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"The centerpiece of fast fashion industry ‘denim’ is also one of the most polluting and water intensive fabrics. The fabric requires copious amounts of water across its production three processes that include growing of the cotton, dyeing and finishing the material, and finally texturising the product. This entire process needs approximately 10,000 liters of water for making a single pair of jeans."
The centerpiece of fast fashion industry ‘denim’ is also one of the most polluting and water intensive fabrics. The fabric requires copious amounts of water across its production three processes that include growing of the cotton, dyeing and finishing the material, and finally texturising the product. This entire process needs approximately 10,000 liters of water for making a single pair of jeans.
The environmental and human costs of making denims is also high as the process uses harmful chemicals to create acid-wash and distressed styles of denims. The exposure to such chemicals and the run-offs of these washes can seep into the local water systems of cotton workers, putting them at health risk. As a solution to this, four European brands have introduced innovative denim making process that enable its consumers to not only live in their denims but also nurture and last them.
Emphasis on reliable craftsmanship
Promoting a new kind of eco denim, Huit Denim Co emphasises on reliable craftsmanship for denim-making.
The company introduced an initiative called ‘The Denim Breaker Club’ which includes making the ‘breakers’ wear the jeans for six months before sending them back to Hiut for giving them one good wash and reselling them, giving the breaker 20 per cent profit. The brand was trying to inspire a more eco-friendly way of owning denim through this initiative.
Denims made with 40 per cent BCI cotton
Known as a trendy yet functional brand, Ullac was established in 2017. The brand advocates gender neutrality besides fostering a socially and environmentally conscious ethos. The fabric is sourced from Velcorex in France, which has its own water waste treatment plant. The brand is also linked with BCI, which promotes better standards of cotton farming by encouraging fair labour, training for farmers, minimising pesticides or harsh chemicals, and economic development. The denim comes from Italian company Candiani, which has the greenest mill in the blue world. The brand creates its denim with 40 per cent BCI cotton, which is amongst a few of the reasons why it has been awarded the Global Organic Textile Standard and Global Recycling Standard.
Lazer and ozone gas for a faded look
Though German brand Closed, which also uses the Candiani Denim Mill, is not yet a certified eco-label, it plays a huge role in innovating denim in order to make it a kinder industry. The company creates its finishing techniques and is known for its chic style and popular pedal pusher pocket detailing. The company uses lazer and ozone gas to give its denims a faded look and manipulate different shades of blue. Its stone-washing technique substitutes the cheaper but potentially more dangerous process of sandblasting, for the safer use of artificial stones in a drum, creating the same stone wash effect without the output of water and harmful stone debris.
Eco-friendly accessories for non-toxic denims
Netherlands-based Mud Jeans’ dedication to creating a better social, economic and environmental world is supported by an array of certificates, such as BCORP, PETA-approved vegan, Cradle 2 Cradle, Ecocert, GRS. The brand claims to have saved 300 million litres of water, avoided using 700,000 kilos of carbon dioxide and saved 12,000 jeans from landfill in the past 3 years. It turns its old jeans into new one by using recycled and organic cotton.
The brand specifically uses stainless steel buttons that can be easily recycled or reused. It uses laser, ozone and e-flow techniques in the finishing of its jeans. The only few chemicals that it uses in producing its denim are non-toxic and Nordic Swan Ecolabel certified.
Wrangler has launched archival garments in partnership with Fred Segal.
Wrangler is a heritage denim brand. Fred Segal is a boutique in the US and is a place of invention and reinvention for the best brands in the world. They have both held significant roles in the history of fashion for decades.
As Wrangler evolves in front of a global audience, it wanted to stay true to its heritage but show an unexpected and fresh twist. The Bluebell 1919 capsule celebrates the foundation of the brand with workwear-inspired jackets and on-trend coveralls with authentic Blue Bell patches. The back of each garment features Wrangler embroidery. The War and Peace collection takes a look back to when Wrangler became part of youth culture in the 60s and worn by revolutionaries, riders, and rock stars alike. Garments include a cut-off jean vest, a studded leather jacket and tie-dye carpenter jeans. The’70s are brought to life in a collection of boot cut jeans, hypnotic patterns and colorful prints. The feeling of the ’80s is captured in a pop culture-inspired collection of booty shorts, graphic T-shirts with racing motifs and racing jackets.
During a fashion cycle where nostalgic designs thrive, heritage brands like Wrangler are taking the opportunity to delve into their archives.
Traders in India are against Amazon and Flipkart festive sales.
According to them, deep discounts violate the country's foreign investment rules for online retail and that these companies influence prices.
The two e-commerce firms typically hold annual festive season sales ahead of Dasara and Diwali, which are due this year in October, when Indians make big ticket purchases such as cars and gold jewelry. Both e-tailers offer big discounts on everything from fashion to smart phones to home appliances. India does not allow foreign direct investment in inventory-driven models of e-commerce, where goods and services are owned by an e-commerce firm that sells directly to retail customers. It modified e-commerce rules late last year to protect the country’s vast unorganized retail sector that does not have the clout to purchase at scale and offer big discounts.
Those rules forced Amazon and Flipkart to reconfigure ownership structures and re-jig some key vendor relationships and agreements. There are more than a lakh sellers on Flipkart’s platform. More than five lakh sellers on Amazon- a bulk of which are small businesses, women entrepreneurs, startups, weavers and artisans - use the festive sale to reach customers. Sellers decide the pricing for their products on this marketplace.
The second GOTS seminar was held on September 08, 2019 in Dhaka. The theme of the seminar was ‘Connecting for Success.’ It was attended by around 330 participants from six countries, who congregated for fruitful discussions on sustainability and organic textiles. These included representatives from different stages of the manufacturing industry like spinning, knitting, wet processing, garmenting as well as buying houses, international brands, certification bodies, testing laboratories, media, and academics.
Session 1 of the seminar was titled ‘Connecting Sustainable Retail: Stories from Fashion Industry’. It was moderated by Claudia Kersten, Managing Director of GOTS. Bruno Van Sieleghem from Stanley/Stella, Belgium and Jan Moritz from Julius Huepeden GmbH, Germany participated as speakers. The session revealed success stories from brands, market trends, and data about GOTS. Both brands reaffirmed their commitment to sustainability and buying GOTS certified products.
Session 2 named ‘Technical Criteria and Implementation’ was moderated by Rahul Bhajekar, Managing Director, GOTS, who was also the session speaker. Sumit Gupta, GOTS Deputy Director Standards Development & Quality Assurance and Prachi Gupta, GOTS Expert, Quality Assurance & Impact, shared their expertise as speakers and talked about important technical topics like GMO Testing and GOTS technical criteria.
Besides, the speakers explained the existing software tool for Certified Entities the ‘GOTS Monitor (Water/Energy), and the ‘Central Database System’
Sohail Pasha has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA).
Hailing from a famous, prominent and successful business family, Pasha is an active member of the renowned business network Riaz Enterprises. He has earned a good name and a fame in exports, business and industry. He holds rich practical experience of 25 years as a professional management executive. He serves on the board of many charitable, health and educational institutions contributing to society. Faisal Nisar and Haris Yousaf are senior vice chairman and vice chairman.
The hope is that the new PTEA team would make its utmost efforts to meet the upcoming challenges and strive for an enabling environment to restore viability and growth of the textile industry and turn Pakistan into a destination for outsourcing of textile businesses. Serious efforts, strong lobbying, tangible initiatives and out of the box solutions are necessary to keep the textile industry operational.
Pakistan’s textile industry is a major contributor to the national economy. The country is taking all steps to attract foreign and domestic investment and revive sick units in the textile sector. The installed capacity of the manufacturing sector will be increased to enhance competitive import substitution, export enhancement, employment generation and revenue generation.
Riri Group, a leading brand in the zip and button manufacturing sector for high couture and outdoor apparel, will launch its new Fall/Winter 2020-21 collection at the Première Vision Paris from September 07 – 19, 2019.
The new collection is inspired by winter landscapes and polar tones. It features shades of grey, azure and white that remind of the typical tones of ice. Its dominant presence of the blue color is in contrast to its attractive green inserts; while black interventions have been harmoniously inserted as part of the color palette and create an appealing interplay of color references.
Tapes, pullers and chains provide new unexpected visual inputs to the collection. The garments reproduce an iceberg effect with a laser system, their texture reminiscent of the snake skin. Among the new innovations include the Metal 3H zip which is the smallest and most innovative in the collection, lightweight and with a streamlined design. The collection also features a zip made of synthetic fur and incorporated buttons, whose cover can be removed and then reapplied, to face polar temperatures with a touch of glamour.
Luxury apparel retailer Olivela has raised $35 million in a Series A funding round, led by Morgan Stanley & Co. International. The retailer plans to use the new funds to expand its business both digitally and physically. This expansion will help Olivela find and partner with more charitable organisations in the U.S. and around the world.
The new funding will be used to fuel Olivela’s new campaign for the quarter called ‘Women’s Empowerment.’ The campaign includes a trip to Jordan where Boyd will meet with 30 young women who were sent to school from Olivela’s donations last year, as well as 100 more who will go to school next year thanks to purchases on Olivela.com and in store.
Olivela plans to open additional boutiques this year with the funding, but it is ramping up its focus on the holidays. The merchant did 90 times the number of transactions in December 2018 than in January 2019. It now looks forward to expanded offerings and brands this season.
Denim mills are tapping into social media influencers’ vast and information-seeking audiences through collaborations, special products and as a vehicle to share their messages about sustainability and innovation. Mills are recognising the power and the influence of the social media and the people who manage accounts. By partnering with an influencer, the supply chain is able to reach more people and tap into specific areas of expertise, knowledge and interest. Influencers have become a go-between from the mill and the producer to the consumer.
Mills are representing themselves more as a brand. And as a result, they’re looking for ways to reach the end consumer to feed them with information about the ingredients and processes that go into the jeans they purchase. The new way of advertising is through influencers.
Kelly Harrington, a textile consultant and social media influencer, teamed with Ukraine-based denim label Ksenia Schnaider to help promote the sustainable story behind its avant-garde denim designs, such as its signature asymmetrical jean. In her Instagram post, Harrington showcases the brand’s cropped jean jacket and frayed shorts with a caption that describes Ksenia Schnaider’s experimental designs. For Harrington, promoting Ksenia Schnaider’s collection on Instagram was an authentic choice. It’s a brand she wears and loves.
M&J Group’s leading facility Genesis aims to explore new business possibilities in China through innovative and sustainable developments, showing the interconnections between quality production and a truly responsible approach, one that must also become socially conscious.
The main long-term goal of the company remains to reach a “near zero” input of fresh water in the process, contributing to manage this precious resource at its best.
It has also decided to set up a Mini Fire Brigade Station in its campus in Bangladesh in collaboration with the Fire Service and Civil Defence of Bangladesh.
The company recently obtained two prestigious LEED Platinum certifications and was granted the LEED Earth certificate for its washing facility in June 2019. This washing facility recycles 50 per cent of treated effluent from WWTP/ETP (Wastewater Treatment Plant). The treated effluent is recycled directly in the garment washing process, thereby reducing fresh water requirement by 50 per cent. This improvement is important because it allows reductions in costs while keeping the garment price the same, saving lots of water as well.
Gap Inc's Old Navy brand plans to double its store count in North America as the apparel retailer readies itself to split from the parent company next year. The brand, which offers more affordable clothing and accessories, plans to open 860 stores in North America and focus on opening outlets in smaller markets and off-mall locations.
Old Navy, which recorded net sales of about $8 billion in 2018 and ended the year with 1,140 locations, said plans to reach more than $10 billion in annual sales by opening new stores. The brand’s plans to open these stores is a result of Gap and other brick-and-mortar players shutting underperforming locations bowing to pressure from online sellers, fast-fashion retailers and ever-changing consumer trends.
The brand also plans to focus on the denim category besides improving its margins. It expects $400 million to $450 million in one-time separation expenses and $300 million to $350 million in capital-related costs between 2019 and 2021.
