If you are in the textiles-apparel-fashion industry and happen to spend some time on social media, particularly in LinkedIn, you would have been inundated by Zoom-driven webinars on various aspects of sustainability in industry. It's been so done to the death since COVID-19 pandemic began, then you know what someone is going to say before s/he even says it.
It, naturally, is of essence that one also tries to gauge what's happening on the ground. It is verily true that agendas are set out in those webinars, but then what are ground truths like for manufacturers and innovators? What are the things working out in the field?
A mélange of impressions and opinions:
Dilek Erik; Global Marketing Manager, Sharabati Denim: We reflect our sustainability efforts on all our collections. From fibre to wastewater treatment, we work on every step in the production and recycle or reduce the chemical/yarn/water that we use as much as possible. We prove our efforts by certifications like GRS, GOTS, ISO 9000-45001-14001- 27001, Oekotex, etc. We also have a high index for both of our Egypt and Türkiye mills. Our main customers like Inditex or PVH are doing their own inspections and valuing our production every year.
Cherish Brouwer; Co-founder and Creative Director, Knitwear Lab: With our new sample method, we use up to 50% less energy, materials, and shipping. So, that’s 50% less pollution. We push knitwear as a production method with less waste and a flexible production method to avoid surplus. And yes, we are extremely transparent: we have an open door, opensource policy and we train our customers and competitors with our workshops. We cannot be more open!
Sarah Meyers and Laura Fügmann; Founders, Meyers & Fügmann: As designers we have the responsibility to consider the whole production process of a textile. Being a small design office, we have to take small steps, see where we can take action and change small bits, but in a consistent way. We advocate slow consumerism, and believe that the objects we use in our daily lives should consider the geographical origins of materials, the social value of production processes, and the environmental impact of a products’ lifecycle.
The light-responsive technology has the poetic power of rendering the passage of time visible. It speaks to the emotional relationships people develop with objects: incorporating change and encouraging longevity by turning time and memory into tangible elements of the design. The paths along which products travel, from farm to factory, from studio to shop, become tangible in the objects we design. By embedding traces of making, creating new value chains and preserving specific knowledge and crafts, we forge new connections between production, design and consumption.
Aniela Hoitink; Chief Executive and Founder, Mycotex by NEFFA: Our core business is fashion and textile innovation, with sustainability being a big part of that. We focus on creating the most innovative and sustainable supply chain. We consider this to be a process in which you try to become more and more sustainable. That is why we create a manufacturing method that is flexible and adaptable to constant change—so that over time, and based on the latest research, we can improve our supply chain.
We are setting up a full supply chain in Europe. That way we know exactly where our materials are coming from, making it easy to be transparent towards our customers. It is also shorter, since we eliminate the need for weaving, cutting, and sewing. In our supply chain, we go directly from a material to a 3D textile product. And that reduces the number of stakeholders extensively, while improving transparency.
