Luxury Sector becoming less opaque

Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London until 

1 September 2019.
  Designs by current Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri .

Photo by Lucia Carpio.

Luxury brands Gucci and Bottega Veneta are the highest scoring luxury brands reviewed  by Fashion Revolution’s Fashion Transparency Index 2019 to have made the 31-40% range of scores, and have achieved 100% on policy and commitments and governance. Chanel’s score increased by 7%, Sandro and s. Oliver by 9% and Christian Dior by almost 22%, demonstrating that for the first time ever, several major fashion brands are beginning to disclose supply chain information. Chanel also published its first ever Report to Society and s. Oliver launched a responsibility section on its website for the first time.

Only five brands (2.5% of the brands reviewed) scored zero this year, compared with nine brands (6%) last year. These are Eli Tahari, Jessica Simpson, Mexx, Tom Ford and Chinese menswear brand Youngor.  Another 10 brands are disclosing almost nothing (less than 2%), including Longchamp, Max Mara, New Yorker and several others.

“There is still a lot of work to be done”, Sarah Ditty, Policy Director and report author, cautioned, “detailed information about the outcomes and impacts of their efforts is still lacking. The average score among the biggest fashion brands and retailers is just 21%, showing that there are still far too many big brands lagging behind. Major brands are disclosing very little information and data about their purchasing practices, which means that we still don’t have visibility into what brands are doing to be responsible business partners to their suppliers.”

Fashion Revolution believes that the major fashion brands have the moral imperative and ability to effect change on a global scale for large numbers of people. Brands will also need to innovate, use fewer resources and help their customers consume less, take better care of their clothes and use them for longer if we are to tackle the climate crisis..

"To help drive this change, each year we explore a few key issues in deeper detail. This year we have  chosen 4 out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that are particularly relevant and urgent for the global fashion industry to achieve by 2030 as this year’s Spotlight Issues:  SDG5: Gender Equality, SDG 8: Decent Work, SDG 12: Sustainable Consumption and Production and SDG 13: Climate Action.

Sarah Ditty concluded: “We will continue to use the Index to measure brands’ progress and help push them harder and faster towards taking on more responsibility for their policies, practices and impacts.”

Sportswear and Outdoor brands championing transparency

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a charity launched to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, the apparel industry is one of the culprits in causing our environmental and pollution problems, as globally a mind-boggling 73% of materials used for clothing are being sent to landfill or incinerated every year, with less than 1% being recycled to make new clothing.

Designs by Christopher Raeburn at the Jackets Required London trade show in January 2019.
The designer , a pioneer in recycling and upcycling, set up RÆBURN, a collaborative, creative fashion studio where daily design meets painstaking production, alongside monthly events, discussions and workshops.
Photo by Lucia Carpio.

Thus it is welcomed news that Fashion Revolution’s Fashion Transparency Index 2019 reveals today that three sportswear and outdoor brands are leading the way on transparency among the world’s 200 largest fashion brands and retailers by disclosing a wide range of human rights policies, commitments and outcomes, as well as who their suppliers are.

Adidas, Reebok and Patagonia each score a total 64% out of 250 possible points, followed by Esprit and H&M in the 61-70%. C&A, ASOS, Puma, Nike, Converse, Jordan, The North Face, Timberland, Wrangler, Vans and Marks & Spencer rank at the top end of the 51-60% range.

This is the first year since the Fashion Transparency Index’s inception that brands will score over 60%, showing that progressive brands are now taking real, tangible steps to disclose more about their social and environmental policies, practices and impacts.

However no brands score above the 70% range showing that there is still a long way to go towards transparency amongst all major fashion brands.

Since 2016, Fashion Revolution has tracked global brands and benchmarked their performance against five key areas: policy and commitments, governance, traceability, supplier assessment and remediation, and spotlight issues, which this year focus on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Sarah Ditty, Policy Director and report author says: “The progress we are seeing this year, coupled with the feedback Fashion Revolution has received from brands, suggests that inclusion in the Fashion Transparency Index has motivated major fashion brands to be more transparent. We are seeing many brands publishing their supplier lists and improving their scores year on year.”

Amongst the 98 brands reviewed in 2017, 2018 and again in 2019 there has been an 8.9% increase in the average score since they were first included in the Index.

11 brands have increased their scores by over 10% this year, showing significant efforts to be more transparent, and data shows that more brands are embarking on their journey towards greater transparency.

The report shows the following findings:

·         Brands are disclosing very little about their efforts to empower women and girls and achieve gender equality, despite the fact that women make up the majority of the workforce in the fashion industry from factory to shop floor.

·         Some progress has been made on disclosing equal pay policies and the gender pay gap by major fashion brands, but little is published about how brands are addressing gender-based labour violations in garment factories.

·         55% out of the 200 brands are publishing the annual carbon footprint in the company's own sites, although only 19.5% disclose carbon emissions in the supply chain – where over 50% of the industry’s emissions occur.

·         Given that major brands are expecting trust and transparency from suppliers, they too should share more information publicly about their own commitments and efforts to be responsible business partners. Only 9% of brands disclose a formal process for gathering supplier feedback on the company's purchasing practices and just 6.5% of brands publish a policy of paying their suppliers within 60 days. 

The highest scoring brands in the Spotlight Issues section this year are H&M, Adidas and Reebok, Patagonia as well as Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius and Zara (all owned by Inditex), ASOS and C&A, respectively.

Sustainability is today a buzzword in the global apparel industry; Fashion Revolution Week 2019 (22-28 April)

News that more and more global fashion brands and retailers are striving to tackle sustainability continue to emerge as we enter Fashion Revolution Week 2019 (22-28 April) which promotes greater transparency in the fashion supply chain.

London-based eco-footwear brand
Po-Zu  uses sustainable materials.
On Monday 29th April, Po-Zu founder, 
Sven Segal  will be speaking on the 
Nature Of Fashion panel, one of many events 
organised by Know The Origin for their 
Fashion Revolution 2019 pop-up shop. 
Photo by Lucia Carpio.

For one, US-based jeans brand Wrangler, owned by the VF Corp, has launched a new Made-in-USA denim collection that supports five US cotton-growing states – and takes the brand towards 100% sustainable cotton adoption by 2025.

Elsewhere, US retailer Walmart is teaming up with international bank HSBC to roll out a sustainable supply chain finance programme that pegs a supplier's financing rate to its sustainability performance.   Under the new scheme, suppliers that demonstrate progress on Walmart's Gigaton or Sustainability Index Program can apply for improved financing from HSBC based on their sustainability ratings.

Meanwhile German sportswear giant Adidas has launched a 100% recyclable performance running shoe called the Futurecraft.Loop, which is made without glue and from materials that can be broken down and reused to create a brand new running shoe.

And a company that produces sustainable textile fibres made from waste materials has raised EUR3.7m (US$4.2m) in funding from investors, including global fashion retailer H&M, to scale up production at its plant in Finland.

New sustainable and functional fabric options on offer at Intertextile Apparel

Comprehensive product zones including one entitled All About Sustainability which will feature Chinese and European exhibitors are deemed to be must-see destinations at the upcoming Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics Spring Edition trade fair, March 12 - 14.

The Forum Space at last year’s All About Sustainability Zone proved popular, say organisers at Messe Frankfurt Hong Kong, noting that the zone is ideal for visitors sourcing eco-friendly textile products to gain insight on new sustainable business approaches.   Photo: Messe Frankfurt Hong Kong.             

Exhibitors at the All About Sustainability zone will include Foshan Chicley Textile’s sustainable fashion fabrics – a range of organic linen and cotton, Lenzing ECOVERO, Modal and TENCEL, as well as digital printed fabrics.  While the new OEKO-TEX®100 Standard regulations have been published for 2019 according to organisers at Messe Frankfurt Hong Kong, the All About Sustainability zone also houses exhibitors who provide testing and certification services.

With the added element of the fringe programme, which will include seminars held by exhibitors, the fair offers visitors opportunities to learn more about the latest industry opinions and regulations.

Hohenstein Textile Testing and TESTEX both offer Standard 100, STeP, Eco Passport, Detox to Zero and Leather Standard by OEKO-TEX® testing amongst other services, and both of these exhibitors will also host a seminar.  Hohenstein Textile Testing will explain the amended OEKO-TEX® regulations, while TESTEX will discuss how these new regulations help to build trust with today’s consumers. Other exhibitors offering testing services include Intertex Testing Services, SGS-CSTC Standards Technical Services and TUV Rheinland.

“Shanghai is a great city for a business with original prints, and Intertextile is one of our busiest fairs. It’s a good place to find new clients,” explained Ms Jane Han Zhang, Founder & Creative Director of British design studio Fairbairn & Wolf Studio.  Jane and her partners are alumni of the London-based TexSelect (formerly Texprint) which promotes and nurtures British-trained fashion and design graduates through its annual competition that has won international acclaim.

Messe Frankfurt has reported that over 3,000 exhibitors from more than 20 countries & regions will join this year’s Spring Edition of Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics from 12 – 14 March, spanning a huge range of textile product categories, from fashion to technical innovation. 

Comprehensive product zones will reflect demand for different products such as sustainable solutions, functional fabrics, digital printing, accessories and denim.

Spanning six halls at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre (Shanghai) this year, the fair will be held concurrently with Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles, Yarn Expo Spring, PH Value and CHIC.

Consumers’ increasing awareness of sustainability, ethical fashion and sharing economy

Some of the industry's visionaries on sustainability, ethical fashion and fair trade joined up to discuss Sourcing and Design and the Next Chapter on Fashion and Sustainability at Bloomsbury Gallery in London on September 4th  while ethical footwear brand Po-Zu’s launched their new SS19 and AW18 collections.

Photo from Pu-Zu. 

The discussions highlighted consumers’ increasing awareness of the harmful consequences of their purchasing decisions, and the growing shift towards vegan fashion that is not just cruelty-free but also plastic-free and environmentally-friendly. 

Sven Segal, Founder and CEO of Po-Zu said: "Everything starts with awareness. Most people are completely unaware of the issues with the footwear and the fashion industry.  My speciality is shoes and I can tell you there are tonnes of really nasty chemicals put into ordinary shoes. There ought to be a list of ingredients if you buy online on the product page much like with food."

On the next chapter for the industry, Safia Minney, MBE, Founder of People Tree and Managing Director of Po-Zu commented: "I see the work of the pioneers informing the agenda. The problem with ethical fashion and footwear brands is that we have to run so fast and compete on an unlevel playing field because we are competing with sweatshop fashion and fashion that is highly polluting and exploitative."

Caryn Franklin MBE, British fashion commentator, Professor of Diversity in Fashion and former Fashion Editor and Co-Editor of i-D Magazine: "It is a case of joining up the dots. If we are looking to be empowered and emboldened by our choices and to feel that to a certain extent we have embodied cognition: that we are feeling good about what we are wearing so therefore we have confidence and self-belief..."

Caryn continued: "If you know that something has been made by somebody in despair, then it has absolutely nothing to contribute to  life and your experience of yourself, because that information, you can't un-know."

On the vegan revolution, the plant-based economy and cruelty-free fashion, Bel Jacobs, freelance fashion journalist and former Style Editor at the Metro said: "The very fact of the matter is that sentient beings are suffering."

Bel added, on the next steps for the industry "I think social media is putting forward stories about what is going on behind the factory walls in a more efficient and devastating way than ever before and I think consumers are going to react to that."

Tamsin Lejeune, CEO of Common Objective and Founder of the Ethical Fashion Forum remarked: "The entire fashion and economic system is dysfunctional. We need tax breaks for ethical fashion pioneers to level the playing field, so they can compete."

Last but not least, on the sharing economy, Zoe Partridge, Founder of wardrobe rental concept, Wear the Walk said "It is about changing people's mindsets and how they consume."

Bottletop London store marries industrial design with contemporary art

The interiors of British ethical fashion brand, Bottletop’s store at 84 Regent Street, London is a unique project that showcases recycling to the hilt, marrying industrial design with contemporary art, just like its desirable range of bags and accessories.

The Bottletop store is claimed to be the “world’s first zero-waste retail space”
and is a “synthesis between the hand-made and the most high-tech.” 

Projected through its unique environment of a retail concept that speaks to the heart of its values, collection, story and core materials – raw metal and certified Amazon zero deforestation leather, visitors to the Bottletop store are able to experience the sustainable concept of materials while shopping the collections and learning about the mission of the brand.

Bottletop co-founders Cameron Saul and Oliver Wayman’s vision was realised by working with London architects Krause Architects and Ai Build, with the use of 3D print to decorate the store’s wall using upcycled plastic bottles gathered from the streets of Delhi in India, as well as some 2,700 cans individually treated and suspended overhead  to form a metal canopy embedded in to a 3D printed lattice structure, which is a play on the concept of negative space, inspired by the British contemporary artist Rachel Whiteread.

Even the shelving has been wrapped in certified zero deforestation leather from Sao Matheus Farm in Alto Floresta, while consoles were wrapped in re-purposed sheet aluminium.  the space is completed by flooring made from upcycled rubber tyres, a bespoke in-store scent from perfumer Timothy Han, and a series of bespoke playlists from record producer Mario C, the name behind Beastie Boys and Bjork recordings.

Photos © Lucia Carpio

SEAQUAL ™ - The fibre created from marine plastic waste

While products made of plastics have penetrated all areas of our lives, from toys to household and kitchen items to packaging and many, many more, today sadly, much of plastics are also found discarded in the sea or washed up on shores and beaches, and plastic pollution affects marine life, eco systems and even our health. 

While recent research reveals that plastic at sea turns into toxic fish food and harm marine life and the environment, plastics floating in the oceanic accumulation zones, known as ‘garbage patches’, carry chemical pollutants whose levels seem high enough to pose a health risk to organisms that ingest them.  It is also estimated that 8 million tonnes a year of detritus end up as sea sludge, 80% of which sinks to the bottom.

Recognising that urgent action is required quickly to tackle marine plastics pollution, a Spanish company of textile fibres has recently unveiled its commitments to initiate a new eco-friendly yarns called SEAQUAL ™ filament yarn made out of plastic waste retrieved from the ocean.

From plastic waste to filament yarns.
Photo © Lucia Carpio 2018

Seaqual 4U’s ingenious plan is to dredge then upcycle plastics from the bottom of the sea and turn them into fibres and yarns.  The company partners with some 400 fishing boats off Spanish coasts that help it to collect the plastic waste.

The company has thus set up a virtuous chain involving various stakeholders in the textile industry including spinners, weavers and brands.

To read in full, click HERE.

Aldi launches Fairtrade certified cotton T-shirts this March

 Aldi’s range of Fairtrade Cotton T-Shirts will be available in stores
from 3rd March, as part of the Ladies and Men’s Spring Fashion range. 

Discount store chain Aldi is offering a new range of Fairtrade certified cotton T-shirts in stores across the UK from 3 March 2016, while announcing its continuous commitment to sustainable sourcing

The new cotton range builds on existing Fairtrade commitments made by Aldi in 2011 to convert a range of bananas, coffee, tea, flowers and chocolate to Fairtrade in a programme that quickly rolled out to other Fairtrade markets such as Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Aldi PA India factory.

Jonathan Neale, Joint Managing Director for Corporate Buying at Aldi, comments:
“We’re proud to offer clothing that supports the Fairtrade project, which brings life changing development to communities by improving working and living conditions, education and health care.”

The Fairtrade Cotton Briefing provides a detailed overview of the cotton industry and its challenges, and explores why Fairtrade is needed and what it can achieve.

Aldi Photo. Agrocel, India ©Peter Caton

Cotton is grown in more than 100 countries, and plays a major role in the economic and social welfare of developing and newly industrialised countries. However, despite supplying the raw commodity that the multi-billion-dollar global clothing and textile industries depend on, growing cotton is failing to provide millions of poor rural households in developing countries with a sustainable and profitable livelihood. With high levels of illiteracy and limited land holdings, many cotton farmers live below the poverty line and are dependent on the middle men or ginners who buy their cotton, often at prices below the cost of production.

By offering Fairtrade cotton products, businesses contribute to a more sustainable future for cotton farmers, their communities and the environment.  Members of Agrocel hope to invest their Fairtrade Premium from Fairtrade sales in funding higher education for farmers’ children, upskilling women in local craft businesses and building a water, pesticide and carbon footprint database of individual farmers and using technology to share with brands.

Fairtrade Standards provide a framework for cotton farmers to form democratic organisations or strengthen existing organisations. This enables farmers to increase their negotiating power in the marketplace, improve business systems, access new markets, develop long-term trading partnerships and implement sustainable farming practices. Fairtrade Minimum Prices contribute to financial stability, while Fairtrade Premium can be invested in improving cotton quality and productivity, climate change adaptation and improving community welfare.