PVH speeds up sustainability efforts by joining Fashion for Good, Global Fashion Agenda

American clothing company PVH Corp., owner of brands of such as Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Van Heusen, Speedo and Izod announced in a news release its global participation in three important initiatives focused on accelerating the transition to a sustainable fashion industry based on circular economy principles.

PVH recognises its role in moving the apparel industry in a positive direction and sees opportunities to reduce waste and pollution through collaboration and partnerships such as the Global Fashion Agenda, Fashion for Good and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Make Fashion Circular Initiative, which the corporation has joined. As part of these new partnerships, PVH will set circularity targets across all of its businesses.

PVH joins Global Fashion Agenda, Fashion for Good & Make Fashion Circular

“These three organizations are all focused on innovation, collaboration and system change, which is the foundation of our corporate responsibility strategy at PVH,” commented Melanie Steiner, chief risk officer, PVH Corp. “We are excited to work with other leading companies, innovators and stakeholders to support the move to a truly sustainable industry.”

As a signatory of the Global Fashion Agenda, PVH and its businesses are making a pledge to set specific targets to be accomplished by 2020 and report on progress annually. The pledge itself addresses four areas: designing for circularity, increasing the volume of used garments collected, increasing the volume of used garments resold and increasing garments made from recycled post-consumer textile fibers. “The Global Fashion Agenda will support PVH in achieving its commitment through knowledge-sharing activities, policy engagement and industry alignment,” confirms the news release.

PVH has also become the eighth corporate partner of Fashion for Good, the global platform for sustainable innovation based in Amsterdam. In this role, PVH will help in driving systemic change in the fashion industry, have access to the Fashion for Good Experience and a board seat. “PVH will play a leading role in setting Fashion for Good’s innovation agenda, defining focus areas, participating in the selection of new innovators and providing expertise and mentorship to circular apparel startups,” promises PVH.

PVH becomes core partner of Make Fashion Circular Initiative

As a core partner and advisory board member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Make Fashion Circular Initiative, founded in 2017, PVH will collaborate with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to “address issues that lead to preventable pollution and waste in the industry and deliver solutions to meet the changing global demands and societal expectations” according to the release. The goal of the initiative is to establish a new fashion system based on three circular economy principles: business models that keep clothes in use, materials that are renewable and safe and solutions that transform used clothes into new clothes.

In May, PVH had announced a strong first quarter 2019 with revenue that increased by 16 percent or 10 percent on constant currency basis to 2.3 billion US dollars. Annually, PVH records close to 9 billion US dollars in revenues and has over 36,000 associates operating in over 40 countries.

Photo: PVH Heritage Brands, PVH website