The conversation around sustainable fashion has amplified over the past few years. A growing awareness of the negative impact caused by a $1.34 trillion (£1.01 trillion) global apparel market has infiltrated the industry from the boardroom to the shop floor. Change is now indisputable.
Change is never easy though and it requires innovative thinking, something which can often be best found by looking externally and inviting in those less entrenched in the status quo.
Technology has, for centuries, been a problem-solving industry and some of the most exciting developments in the sustainable fashion realm are coming, not from the fashion world, but tech startups.
We explore five disruptive companies who are helping fashion brands clean up their act.
Unmade
Software company Unmade is making on-demand production quick, easy and cost comparative with traditional manufacturing. Their system enables shoppers to customise designs on retailers’ ecommerce platforms to create a unique item that’s then sent directly to the brand’s partner factory to be made on “hacked” machinery that programs itself to make the designs according to a code. The product is shipped directly to the customer from the factory.
Their mission is to minimise the waste that’s caused by overproduction. According to the Australasian Circular Textile Association, 30% of all clothes made around the world are never sold. This is not only a huge problem for the environment, but also companies who are swallowing the cost of that.
Since launching in 2014, Unmade has partnered with fashion labels including Opening Ceremony, Farfetch and cyclewear brand Rapha to create unique products to order and been recognized by Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list and D&AD’s Yellow Pencil award.
Oritain
Reliably tracing a garment that has been through numerous processes back to its origin is one of the biggest challenges for companies who want to ensure their policies and values are being upheld.
Oritain has taken inspiration from the criminal justice world to use forensic science to trace goods back to their source. They initially tackled the food industry on launching in 2008, but the company has expanded into the textile space to offer certified cotton and wool. Their vision is to be the most trusted company in the world at scientifically verifying origin.
Several leading brands have already been making use of the service. Kering has been working with Oritain to guarantee it is sourcing organic cotton and Marks & Spencer launched a range of suits guaranteed by Oritain to meet the Responsible Wool Standard which promotes progressive animal welfare and land management.
Circular.fashion
While some brands have begun to address what happens to their clothing at the end of its lifecycle, such as H&M’s in-store textile recycling banks, a circular system also requires planning from the start of a product’s life.
Circular.fashion has created a software program that helps designers ensure that what they’re creating can have a second life at the end of use.
The software offers access to a database of sustainable and recyclable fabrics, guidance on designing with circularity in mind, and a unique ID for each product that helps sorting plants to send it to the appropriate recycling facility. The company also offers workshops for brands who want to incorporate circularity into their business.
Circular.fashion is currently being used by independent labels Jan ‘N June and Myrka Studios and has been recognised with a Bundespreis Ecodesign award and a Next Economy Award.
Provenance
Provenance uses blockchain technology to communicate trustworthy stories about the journey of a garment and validates any sustainable credentials.
Fashion brands including Fuchsia Shoes, Martina Spetlova and Elvis & Kresse have used Provenance to be open with their customers about their supply chains in an engaging way. Details of each stage of product’s making process are stored with a unique ID that customers can look up online. While new information can be added to the chain, potentially meaning a customer could add their time with it before passing on to a new owner, past information cannot be tampered with.
There’s no requirement for the brands using Provenance to have a sustainable and ethical supply chain but the concept behind the service is to improve transparency for customers, so that they know where their products come from, and therefore tackle the injustices that occur when supply chains are kept in the dark.
Yerdle
Reselling is one of the hottest trends in retail at the moment, and it’s a great way for consumers to prolong the life of their clothes, but there’s often been little benefit to be reaped by the brands whose products are being resold. Yerdle is changing this by helping retailers run their own resale schemes andencouraging them to consider the resale market as part of their business and sustainability models.
Patagonia and Eileen Fisher are among the brands Yerdle has partnered with to provide white-label solutions so that they can take back old products, fix it up, and resell it on their platform. Customers are incentivised to give clothes back to the brands by exchanging them for shopping vouchers.
Founded in 2012 in California, the company is headed up by CEO Andy Ruben, a former chief sustainability manager for Walmart.
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