Sustainability Pulse #21

Sustainability Trends & News Worth Exploring — January 16th, 2022

Jan 16, 2022

Gamifying Fashion – Part 1: Making A Statement

Getting started in the luxury industry is no mean feat. But suddenly having to pivot fashion into an altogether new and prescient space is even harder.

If digital transformation is an alien concept to you, then may I suggest that you engage the services of someone who has actually worked in the games industry and understands 3D? There are a lot of companies now exploring this possibility. It wasn’t so long ago that Virgil Abloh said that his brain was “turned on to gaming”, describing our “physical existence emerging in the digital space”. What a guy. What a legend, and the Obi Wan of digital fashion in a realm where no-one boldly wants to go (yes, I’m mixing my references).

LVMH Launches a Blockchain Service as Authenticity – Particularly in Resale – Comes Under the Microscope

The value of the counterfeit market reached $1.2 trillion in 2017, nearly $100 billion of which was directly linked the fake luxury goods. Since the brands that fall under the umbrella of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Celine, Loewe, and Givenchy, among others, are routinely some of the hardest hit by the black market, the Paris-based conglomerate has taken matters into its own hands in an attempt to assist consumers in determining the authenticity of products – or the lack thereof.

Why the Fashion Act could boost apparel manufacturing in the states

Legislation adoption in the fashion industry has been slow. But the Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act — or the Fashion Act, for short — could be one of the first to regulate the industry.

Even amid widespread calls for more transparency in supply chains and legislation, the fashion industry has largely gone unregulated. However, sustainability programs like Science-Based Targets, the HIGG MSI, the Textile Exchange Preferred Fibers Index, and the GFA CEO Agenda indicate that, even within the industry, people want to understand their impact do better.

Will 2022 Be The Year The Fashion Industry Finally Faces Green Legislation?

The fashion industry has woken up to the need to clean up its act in recent years – with a flurry of brands making bold commitments to reduce their environmental footprint. But what’s been largely missing is accountability. How do we know that brands are actually doing the work behind the scenes? And what about the companies that have been less forthcoming about implementing more responsible business practices?

That’s why legislation will be key when it comes to accelerating change across the industry.

Canada Fines Keurig Over Recyclability Claims

The Canadian arm of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. has been fined for making statements about the recyclability of K-Cups that government arbitrators found to be inaccurate.

Canada’s Competition Bureau ruled that Keurig Canada had misled consumers about the recyclability of K-Cups, its signature single-use coffee pods. The problem is that outside the provinces of Quebec and British Columbia, most municipal recycling programs don’t accept K-Cups. It also found that Keurig had advised consumers that the pods could be recycled if the tops were peeled off and the grounds emptied; some recycling programs require additional steps.

Fashion education is future-proofing its curriculum. What does this mean for the industry?

As fashion students become more aware of environmental and social issues, fashion education is facing an existential question. Its response will shape the next generation, with major implications for brands in turn.

“Fashion education is the birthplace of worldviews and practices for the next generation,” says Ben Barry, dean and visiting associate professor of equity and inclusion of the fashion department at Parsons School of Design in New York. “Historically, fashion education measured its success on its ability to match the ideology of industry and prepare students for careers in the industry as it was, rather than as it should be.”

They look just like new, but Levi’s 501s are now made from liquified fibres of old jeans

Sweden’s Renewcell invented a process to dissolve used denim into a new fabric; Levi’s now uses the material in its most iconic style.

For years, the fashion industry has been trying to recycle fabrics similar to that of aluminium cans or paper. Finally, Levi’s has solved a small piece of that puzzle.

When you buy a pair of Levi’s iconic 501 jeans starting this year, there’s a good chance they’ll be made from discarded jeans that have been dissolved with chemicals and then transformed into a new fabric by a Swedish company called Renewcell. The American heritage brand has experimented with recycled materials for several years by creating small capsule collections. But Levi’s believes Renewcell’s cutting-edge fabric is now ready to scale, so it has incorporated it into one of its most popular denim styles and hopes to roll out more garments made with this material soon.

3 Sustainability Experts Weigh In on How to Be a Better Shopper

A goal that should be on all of our minds this year is vowing to be a more sustainable shopper. Currently, the fashion industry is one of the most polluting globally and plays a key role in accelerating global warming. A 2020 report by the Global Fashion Agenda found that the fashion industry’s emissions are set to rise to around 2.7 billion tons a year by 2030. That’s an alarming stat, and it can make shopping and contribute to the cycle feel dreadful. But there are easy steps one can take to take a more eco-minded approach to consume when needed.

It can be overwhelming to know where to start, so below, Vogue asked three sustainability experts to weigh in on how to be a better—and smarter—shopper this year. It turns out, their easy tips range from shopping our own closets to better researching the brands that we are buying from. And sure, it may be near impossible to cut our shopping down to zero, but you can still align your consumption habits with your core values. So read on for their guide to kicking off 2022 on a greener fashion note.

Elizabeth L. Cline, author of The Conscious Closet

1. Start the year with a fashion fast. If you don’t need anything new for work, school, or life, put your purchases on pause and take a few weeks or months to repair and restore what you already own, and rediscover pieces that maybe got shoved to the back of your closet. Being intentional about shopping and appreciating what you have is a great way to be a more mindful and sustainable consumer all year round.

2. Secondhand is an easy and affordable way to be more sustainable. Reuse is much greener than recycling. Shopping secondhand is a great way to afford higher-quality clothes that last longer and have higher resale value, creating a virtuous circle of sustainability. If you want to make your thrifting habit even more sustainable, support your local thrift store where you can shop in person and try things on. In contrast, online shopping and shipping, and returns can rack up CO2 emissions and packaging waste.