers, dyes, and polymers costs a lot more than “the conventional stuff,” Candiani said, but it’s a hit he’s willing to take in order to mitigate the mill’s impact. “These investments are thanks to our non-stop research and development, which is the only division at Candiani that has no budget to respect,” he said. When asked about the financial benefits to adopting greener processl_____TEJIDOS ROYO es, Candiani said frankly that those have proven scant. “The new technologies we adopt cost a fortune, and it will take time to get a return on our investments,” he explained. electrostatic precipitation mechanisms to dramatically reduce air pollutThe sustainable advancements mean higher prices for the mill’s cusants. “This is a purely sustainable investment with only an environmental tomers, which can be a hard pill to swallow for some brands. Candiani payoff,” Ix said. said that the market is “not yet accepting of this new generation of denThe mill has also installed a reverse osmosis recycling system that will im,” which runs between $6-7 per yard instead of just $4-5. However, he recycle 100 percent of the wastewater in the mill’s finishing line. expects the improvements to generate cost-savings over time. “When you begin with a strategy and initiative to be more sustainable, “It’s all related to efficiency,” Candithe majority of your investments towards ani explained. “The smarter, sustainable this goal will not have a financial payoff or approach is the one that makes your mill Ix explained. “Some investments " M O N E Y I S N O T A LWAYS T H E R E A S O N F O R payback,” more efficient—even if the initial investmay help with costs and some may slightments are nuts. The future is tomorrow, A DO P T I N G N E W WAYS O F DO I N G T H I N G S. ly affect the final price—but they will all not in 10 years. So we keep working to S O M E T I M E S YO U W I L L S AV E M O N E Y, A N D make us more sustainable.” eliminate waste, and continue to invest in what we believe will lower our impact on O T H E R S YO U W I L L H AV E T O I N V E S T A L O T Energy Efficiency the environment,” he said. is extremely important for T O C H A N G E T H E WAY T H I N G S A R E DO N E .” “Sustainability us. It meets the needs of the present withEfficient Tools and Processes out compromising the ability of future —J o s e Rafa el R o y o, Tejid o s R o y o “The concept of investment in sustainable generations,” said Saif Islam of Artistic manufacturing is by definition a long-term Denim Mills (ADM). investment in cleaning up our environment,” said Mark Ix, director of The mill has constructed its own power generation setup, which accelmarketing for Advance Denim. erates the production process of converting cotton to finished garments. China’s oldest mill, founded in 1987, has made across-the-board The mill’s generation capacity is 15 megawatts, Islam said, with a heat supply chain improvements that touch on water waste (reduced by 64 recovery system. percent in just five years) and chemical content. In September, Advance Energy-efficient machine replacements and equipment upgrades have Denim became the first Chinese mill to adopt Archroma’s non-toxic, anmade the advancements possible, along with a focus on renewable eniline-free indigo dye. ergy. Switching to partial solar helps the mill avoid using fossil fuels and “Advance Denim is very clear that their goal is to be the most sustainother valuable natural resources, Islam said. able mill and we will invest in machinery to reach that goal,” said Ix, add“The use of environmental managing software keeps our facilities ing that the company has installed desulfurization, denitrification and eco-friendly and sustainable,” he explained. 2019 DENIM REPORT

THE NEXT WAVE The denim industry has made a concerted effort to curtail its use of water and while that is an important resource, there are many more aspects of the business that have yet to be addressed. w o rds _____ L IZ WARRE N

enim sustainability is more than a buzzword. It’s a term that refers to the purification of every part of the denim supply chain process, from cotton-planting techniques used by farmers to recycling options for consumers ready to part ways with their jeans. Despite how many layers exist within the process, water usage often prevails as the most commonly addressed topic. And with an estimated 5,196 liters of water used during the lifecycle of just one pair of jeans, it’s no doubt that the area needs a major disruption. In the past five months alone, American Eagle, Old Navy and Banana Republic have pledged to reduce their water intake by 20 percent or more. And eco-conscious brands such as Neuw Denim have launched collections that waste virtually no water. The denim industry is making significant strides in water sustainability and completely reconfiguring the ways in which it uses the resource. The problem is, water usage is just one part of a complex supply chain that causes severe environmental and social damage. Chemical usage, carbon emissions, waste, workers’ rights violations and a series of other issues still plague the industry. Rivet talked to industry experts, nonprofit leaders and representatives from various parts of the supply chain to highlight the less popular sections that need improvement. Each shared their predictions for which areas will see the next big movements in denim sustainability. Chemicals

While all parts of the denim manufacturing process have some level of impact on the environment, the dyeing and finishing processes—which give denim its iconic coloring and distressed look—is particularly damaging. “I like to think about oil spills when talking about dyes,” said Jordan Nodarse, Boyish Jeans’ creative director, who noted that many traditional dyes are derived from oil. “Oil spills destroy all wildlife around, as the oil completely encompasses the animal and kills it. But here we are, putting polyester garments made from the byproducts of gasoline refining—a.k.a. crude oil—all over our bodies. We need to go back to utilizing safe and natural products.” But some say there’s reason for concern even with natural inputs like cotton. For instance, the National Wildlife Federation estimates that, in the amount of cotton used to make one T-shirt, there are 17 teaspoons of chemical fertilizers and nearly a teaspoon of pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and defoliants. One chemical of concern is potassium permanganate (referred to as PP spray), a denim bleaching agent used during the distressing process, 2019 DENIM REPORT

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which has been linked to workers’ health issues, including respiratory and skin conditions. Although it’s banned and there are safer, more efficient alternatives such as laser finishing, the Clean Clothes Campaign published a report in July noting the continued use of the substance in some Turkish garment factories. “These safer alternatives are often not adopted because initial investment cost is high, production is slow and the outcome is too uniform,” said Christie Miedema, campaign and public outreach coordinator for Clean Clothes Campaign. Similarly, aniline, a chemical used to create denim’s indigo coloring, is considered a Group B2 human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It was found to cause skin allergies with repeated contact, as well as symptoms of hypoxia such as headaches, dizziness, increased heart rate, breathlessness and unconsciousness. In response, color and specialty chemicals company Archroma created Diresul Smartdenim Blue, a liquid sulfur blue dye, which uses a more sustainable and efficient application process to mimic the appearance of indigo. But while alternatives exist, aniline is still present in denim that’s currently being manufactured. German consumer magazine Öko-Test recently published a report that found 15 out of 21 pairs of jeans surveyed contained the substance. “Clearly, there is a lot to improve in this area,” said Albert Llort, head of Archroma’s global competence center for denim and special dyes. Carbon emissions

According to industry experts, there’s also a lot to improve in the area of carbon emissions. Most people agree that big oil is the leading source of pollution in the world, but what some may not know is that textiles are the second. Large textile mills and garment factories throughout China and India run mostly on coal, contributing immensely to climate change and pollution. “Renewable energy is critical to adopt,” said Andrew Olah, founder of Olah Inc. and Kingpins. “Each year through use of energy, we send 17 billion tons of CO2 into the sky. Yet our industry is unable to talk about energy change or intended action.” While many can agree that energy change is essential, its implementation is tricky—and expensive. Some mills have adopted solu2019 DENIM REPORT

tions that offset their carbon emissions, but they often come with an astronomical price tag. “Artistic Milliners has invested more than $130 million in wind farms in the last three years, and we’re planning a second project of the same value,” said Omer Ahmed, managing director, Artistic Milliners. Financial restrictions are just one obstacle to cleaner energy. Some companies, individuals and world leaders refuse to work collaboratively on solutions. So even though there are universal standards in place for reducing businesses’ carbon footprint, not everyone is onboard—and worldwide collaboration is a crucial component to their success. For example, the Paris Agreement is the first attempt by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to get the whole world together to combat the severity of climate change. But in 2017, President Trump announced his intention to withdraw the U.S. from the agreement, and denied the existence of a universal issue that scientists have confirmed to be real. With some denying climate change’s existence and companies focused solely on their bottom lines, the reduction of carbon emissions on a grand scale becomes less likely. “With regards to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the common ground for any company, we urgently need to address SDG number 13: climate action,” said Tricia Carey, Lenzing Fibers’ director of global business development for denim. “This was the key message from the recent UN General Assembly in NYC with world leaders.” The Lenzing factory, a fiber solutions company centered on sustainability, uses alternative energy sources—60 percent of which come from organic waste. Rather than using harmful sources such as coal, or installing expensive solutions such as windmills, companies have the opportunity to utilize literal garbage to fuel their business. Clean energy is possible within the denim supply chain—but industrywide adoption is needed to make a significant impact. Workers’ rights

While workers’ rights are undeniably an important issue, it’s not always brought up in conversations about sustainability. However, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, social resolve is one of the three main pillars of sustainability—and it’s universally misunderstood. “To judge the sustainability of the denim sector, it is important to look beyond pure environmental impact to social impacts as well, and the in-

tersection between the two,” said Miedema. But social issues within the industry are not just confined to garment The culmination of low wages, hazardous working conditions and factories. In fact, they stretch all the way to the very beginning of the proa lack of transparency leaves workers throughout the garment industry cess, in an area that’s often overlooked. vulnerable to harassment and corruption. In August, the Worker Rights “The farmers who are at the beginning of the supply chain are comConsortium (WRC) published a report documenting a pattern of abuse pletely forgotten, and there are no efforts to address this,” said Subindu and harassment at Nien Hsing Textile, a company that manufactures Garkhel, cotton lead for the Fairtrade Foundation. “All workers in the supjeans for Levi Strauss & Co., The Children’s Place and Kontoor Brands. ply chain deserve a living wage and living income—this is the biggest area Employees at the facility were reportedly our sector has not addressed.” pressured to sleep with their managers to And farmers’ rights extend far beyond "S A F E R A LT E R N AT I V E S A R E O F T E N N O T a bigger keep their jobs or gain promotions, and paycheck. According to CottonUP, management failed to take disciplinary A DO P T E D B ECAU S E I N I T I A L I N V E S T M E N T cotton farmers in areas like India and Mali actions—and even blocked employees’ atuse manual, labor-intensive methods C O S T I S H I G H , P R O D U C T I O N I S S L OW A N D often tempts at unionizing. for growing and harvesting cotton, which In 2018, similar issues were reported often comes along with poor water and T H E O U T C O M E I S T OO U N I F O R M .” within Gap and H&M facilities in Asia. The pesticide management, soil depletion and brands pledged to investigate the reports, situations of forced labor. — Chr ist ie Mie d em a, C le a n C lot h e s C a m p a ig n and H&M began providing consumers Modeling cotton farms after those with information on the facilities from in more developed regions like the U.S., which their clothes are made and identified the ones with a history of which uses more land and modernized equipment and processes—can abuse. Some workers’ rights groups found these efforts to be insufficient, make a difference in other geographies. However, like most sustainable and official updates have yet to be publicized. solutions, doing so comes at a cost. More recently, companies such as Levi’s, Marks & Spencer and VF Corp. piloted a digital payroll for factory workers, which adds more transFabric waste parency and gives workers more control of their finances. Small steps like Waste is another epidemic sweeping the fashion industry. these can eventually lead to a more ethical, sustainable supply chain. Even the most precise supply chains see excess inventory, whether it’s

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Using Tech to Light the Way to Sustainable Denim Charging itself with the ambitious goal of achieving 100 percent sustainability throughout its entire supply chain, ADM-Artistic Denim Mills intends to lead the way in greener denim. And committed to putting its money where its mouth is, the company has made investments to its factory that reduce its water consumption by up to 80 percent. ADM CEO Faisal Ahmed discussed how the company intends to set a strong example in more responsible manufacturing, describing it as a journey it works toward every day. What needs to happen next to rapidly advance denim sustainability? What needs to happen next is that consumers need to have both the knowledge and interest in the product. The final consumer has the power, because we can produce the most sustainable products in

From your perspective, are consumers interested in purchasing products that are more sustainable? The request of more sustainable process is increasing. The industry already started to invest in new technology and new chemicals, and we are at the forefront on sustainable processes.

the world, but the final verdict comes from our end user. If they’re not aware, then it will be fruitless.

What are some of the ways you’ve reduced your chemical usage?

By using new technology through machinery and the latest chemicals, the combination of both practices has reduced the amount of hazardous discharge. We use chemicals that are not dangerous and are environmentally friendly. Adding ozone and laser machines in our garment wet-finishing has also helped us lower the intake of our chemicals through our nano-bubble equipment in our laundry. How can brands, factories and retailers work together to market the benefits of sustainability to consumers? All the players have to work together as a team with only one goal—to educate the consumers on sustainable products by the

brands and social media. As a factory, we have to share our knowledge to the brands on sustainability. The brands must teach the retailers, and the retailers teach the consumers. Only then will the change in the industry take place on a global level. How are you balancing performance with aesthetics when it comes to denim design? Currently we are partnering with fiber suppliers using manmade and natural fibers, along with chemical companies. We are teaming to create high performance and soft hand feel with the help of lasers and ozone machines without changing the core aesthetic of denim.

in the form of deadstock fabric or styles that simply don’t sell. While there all this garbage.” are some solutions that tackle these issues— brands such as CIE Denim The silver lining, however, is that “this garbage” could be the next raw and And Again make entire collections out of deadstock fabric, and othmaterial used to make other clothing. A number of brands have embraced ers offer limited edition or made-to-order styles—the problem has escathe concept of upcycling denim, in which used or unused jeans are delated to an alarming level. And when considering the concept of fast fashconstructed and spun into yarn for new garments. ion brands—to create the most garments in “Circular design is the most importthe cheapest way as quickly as possible before ant subject of the future,” said Ahmed. "A L L WO R K E R S I N T H E S U P P LY C H A I N the trends change—the industry is built on a “The industry can invest its resources foundation of waste. and jeans can go into loop life cycle if D E S E RV E A L I V I N G WAG E A N D L I V I N G “Think of how much water, energy, chemthey’re designed with that concept in I N C O M E—T H I S I S T H E B I G G E S T A R E A O U R mind.” icals and human resources are required to make fabric, and now think of how much is The keyword here, unfortunately, is S EC T O R H A S N O T A D D R E S S E D ” discarded or left in deadstock,” said Carey. “We “if.” need to build efficiencies into our supply chain “The changes we are making together —S ub ind u G a r k h el, Fa ir t ra d e Fo und at io n for better production planning, which will also are critical,” said Carey. “Denim is a $65 bring a substantial economic savings.” billion industry, so there is potential to Similarly, Olah admitted he has become obsessed with the issue of make a big impact—but only if we all take the proper steps.” garbage and waste, pointing to claims that “thousands and thousands of Jean Hegedus, sustainability director at the Lycra Company, agreed containers” of unused fast fashion garments are waiting to be shipped to that collaboration is key to making every area of denim more sustainable. an undetermined location for their next step. “It’s no longer a question of whether we as an industry change, but “There is utter silence on unused garments,” he told Rivet. “None of us how quickly we can change to make a real impact,” she said. “Each memknow how many garments are unsold, nor what happens to them. Every ber of the distribution chain has to do their part to make a significant day, more join the stock pile and eventually there will be nowhere to put difference. A lot of progress has been made, but there is still much to do.”

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Certifying Green as the Official Color of Denim’s Future For sustainability to reach its full potential in the apparel industry, there must first be a single, consumer-facing standard of evaluating progress. Making it easy for shoppers to distinguish responsibly made products from traditional garments is an imperative, according to Sanjeev Bahl, founder of Saitex, the only B Corp certified apparel manufacturer in Asia. Bahl shared his thoughts on what more needs to be done to communicate the value of sustainability to consumers. How can brands, factories and retailers work together to market the benefits of sustainability to consumers? We are desperately in need for a consumer-facing mark to grade sustainability, and we have yet to see a meaningful option come to the table. We have valuable tools like Fair Trade, B Corp and Higg Index certifications, but similar to restaurants in major cities, there needs to be an easy identifying mark on product or hangtags, independently regulated to make the products’ sustainability a simple verified

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investigation for the customer when they’re making a point-ofpurchase decision. There’s a distinct parallel between food and fashion production, yet our clothing labels don’t contain any specific data. We’re working on tracing technologies, specifically FiberTrace, but these will be a deeper-dive engagement for a consumer past an initial mark. Sustainability and accountability will be important communication tools in any marketing campaign, but nothing is more powerful than the truth; the easier you make

it for customers, the quicker adoption we can reach. How does being a B Corp certified company benefit your partners? Being a B Corp puts Saitex in a network of like-minded brands to partner and collaborate with. We extend that to our benefit to our vendors, which instantly puts them into that matrix of experts that will further evolve their business model and capabilities. Internally, our associates are seeing the benefits of B Corp, which has been the most rewarding part of the certification. The certification process allowed us to re-examine our entire business practices; we really took to heart the evaluations of our actions in employee environment that lead to major improvements. Our brand part-

ners appreciate the constant drive on our commitment to be a company doing good for planet and people. B Corp opened up new opportunities and improved our business practices on many levels, including profitability. Where has the denim industry made the most progress in the last 3-5 years? The amount of ownership and responsibility across all levels of the denim industry has been very progressive. It’s not just the new generation—many business leaders and respected names are becoming vocal and putting change into action. We earned a bad reputation as an industry, and we’re making moves to change that. We need energy from all channels and at full speed to drive this necessary change.

FUTURE FACING As the denim industry attempts to accelerate the pace of change, companies along the supply chain are making their commitments public. ion Industry Charter for Climate Action. Launched in 2018, the charter outlines a plan for the fashion industry to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. It draws on science-based targets outlined in the Paris Agreement, and enforces signatories to prioritize energy efficiency, renewable energy and low carbon materials and logistics. In signing on to the charter, G-Star commits to reduce the total emissions in its own operations as well as its value chain by 30 percent. G-Star is the latest to join the initiative, alongside VF Corporation, Levi Strauss & Co., Gap, H&M, Guess and others. For 30 years, G-Star has been focused on sustainability by designing for circularity, using raw material and more. Recently, it offset its greenhouse gas logistics emissions by using DHL’s Express GoGreen climate neutral service, a green logistics solution. By signing this charter and working with other leading brands, the company will be able to boost its impact. “We realize that joint collaboration between industry peers is a precondition for truly making an impact,” said Sofie Schop, sustainability director at G-Star. “We see clear benefits from our involvement in organizations like Fashion Positive, Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC). Joining the Fashion Charter is a logical next step to show our commitment in reducing climate impact along every step of the value chain, from raw materials to consumer use and recycling.”

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Forests First

hroughout the apparel industry, there’s a sense of urgency as natural disasters, endangered species and disastrous weather patterns dominate the headlines. To help roll back the clock, denim brands and suppliers are setting aggressive goals for undoing the damage that traditional production causes. Here’s a look at the steps some leading companies have promised to take before it’s too late. Ethical Emissions

A fashion brand known for its dedication to sustainability, G-Star Raw announced this summer that it’s joining the UN Climate Change’s Fash-

With wildfires blazing in Brazil, Indonesia and Colorado, forest conservation is increasingly becoming a concern for all industries. The parent company of Wrangler and Lee is taking new measures to minimize its impact on forests. Kontoor Brands announced in September the launch of its first Forest Derived Materials (FDM) policy, a set of standards for purchasing and using sustainable forest materials and products. The FDM policy covers the sustainable and responsible use of forest products to avoid issues associated with deforestation and forest degradation, including the loss of ancient and endangered forests, loss of biodiversity and habitat, use of forced labor in making forestry products and loss of indigenous peoples and local community rights. This includes the use of products derived from raw materials with minimal impact on forests and forest habitats, including an emphasis on certified-sustainable sources, such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified materials, and an emphasis on alternative fiber sources. As a global producer of millions of products each year, Kontoor Brands stated that it is committed to working with NGOs and relevant stakeholders to ensure a continued evolution of its FDM policy. As part of that commitment, the company is engaged in the CanopyStyle initiative,

which works with more than 170 apparel brands to eliminate all ancient and endangered forest fiber from their products. Fiber Forward

Heritage denim brand Guess released its third annual sustainability report in September, sparking discussions about denim’s environmental impact at a Los Angeles event centered around its new Guess Eco line. The brand’s director of corporate sustainability, Jaclyn Allen, told attendees, “Guess has been around for many generations, and when it comes to sustainability, change doesn’t happen overnight.” She went on to detail the brand’s latest commitment to produce 25 percent of its denim in accordance with its own Guess Eco guideline by 2021—essentially mandating that each piece be made with an environmental component as well as a sustainable wash process at the mill level. The brand also aims to have 20 percent of its overall materials portfolio certified sustainable within the same time frame. The program’s rollout began with this year’s spring collection, Allen said, and 10 percent of the brand’s fall line has been produced within accordance of the Guess Eco guidelines. Lenzing’s director of global business development for denim, Tricia Carey, joined Allen in speaking to the new line’s incorporation of Tencel Lyocell material, derived from wood pulp, as well as the company’s Refibra technology, which upcycles cutting room scraps and other cotton

waste and re-spins it into usable yarns. Guess Eco’s Autumn-Winter 2019 collection features garments made from Tencel Lyocell and select styles made with Refibra. Guess has also signed on to the Global Fashion Agenda’s circular commitment for 2020. As a part of that agenda, Guess launched its ReSourced program in all U.S. stores. Aided by global recycling solutions provider I:CO, ReSourced will collect used clothing and denim for reuse or recycling, and offer consumers a 15 percent discount when they bring in at least five garments to donate. The program is due to roll out globally in the coming months. Guess’ biggest push thus far, Allen said, has been in educating its own corporate staff and store associates about production processes and the brand’s impact on the environment. “Educating our internal teams about what goes into making the product, beyond the fashion, has been the first major step for us over the past couple of years,” she said. All of the brand’s U.S. store associates and management teams have undergone training programs related to sustainability, and the brand’s product teams have engaged in training related to designing for circularity. Guess has engaged a number of third-party auditing bodies for guidance and oversight, including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which reviews the company’s sustainability reporting, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (creators of the Higg Index, which measures and

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For Supima, Transparency Awareness Grows Far & Wide The only way to create true change is to have like-minded thought leaders come together and share ideas. That’s the ethos that Supima adheres to as the importance of sustainability throughout the entire supply chain grows. Here we learn about the company’s vision on lessening the strain and impact on our planet, all of which weighs heavily on the industry’s ability to cooperate, from fiber to fabric. What kind of technology does Supima use to lessen its environmental impact? As an industry, our 500 family farmers that grow Supima cotton are constantly changing and adapting their approach to farming American-grown, extra-long staple cotton. From water and input usage to land preservation, the goal for every one of our farmers is to lessen the impact on the environment and preserve their farm for the next generation. GPS-navigated cotton pickers, constant soil analyses, flood irrigation that nurtures wildlife, and in some

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cases satellite imagery all come together to ensure that farmers are precise in every step of the growing process. How do you communicate the benefits of branded fibers to consumers? We feel that reaching the consumer and educating them on the benefits of Supima cotton is extremely important to our family farmers and brand partners. As an organization, we are constantly undertaking initiatives aimed at creating brand awareness and education. We are always looking to promo-

tional activities that are meant to showcase Supima cotton and underscore the premium attributes that make Supima the top 1 percent of cotton sold around the world. Some of our initiatives include social media marketing, cobranded advertising campaigns, a consumer-facing website, branding and signage for the retail sales floor, retail promotions and of course our annual design competition during New York Fashion Week and Paris based design lab. All these elements come together to tell a story of premium luxury and quality craftmanship that starts with Supima cotton. Why has Supima embraced traceability, and what’s the relationship between traceability and sustainability? The most important initiative

behind any of these efforts is transparency. If you are transparent about your business practices, whether its growing Supima cotton, spinning yarn or manufacturing garments, then you are truly open about how you, as a company, are trying to adhere to certain standards. In an effort to support and engage with the entire Supima cotton supply chain, we believe that traceability helps to ensure that brands, spinners, manufacturers, etc., using Supima cotton are able to be transparent. Together with our partner, Oritan, we have been able to map the entire Supima growing region. What this means is that at any point through the supply chain channel a fiber, yarn, fabric or finished garment that was made using Supima cotton can be tested and traced back to its point of origin; it doesn’t get any more transparent than that.

SPON SOR ED CON TEN T

Fortifying Industry-Wide Collaboration No man is an island, and the same holds true for any company. From the field to the mill, to the factory, to the store, every link contributes to the sustainability of the end product, with collaboration between each link vital. Calik Denim strengthens its links by reinforcing the communication channels down its value chain with its Transparency Monitoring System, which lets the company monitor the sustainability of its product, track machinery performance and optimize resource consumption. Tolga Ozkurt, Deputy General Manager, discussed the state of sustainable denim, sharing why the company’s new Ever Evolving Talks series of expert discussions is more important than ever. What needs to happen next

scores sustainability performance), and recently, the United Nations Fashion Charter for Climate Action, which has set the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. “We’re here today to talk about our Guess Eco collection—but it’s not just a special collection or a moment in time,” Allen said. “It’s part of a larger movement that’s really happening within the company.” Conscious Closures

YKK Corporation has 2025 in focus. The trims supplier announced the launch of YKK Group Environmental Vision 2050, a company-wide initiative to move toward “a brighter future for nature and humanity,” in response to the need for environmental actions on a global scale. Through Environmental Vision, YKK aims to define the long-term direction for environmental initiatives that the entire YKK Group must take in order to realize a higher level of environmental management. The benchmarks were determined through workshops conducted with employees, as well as from the results of an employee survey conducted in YKK’s six global regions. The program will go into effect in April 2021. The goals reinforce the company’s commitment to eco-friendly practices. To address climate change, YKK said it will work to “reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, including CO2, and adapt to climate change.” To conserve water, it is taking actions to reduce the volume of its water intake. And since the YKK Group uses various types of raw materials, the company said it will act “to maximize effective utilization of non-renewable resources” and take initiatives to recycle the waste materials generated throughout the entire life cycle of its products. The Environmental Vision is the culmination of a series of sustainable innovations. Last month, YKK introduced GreenRise, the industry’s first plant-derived zipper. Additional sustainable products from the brand include organic cotton zipper tape, and a line of environmentally friendly snaps and buttons using a new finishing process that reduces thermal energy, water usage, toxic chemicals and waste. —Liz Warren & Kate Nishimura

to rapidly advance denim sustainability? Recognizing sustainability as a multi-layered problem is the most vital shift that needs to be realized by the denim industry. When making efforts to improve its sustainability performance, the denim industry must consider all aspects of sustainability: social, economic, environmental and governance; otherwise it’s not a wholesome transformation, and some aspects of the industry will always lag behind. For rapid advancement, it’s crucial to realize that global challenges affecting our industry can only be overcome by integrating sustainability into our entire production and value chain. You’re set to host your second Ever Evolving Talk to encourage new ways of thinking. Why is this forum important? Inspired by our “Ever Evolving” motto, we discuss such concepts as innovation, technology, climate change, transparency and responsible fashion, in addition to trends like millennials, Gen Z, wearable technology, etc.,

shaping the future of our industry. Leaders from the fashion world share the stage with influential figures from a variety of global disciplines and sectors, and it’s an event that the whole fashion world can benefit from because it has not been built on just denim or product issues. For this reason, we believe the value of this event will carry the sector forward. What do you think is missing from the denim industry? It has much room for improvement when it comes to managing environmental and social impact. We believe investing in innovative solutions is an important step in overcoming environmental challenges. The industry should also be open to collaboration to accelerate and spread sustainability transformation. Caring for human capital by creating safe, healthy and decent working conditions should be among every brand’s priorities. This is made possible through an effective management of the entire value chain. Brands should work with suppliers that uphold their own values to encourage sustainability transformation.

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