Sustainability round-up February 2022

February was all about the hunt for alternative, sustainable materials but also brands’ and retailers’ efforts to offer more sustainable collections and stores. Resale sites also popped up as well as various partnerships. Last but not least, there is a trend among young people to make their clothes at home rather than buying fast fashion. Read on for the sustainability highlights of February 2022.

Sustainable material alternatives

Sneakers made from banana or pineapple leaves, dresses from nettles or fish scales -- the search for sustainable materials has taken the fashion industry to some unexpected places. While experts warn that these new textiles are no quick fix for fashion's enormous problems with over-consumption and waste, they may be a necessary step in developing cleaner technologies. This article looks at their pros and cons while this one highlights five next generation materials.

Austrian fibre producer Lenzing Group will present its new Young Scientist Award for outstanding research in the field of fibres and textiles for the first time in 2022.

Brand and retail efforts

On the brands’ side, Marks & Spencer revealed a first denim collection as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Jeans Redesign Project and Spanish clothing brand Mango also revealed an eco-denim line.

Luxury retailer Browns teamed up with designers Bethany Williams, J.W. Anderson, Martine Rose, Phipps and Robyn Lynch on an exclusive capsule of conscious t-shirts inspired by what they are grateful for while Ekyog, Froy & Dind, Lanius, People Tree and SKFK are certainly five sustainable womenswear labels to watch.

On the store and company side, PVH was among the top five in Barron’s most sustainable company’s report, Prada became the luxury retailer with the most LEED-certified stores, Pangia opened its first eco-conscious pop-up in Italy and 35 more brands joined Canopy’s Pack4Good initiative for more sustainable packaging.

Resale

In February, various efforts involved opening a resale site: Luxury resale site Hardly Ever Worn It (HEWI), for example, launched a new platform honouring luxury houses and aiming to continue driving a circular fashion system while H&M’s resale site Sellpy came out with an app. Boohoo-owned fast-fashion online retailer PrettyLittleThing announced a resale marketplace later this year and the new sustainability and marketing platform The Loop Digital Wardrobe makes sure that sustainable standards are a part of the general shopping experience.

Partnerships

Payment option provider Klarna revealed a new collaboration this month with sustainability rating platform Good On You, bringing curated sustainable collections to the Klarna App.

Sustainability insights platform Higg partnered with the Apparel Impact Institute, a driver in environment positive solutions, to launch a carbon management programme for manufacturers. C&A and American Eagle Outfitters both adopted The Carbon Leadership Program, which assesses supply chain facilities in regards to their carbon emissions.

Sustainability as a ‘must-have’

And in case you did not believe our claim in the January round-up, here ist proof: The European Commission announced that it will be pushing a due diligence law. This means companies will be required to adopt sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour throughout their production chain.

“The proposal, which the commission voted in favour of last year, will oblige companies to identify, prevent and end any negative impact they may have on human rights, in a bid to provide more transparency for consumers and investors and protect workers throughout Europe. It will also require companies to monitor the effectiveness of policies and publicly report on any acts of due diligence,” explains this article.