Vol 14: Dirt, Biomimicry, and Regenerative Agriculture
Ralph Lauren invests in Natural Fiber Welding
This newsletter is about the fashion world needing to embrace the challenge of transforming into a more sustainable industry.
Someone sent in a recent report, The Nature of Fashion: Moving Towards a Regenerative System, from the Biomimicry Institute. We first wanted to highlight the intro, because it was 🔥🔥:
This report was conceived in a different world. It was a world where consumption was continuing faster than ever before, driven by the availability of cheap petroleum. It was a world of fast fashion, where the price of apparel had ignored inflation and remained unchanged for 30 years, and where fashion waste was dumped by the truckload every second.
It was a world that most of us knew must cease, yet almost all of us continued to participate in. Due to COVID-19, with its social and economic fallout, a different reality has emerged.
All the old rules have been put on hold, making now the perfect time to write the new ones.
We would highly recommend at least skimming through. Taking a regenerative approach to materials production was something first crystallized while listening to the (always excellent) Wardrobe Crisis podcast featuring Claire Bergkamp of Stella McCartney. What started as a conversation about buzzy innovations like Bolt Threads and Mango Materials veered into the topic of dirt.
That’s right, dirt.
Soil health, regenerative agriculture, forests, and farming were all up for conversation. Organic cotton is great, but what about the conditions it grows in? The Biomimicry report dives further into applying a natural, and/or regenerative, mindset to how we produce and consume our materials as an industry.
Hope you’re enjoying your week!
The Embrace Team
The Nature of Fashion. Moving towards a regenerative system - The Biomimicry Institute
Over the past years, we have seen and continue to see more fashion companies launching initiatives to close the loop on textiles and other materials, develop biodegradable products and provide rental and repair services to promote longer product lifetime. The fashion industry is belatedly trying to save Earth's biodiversity, but what if the answer to sustainability-related issues has always been right in front of us?
A recent Biomimicry Institute's report suggests how emulating nature's lessons in the fashion industry can enhance ecosystems to "boost biodiversity, build soil, support communities, and clean up existing pollution". This is quite an unusual take on how to address the circularity in the fashion industry.
E-Commerce Is Saving Fashion But Destroying the Planet - BoF Professional
The challenges facing fashion companies in driving their online sales are multifaceted when it comes to sustainability. First, there is the packaging - how to make it both eco-friendly and enticing for consumers. Second - how to embed lean and sustainable logistics practices in the business model, which is key to reducing carbon footprint and shipping costs. In this article, BoF outlines how online fashion players, such as Zalando and Global Fashion Group, are working to make e-commerce more sustainable.
“We see a clear link between sustainability and continued commercial success,” - Kate Heiny, director of sustainability at Zalando.
Ralph Lauren Corporation Invests in Natural Fiber Upcycling - Environmental Leader
The US fashion company has taken a minority stake in Natural Fiber Welding (NFW), a startup that developed a technology for upcycling natural fibers, including cotton waste, into performance materials. Cotton recycling has its limitations, in particular, the short fibers created from the cotton recycling process were previously unsuitable for use in new cotton apparel, however, the NFW's patented process aims to address this issue.
The Future of Fashion Is in Biomaterials and Circularity - Sustainable Brands
Sustainable innovation in the textile industry is one of the answers to the fashion industry's polluting value chain. In the early 2000s, the creation of biosynthetic Sorona fiber by DuPont was an important contribution to tackling this issue. Earlier this year, DuPont launched its Common Thread Certification Program designed to offer more transparency for brands and apparel producers when it comes to Sorona fabric sourcing. As more fashion players embrace a more circular mindset, biomaterials innovation is central to driving sustainable fashion.
Rethinking the Distribution Chain Can Help Fashion Survive COVID-19 – Sourcing Journal
Sourcing Journal reports some interesting data from PreciseTarget's *Outlook for the Apparel Industry Post-COVID-19*report on apparel post-pandemic recovery.
One of the key takeaways is the need to rethink distribution strategies. Malls and department stores were already in trouble before "retail apocalypse" hit in times of lockdowns. PreciseTarget predicts "wholesalers that survive COVID-19 will be 30 percent direct-to-consumer, and within two years will kick that up to 40 percent". Brands with an online presence will have to compete with Amazon's private labels.
Finally, there is a silver lining amid the looming recession: consumer spending is likely to recover faster for cosmetics, apparel and footwear products compared to other consumer categories.
Around the news
14 Sustainability efforts of the fashion industry in July 2020 - green initiatives continue to be on the rise among fashion brands and retailers. Here Fashion United has put together a list of sustainability efforts that were announced in July 2020.
New Frontier in Modular Design: Edit+ Mixes Ath-leisure, Sustainability - athleisure brand Edit+ launched by a North Face exec proposes modular design as a solution to extend the lifecycle and versatility of winter coats.
Virgil Abloh bets this will be the future of sustainable fashion - Millennials are driving the future of sustainability in fashion. The winner of $59,000 grant from Virgil Abloh and Evian, Royal College of Art graduate Danielle Elsener will develop a learning platform that promotes zero-waste design.
How the pandemic is hurting progressive manufacturing - in this piece, Vogue Business examines the uncertain future of small manufacturers in Bangladesh and possible structural changes in the brand-supplier relationship.
5 ways to shop denim more sustainably - Vogue India's shopping guide with sustainability in mind to finding the perfect pair of jeans.
EXTENDING CLOTHING LIFETIME - wearing clothes for longer and prolonging their useful life by clothing care, repairs, alterations, re-use and sharing.
It is one of the most effective ways of cutting the environmental impact of fashion industry.