Fashion retailer C&A has launched a new range of sustainable jeans designed in partnership with Fashion for Good. These jeans meet the strict environmental requirements of the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Certified Gold level standard, which evaluates garments for human and environmental health, recyclability or biodegradability, energy and water requirements and social fairness.

The C&A denim range is accompanied by a toolkit, which details solutions on how to overcome the design of complex apparel such as jeans to reach full product certification at the C2C Gold level. An Assessed Materials Almanac – also a part of the toolkit – specifies the materials and ingredients currently assessed for C2C certification with regards to materials used in the production of the jeans.

The brand had to overcome many technical challenges to develop the new C2C certified jeans. This included maintaining the physical flexibility of the garment, which was addressed via new advances in elastane production as well as a complete rethink of how to produce the lining and sewing threads.