There have been lots of developments in the EU in the last one year, including a number of directives on due diligence, supply chains, etc. How has this affected both denim production as well as denim garmenting?
Daniel Merino: The new EU legislation impacts several stages of denim manufacturing. In the dyeing and finishing processes, manufacturers must minimise water and energy consumption, use safer chemicals, and implement recycling and waste management measures. To achieve this goal, Isko is certified Bluesign, STeP by OEKO-TEX, and ZDHC level 3 through its Roadmap to Zero.
Additionally, to meet the requirements of both the EU waste hierarchy and the eco-design directive, Isko has developed CTRL+Z, a new technology that enables the production of superior fabrics that last longer using exclusively recycled fibres and regenerated viscose, aligning with both Textile Exchange and Canopy preferred fibres list.
Traceability and Digital Product Passport (DPP) are two other crucial aspects of the future legislation. Both aim to inform and educate consumers about social and environmental values by ensuring that fabric and garment producers provide reliable, transparent, and accessible data on their activities, sourcing, and impacts. To that end, Isko is audited by SEDEX, is working with Science Based Targets initiative to reduce carbon emissions and is complying with the Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) to understand the impact of all our fabrics throughout the lifecycle.
Flat collections, little research and few ideas was the grouse by a leading denim designer last year. The emphasis was also on — “Produce less, produce better and produce what is necessary”. What do you think is the right path to go and how?
Baris Ozden: At Isko, we believe that the right path is to build true circular economy initiatives and embed this into the business. Designing products that are made from recycled materials and that can be recycled again is a big part of that. But also designing products that look great, have amazing performance and that are especially long-lasting, is so important. To bring the love back into a pair of jeans that you will have forever or that can be resold or rented, gifted or donated so that they can be loved again and again.
Tell us what is the latest on the Isko R-TWO Project. What is Isko doing on that front?
Baris Ozden: R-TWO was the starting point for us. We pioneered fabrics that contained, at first, a minimum of 20% recycled materials, but always keeping the authenticity and durability. With our innovations, this progressed to R-TWO 50+, fabrics that contained a minimum of 50% recycled materials and that were GRS certified. The evolution of the R-TWO programme is Ctrl+Z, a revolution in material science where fabrics contain only recycled or regenerated fibres but that outperform other fabrics when it comes to durability.
