How significant is Denim PV for you? What are you looking forward to? And what new are you offering at Denim PV? What are the challenges and changes that you expect to see in denim sourcing (both as fabrics / finished products)?
After two years of online meetings, we are excited to be back on the road be there to network and show our designs. We have a couple of exciting things to showcase in Berlin. We launched our NFT called ‘The Blueskyer NFT’ together with our new collection ‘iamablueskyer’ during Kingpins Amsterdam last month. We are looking forward to bringing them to Berlin audience as well.
Orta’s ‘iamablueskyer’ collection is an expression of how we like to design the future we want to live in. We are looking at regenerative futures and creating a world that is going to be liveable and more optimistic. And denim is right there and Orta is right there. And ‘iamablueskyer’ is the way of saying ‘’I believe in a regenerative clean, more beautiful future and I’m contributing, I’m part of that change.’’ And part of that change, yes, everybody here at Orta, the person who walks around your denim is part of that change. So, it’s about conscious consumption and regenerative production, so that we can have a better tomorrow.
Engineered with natural materials, the ‘Breath’ family offers Torque, the magical stretch that uses zero elastane and petroleum-based fibres, vegan-certified denim, Gen R with 100% regenerative cotton, Gen H with eco-conscious hemp, and Huxley in trans-seasonal efficiency with pre and post-consumer recycled cotton and limitless aesthetic. ‘Conscious Luxe’ offers adaptable, biodegradable, softly structural, no-compromise denim with a glamorous luxury story. ‘Inner Sense’ serves denim happiness with soft, slouchy, cashmere-like touch and a range of blends and finishes that are the most-advanced eco-tech in the industry. And, ‘Blu Narratives’ offers wildly authentic denim that uses flashbacks of textured twill with a sustainable handprint.
The ORTA Blueskyer NFT features the 100% regenerative denim utilitarian suit rising from a technorganic garden towards the blue skies above. The Blueskyer is the first NFT representing Orta’s commitment to creating and supporting the #iamablueskyer movement that captures the spirit of the new generation of designers, artists, creators, climate advocates and more who aim to cancel climate change, eliminate waste, rewild biodiversity and improve social equity.
True to its climate-positive mission, the Orta Blueskyer NFT is minted by Tezos, an energy-efficient proof of stake blockchain whose carbon footprint after 50 million transactions “was similar to that of only 17 people,” according to the company. To understand this efficiency, most other blockchains’ energy demands today rival those of nation states.
Curated specially for the PV Berlin Show, we are excited to be showcasing our ‘Custodians’ family with denim lovers for the first time—a tribute to our all-time favourite Orta fabric 5616 which also reflects the Orta heritage, ‘Custodians’ fabrics are all inspired by the original 5616 and is a beautiful family group that resonates with everything that we all have always loved about 5616. But now with even more versatility and a broader spectrum of infinite possibilities: through adding stretch, organic cotton, hemp and new colours.
The new EU Textiles Strategy has been announced. How is it going to affect you? What specific steps are you taking to ensure that you adhere to the new regulations that have already come in, and the ones that are likely to take shape in the near future?
Well, Orta is known with its long-lasting good quality authentic denim fabrics. It is in our DNA to combine art, technology and sustainability to create traceable, durable and circular products with positive handprint. In that sense, the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles supports everything we believe and act on from the first day and aims to create a greener and more modern sector that is more resistant to global instabilities. The Strategy addresses that—textiles should be designed to make them last longer, easier to repair and recycle, as well as contain recycled content. We are a great advocate of long-lasting, good quality denim fabrics that stand the test of time. We incorporate recycled fibres into Orta fabrics as well to tackle textile waste problem and minimise our design footprint.
To tackle greenwashing, the Strategy states that products should be coupled with Digital Product Passports sharing clearer and right information to empower consumers and raise awareness about sustainable fashion and use. Since 2018, Orta has been sharing the intel of your denim’s lifecycle in each garment with the science-based lifecycle assessment (LCA) methodology through QR codes on product hangtags. With these QR codes, we are also sharing the fibre origin countries of each Orta fabric.
With the new look, we are now sharing the actual impact of each Orta fabric on five key environmental parameters: global warming potential indicating climate change impact, water use, land use, eutrophication potential indicating water pollution and abiotic resource depletion indicating non-renewable resource scarcity. The LCA performance is also compared to standard denim explained via daily life examples for easy understanding.
