36 Sustainability efforts of the fashion industry in April 2021
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In April, the fashion industry continued with its sustainability efforts and especially sneaker brands like Adidas, Asics, Mr Porter and others put their best foot forward while coming up with innovative materials that are easy on the environment or getting into the afterlife of their shoes with creative recycling. Upcycling was also in vogue, with designers teaming up with brands for stunning and sustainable creations. This month, FashionUnited is highlighting 36 sustainable initiatives that were presented in April 2021.
Collaborations & Projects
Wrap launches sustainability initiative ‘Textiles 2030’, major retailers sign up
UK non-profit Wrap has launched Textiles 2030, a new initiative aiming to transform the fashion and textiles sector into “a climate-neutral and profitable industry that is fit for the future”. Thirty-five organisations have so far signed up to the initiative, including Ted Baker, Next, Marks & Spencer, John Lewis & Partners, Oxfam, Primark, Gymshark, Asos, Boohoo, Re-Fashion, The British Fashion Council and The British Retail Consortium. Read more… Related news:
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Upcycling designer Nicole McLaughlin creates a collection with JanSport
Photo: JanSport
American backpack retailer and VF corporation owned JanSport has linked with sustainable designer and upcycle artist Nicole Mclaughlin to create a capsule collection of apparel made from upcycled backpacks. The Nicole McLaughlin Upcycled JanSport Collection highlights a six-piece avant-garde style apparel collection starring a bra, shorts, vest, slippers, multipack, and a director’s chair.
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Levi’s launches campaign with climate activists
The RealReal launches ReCollection line of upcycled fashion
Photo: The RealReal
The RealReal has always been devoted to giving new life to secondhand luxury fashion, and now the resale retailer has expanded on its mission. The company has teamed with eight luxury brands to launch a collaborative upcycled collection, transforming distressed or damaged clothing into new, one-of-a-kind luxury pieces.
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Swiss bag brand Freitag: ‘Circularity is anchored in our DNA’
Brands & Retailers
Stan Smith Mylo, the first sneaker made from mushroom mycelium
Photo: Adidas;
Designer Stella McCartney, yoga label Lululemon, and luxury group Kering already rely on Mylo, the mushroom-based leather alternative. Now sporting giant Adidas is looking to tap into the plant-based material. Made from mycelium, the underground roots of mushrooms, Adidas elevates the Stan Smith silhouette by creating a sustainable renewable alternative to leather. FashionUnited spoke to the experts behind the shoe and how Mylo, the innovative material, is created.
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Asics saves 25,000 t-shirts from landfills to create recycled sneakers
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Mr Porter introduces new sneakers made from grape waste
Puma releases collection made from textile industry waste
Photo: Puma
Sporting company Puma has released a collection of footwear, apparel, and accessories constructed from its own production waste and recycled materials. Re.Gen collection was designed to minimize waste in the textile industry and incorporate recycled material from Puma’s production. It features leather off-cuts, recycled polyester made from recycled plastic, and 20 percent recycled cotton. All footwear in the collection is made with a least 20 percent recycled material.
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Champion launches collection featuring first up-cycled sneaker
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Adidas launches tennis collection made from sustainable dyeing processes
Teva launches recycling program with TerraCycle
Photo: Teva
Footwear brand Teva has announced a new recycling program that allows customers to mail in their used sandals, diverting them from landfills. The TevaForever program partners with TerraCycle, a US-based recycling company, to recycle pre-owned sandals at no cost to the customer, allowing the sandals to be turned into something new, reducing environmental impact, and keeping waste out of landfills.
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Urban Outfitters to address commercial textile waste with FabScrap
The North Face launches circular re-commerce platform
Photo: The North Face
Outdoor brand The North Face is transforming into a circular business model with the launch of a new circular e-commerce platform that will re-sell, repair and recycle clothing to keep it out of landfill. The circular re-commerce platform, The North Face Renewed, will launch as a pilot scheme in Germany on May 4. The initiative will not only keep products in the value chain, but also offer a collection of refurbished products for consumers who want access to affordable gear and reduce their environmental impact.
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Salvatore Ferragamo launches Sustainable Thinking online platform
Mulberry asks “can a bag save the world” with a new sustainable manifesto
Photo: Mulberry
To mark its 50th anniversary, British heritage brand Mulberry has launched its new ‘Made to Last Manifesto’ an ambitious framework to transform its business into a regenerative and circular model, encompassing the entire supply chain, from field to wardrobe by 2030. The brand is committed to switching to a hyper-local and circular model to create bags made out of the world’s lowest carbon leather as it takes inspiration from the food industry’s “farm to table” concept, but for handbags from “field to wardrobe”.
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Vans sets new sustainability targets to reduce environmental impact
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H&M names Maisie Williams as global sustainability ambassador
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House of Baukjen named “highest scoring” fashion B Corp in the UK
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Anthropologie pledges to plant 25,000 trees in Brazil
Companies, Education, Events & Awards
Fashion for Good showcases biomaterials in latest exhibition
Photo: Fashion for Good
The Fashion for Good Museum in Amsterdam has launched a new year-long exhibition shining a spotlight on biomaterials. The Grow Expo showcases a selection of innovations, designers and brands that are reimagining the materials used in the notoriously polluting fashion industry, from fruit skin fabric and mushroom ‘leather’ to spider-silk and algae dye.
BFC to launch inaugural Institute of Positive Fashion Forum in June
Photo: BFC
The British Fashion Council (BFC) is to host the inaugural Institute of Positive Fashion Forum (IPF Forum) on June 10, a day-long event focusing on sustainability and other key issue across the fashion value chain. Taking place ahead of COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, hosted in November, the IPF Forum will centre around four key pillars: environment, people, community and craftsmanship.
Read more
Photo: AdidasAlso read:
- Farfetch publishes its first annual conscious luxury trends report
- From farm to closet: How some brands are embracing regenerative production
- Consumer backlash could dent fast fashion companies’ profits
- Podcast: The Glossy Podcast speaks to Re/Done’s Sean Barron
- The Collective and Individual Approach to Sustainability
- Shifting the Sustainability Mindset
- Sustainability Accelerating in the Beauty and Personal Care Industry
- 32 Sustainability efforts of the fashion industry in March 2021