Textile Insight

cleverly in many ways and garments have to offer value in multiple ways," said Ræbild. "What we put in from the beginning needs to keep pace with how we change over our own lifetimes. We have to cater to needs in a new way." Panelist Thimo Schwenzfeier, show director for NEONYT Germany, com- mented that talking about materials and resources is a good starting point, but designers have to rethink the whole process of how to design goods. "We're seeing a re-scaling of business models, especially among younger and university level designers. They are forcing change. Responsibility starts at the beginning of the process." Nicolai Reffstrup, founder of the Danish sportswear brand GANNI believes design companies are per- fectly positioned to drive change, and bring storytelling. "We are not to put blame on the supply chain, we can't control or blame the consumer who might be interested and aware. We need to broaden the scope and get everyone on board with sustainability from shareholders of companies, CEO down to marketing merchandising planner finance team. We need to strike three- year agreements with new types of product because inno- vation will take time. We also need to engage 3rd party support from mate- rial to retail to rental platforms. The collectors, the auditors. And make everything transparent." In the past year GANNI's design and sourcing teams accelerated the use of responsible fabrics to 73 percent, advanced circularity through GANNI Repeat, a new rental platform and implemented Circular Design training. "We raised the stakes when it came to meeting our ambition for carbon reduction and as the super important cultural movements rose, we held a mirror to ourselves and accelerated our work on social responsibility," said Reffstrup. The Role of Community A new North Carolina-based busi- ness ushers in the concept of "custom circularity." Material Return, an employee-owned enterprise, based in Morganton, NC, works with local manufacturers and national brands to transform textile waste into new products — all within 75 miles. The model benefits the environment, local economies, workers and value-aligned clients, explained Sarah Chester, executive co-director of The Industrial Commons, a non-profit organization that interconnects businesses to solve industrial problems, based in western NC, and the umbrella organization of Material Return. Years of development with Gaston College Textile Technology Center and Manufacturers Solution Center, both integral players in NC's network of institutions focused on revitalizing textiles in the state, has resulted in the creation of Material Return, a system that collects consumer and post production waste that is deliv- ered to Leigh Fibers for recycling and then returned to partners in the Carolina Textile District to make the final product. "It's called circularity," stated Chester. Clients include a mix of brands such as Smartwool, DeFeet, Kitsbow and tsdesigns, in addition to suppliers Meridian and Valdese among others. "It's about finding new ways to connect and support people in our communities and create responsible jobs," said Chester. Circularity takes on a larger land- scape with I:Collect (I:CO, for short) a global solutions provider and innova- tor for collection, reuse and recycling of used clothing and shoes. The scale of I:CO's worldwide take-back system and logistics network is unique in the textile industry. The European based company has partner locations worldwide that sort items for reuse or recycling purposes. Currently the company collects clothing and shoes in more than 60 countries. I:C0 has developed a collection system at retail stores to engage shop- pers directly, so clothes and footwear are collected where new ones are purchased. The company reports that this global system allows apparel makers to take responsibility for their product and at the same time end- consumers are motivated to prevent textile waste. Every item received is sorted manually and categorized by I:CO's partner facilities, based on up to 350 factors. The Role of Incentives Starting in 2023, in order to par- ticipate in Copenhagen Fashion Week (CFW), "companies must comply with CFW sustainability standards," stated Cecilie Thorsmark, CEO, Copenhagen Fashion Week. "This requirement is in an effort to drive systematic change. A show can not be just a showcase. We will use our role to demand sustain- able action." This concept of trade show exhibitor sustainability compliance is expanding beyond the border of Copenhagen. For example, in the near future, brands exhibiting at the German trade event Neonyt will have to be 70 percent sustainable in order to exhibit. In some circles there is growing belief that mandates from the top down with regulations and incentives is needed to advance the sustainability market beyond niche businesses. Jeremy Lardeau at the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, shared, "You can't make change simply based on consumer behavior. Business needs to decide what is innovative, and the government needs to endorse it. Look what's happening with electric cars and tax incentives — people are buying e-cars." The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) is a founding member of The Policy Hub, an organization estab- lished in 2019. It is designed to speak as a unified voice for the textile industry, and its stakeholders, proposing poli- cies that accelerate circular practices in apparel and footwear. The Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI), Textile Exchange and ZDHC Foundation are fellow members. The Policy Hub advocates for better and more efficient policies that cor- respond to the circular apparel and footwear industries. The Policy Hub recently issued a white paper in response to EU Commission discussions on trans- parency, with focus on the EU Substantiating Green Claims Initiative and the EU Empowering the Consumer Initiative recommending that legisla- tion include two key elements: develop clear rules on the types of sustain- ability claims and how to substantiate them; minimum standards on the communication of the claims indicating ways to display this information to con- sumers. (Additional EU Commission initiatives include the EU Consumption Pledges and EU Sustainability Product Initiative. The entire report is avail- able online.) Changing consumer behavior was a topic of a panel discussion during the Techtexil North America trade fair held this August in Raleigh, NC. Todd Cline, director R&D, sustainability & wellness at Procter & Gamble, show- cased the brand's big-time marketing campaign on washing laundry in cold water with P&G Tide detergent. "If you only talk about carbon footprint — with statements like 'if you wash in cold water you help decrease your individual environmental impact' — you reach a small percentage of the audience," said Cline. He endorsed taking a more personal approach, something along the lines of, "It's not about saving the world, but how you can save $150 on your utility bill if you wash with cold water. When it comes to getting individuals to switch from hot to cold water wash, Cline advised, "Eco-friendly has to require less time, less money or do less damage to your clothes." In other words, to incentivize sustain- ability, it would be wise to highlight how responsible choices benefit the consumer. l 21 • Textile Insight ~ September/October 2021 textileinsight.com WE NEED TO BROADEN THE SCOPE AND GET EVERYONE ON BOARD WITH SUSTAINABILITY FROM SHAREHOLDERS OF COMPANIES, CEO DOWN TO MARKETING MERCHANDISING PLANNER FINANCE TEAM. NICOLAI REFFSTRUP, GANNI "TODAY WHEN THE PRODUCT IS SOLD ITS PRODUCT ID IS REMOVED. BUT BY GIVING A PRODUCT A DIGITAL IDENTITY, WE GIVE THE PRODUCT A VOICE. A VOICE THAT CAN CONNECT WITH CUSTOMERS, WITH ONE USER, OR A RESELLER OR RECYCLER. AS WELL AS OTHER PARTICIPANTS THROUGHOUT THE PRODUCT'S LIFE CYCLE." NATASHA FRANCK, EON WELCOME CIRCULAR

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