“Create Better: Innovating Towards a Sustainable Future”, a WGSN study
Through “Create Better: Innovating Towards a Sustainable Future”, WGSN and Copenhagen Fashion Week explore the potential of innovation for a more sustainable future.
|10.11.2021| We present below the main conclusions of the study "Create Better: Innovating Towards a Sustainable Future" prepared by WGSN with the collaboration of Copenhagen Fashion Week. Although the report includes data on various segments (Fashion, Beauty, Food & Drink , Interiors and Consumer Tech), we will focus on the conclusions regarding the fashion industry.
To do so, we reproduce the words of Cecilie Thorsmark, executive director of Copenhagen Fashion Week: «the fashion industry is changing its approach with the aim of reducing the socio-environmental impact of its activity. Some of its bets are regeneratively cultivated fibers, association with artisan communities, timeless designs with a long useful life, zero-residue and biodegradable packaging or collaborations between industries.
Regenerative Sourcing
Regenerative agriculture will be a game changer for many industries, ensuring more responsible sourcing. Regenerative agricultural practices improve soil quality and biodiversity.
For a fashion brand to move towards regenerative sourcing, all links in the chain must be aligned with these types of farming practices. That educational process will empower design and sourcing teams to prioritize regenerative natural materials.
From a creative point of view, design teams can bet on the use of flax and hemp from regenerative crops; o Prioritize ROC certification from the Regenerative Organic Alliance for cotton, wool, cashmere and leather.
Business Strategies
In practice, regenerative sourcing can be achieved through intentional sourcing programs that encourage global fiber-growing communities to re-evaluate and improve their practices. You can start with the natural materials most used in the collections to end up turning all the virgin natural fibers into regenerative ones. Another action is to commit to ROC certification from the Regenerative Organic Alliance to move towards the necessary criteria.
Success Stories
Timberland aims to source all of its natural materials from regenerative supply chains within this decade. In 2020, Timberland introduced its first collection of boots made from regenerative leather. Since then, it has launched several new models and started building supply chains for regenerative rubber, cotton, wool and sugarcane.
Luxury group Kering and Conservation International have jointly launched the Regenerative Fund for Nature. They have done so with the goal of transforming one million hectares of land used to produce leather, cotton, wool and cashmere into regenerative farmland over the next five years.
Monitoring and traceability of fibers
Traceability will help restore trust and transparency in supply chains. Being able to track fiber will be essential to measure a company's involvement in decarbonization and environmental responsibility. In the future, a company's commitment may determine its tax rate, access to preferential lending and insurance terms, or its ability to attract investors.
In May, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe endorsed a transparency toolkit. It was based on Ethereum and would consist of tracking clothing and footwear from raw materials to the point of sale.
Business Strategies
After detecting the main fiber in their collections, companies can participate in pilot initiatives to trace third-party certified fibers and textiles with lower environmental impact. This bet challenges the lack of transparency in conventional fibers, such as polyester, working with traceable alternatives from raw fiber to ready-made garments.
Success stories
Here are several fiber traceability pilots highlighted in the report “Create Better: Innovating Towards a Sustainable Future”:
Responsible Design
Fast Fashion has grown at the expense of design, since the purchase decision is dominated by algorithms that change consumer tastes at breakneck speed. Given this scenario, the design oriented to the end of the useful life of the garments (reuse, recycling or resale) is considered a possible solution to excessive consumerism.
Fashion and science are becoming increasingly intertwined as bioengineering influences new responsible materials. For example, the Public School collaboration with Theanne Schiros resulted in compostable sneakers made from kombucha waste.
Business strategies
Bet on the continuity of the collections. WGSN, for example, keeps more than 30% of its color palette each season to promote design longevity. Practical items that offer multiple uses, meanwhile, will appeal to the most price-conscious consumers. These include versatile items such as reversible or transseasonal pieces that can incorporate layers or removable decorations.
Paying attention to detail can reduce your overall carbon footprint. It is necessary to do without unnecessary components and bet on those that facilitate the disassembly of the products. It is also interesting to experiment with components that will improve recyclability, such as soluble thread. This is clear from “Create Better: Innovating Towards a Sustainable Future”.
Artisans should be supported through responsible co-creation and collaboration, giving access to a more equitable market for their work. In this sense, organizations such as the Cultural Intellectual Property Rights Initiative, which mediate between the interests of fashion companies and those of artisans and traditional communities, are interesting.
Success stories
The Norwegian high-performance outdoor sports brand Helly Hansen has developed Lifa Infinity Pro. It is a fabric that offers long-lasting professional-quality performance without any added chemical treatment ; and with a permanent water repellent protection that never needs to be chemically reconditioned.
Brazilian brand Korshi 01, for its part, has focused on multipurpose and versatile garments that can be worn in up to six different ways through the use of embellishments such as buttons and ties.
Catarina Mina is the first Brazilian brand with 100% cost transparency that encourages consumers to take into account the process and the impacts that are hidden behind a garment. The brand also aims to give artisans and designers the proper focus; making sure customers know who produces their parts and paying these producers fair wages and work-life balance.
Rethinking packaging
The growth of eCommerce represents an environmental problem, both for logistics and for packaging. Packaging with a high environmental impact must be combated: from advertising pamphlets and polyethylene bags for clothing to hangers and e-commerce packaging.
To work in this line, there are several organizations to turn to. They stand out The Sustainable Packaging Coalition, whose members cover the entire supply chain; and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's New Plastics Economy initiative, which aims to help companies make the plastics sector more circular.
Business Strategies
Some recommended business strategies include partnering with closed-loop reuse and recycling companies to keep containers and hangers in circulation; and avoid single-use virgin materials and engage consumers in returnable packaging.
The commitment to recycled, recyclable or reusable packaging must be carefully weighed. A recently produced technical report by Fashion for Good lays out the benefits and challenges of reusable packaging. Prominent among these are ecosystems where it will reduce environmental impact and cases where using recycled and recyclable options would still outweigh it. Companies that wish to operate with an ecological will must ensure that the recycled plastic is certified by the Global Recycling Standard (GRS). Also, understanding the pros and cons in relation to your ecosystems is key when it comes to planning short-, medium-, and long-term strategies to reduce CO2 emissions. This is stated by WGSN in its study "Create Better: Innovating Towards a Sustainable Future".
Success stories
British outdoor brand Finisterre partnered with Aquapak for Marine-Safe Leave No Trace bags, used in their e-commerce. They are made from a synthetic Hydropol polymer, break down into non-toxic biomass in the soil and sea, and can be readily dissolved in sink water.
Los Angeles-based brand Reformation has switched from 100% compostable bags, made from bio-based materials, to 100% recycled low-density polyethylene bags. The latter are made with a biodegradable polymer that allows the bag to decompose in the landfill. On its website, the brand says it made the switch because home composting wasn't available to all US consumers.
Read the full report “Create Better: Innovating Towards a Sustainable Future” at THIS LINK.
For more information: https://www.wgsn.com/en/
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