Top Ones to Watch in Sustainable Fashion | Weekly Report by Luxe.CO

In the first week of 2021, Luxe.CO's Top Ones to Watch List contained a total of 11 luxury, fashion and lifestyle brands and the latest developments from corporate groups. Germany sportswear giant Adidas, French organic cosmetics brand Akane and Danish fashion group Bestseller were selected as the top ones to watch.

Top Ones to Watch in Sustainable Fashion (in no particular order)

1.French organic cosmetics brand Akane has launched a 100% biodegradable cream packaging can. Made from biodegradable plastic, the cans are commercially compostable and do not leave plastic residues in the soil. After a year of research, development and testing, Aline Foulet chose industrial wood residues for the cans, which are lightweight and extremely resilient, reducing the use of secondary packaging during transport.

2. Germany sportswear giant Adidas says that it continues to advance its sustainability efforts. The brand said in 2021, for the first time, more than 60% of all Adidas products will be made from sustainable materials, including recycled polyester and sustainable cotton. Adidas is working with Infinite Fiber, a Finnish start-up, to develop a process to transform used clothes into a cotton-like material. The company is also working to create a leather alternative made from mycelium as a way to use less animal-derived material.

3. Danish fashion group Bestseller is supporting two projects that are meant to accelerate its move to a more circular business model. One is about using the company’s own cutting waste, and the other is about creating recycling yarns. The Bestseller Group has launched a long-standing project for its Selected, Name It and Vero Moda brands and will work with GMS Composite Knitting, its largest jersey supplier in Bangladesh, to use textile scraps in new collections. The first such collections are expected to be available in spring 2022. To develop desirable new recycled yarns, Bestseller is collaborating with Bangladeshi recycled cotton fiber firm Cyclo to establish feasible recycle system locally.

Other sustainable fashion trends (in no particular order)

4. American activewear giant Nike has announced the release of an eco-friendly sneaker, “Mean Green”, using recycled waste. The new “Mean Green” is based on Nike’s retro sneaker Challenger OG, using at least 20% recycled waste. The color scheme features an eco-friendly green upper and a black outsole and logo. The “Mean Green” will reportedly debut in early 2021 and will be available for $90.

5. The H&M Foundation, a non-profit foundation of H&M, and the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) are extending their collaboration for five more years in a new initiative called the Planet First program. The ambition of Planet First is to find sustainable solutions that can contribute to a positive fashion future. The first project of Planet First is to produce new garments made from non-toxic cellulose fibers using the “Green Machine”. The H&M Foundation and HKRITA plan to set up an open factory laboratory for researchers, suppliers and brands, which will reportedly be opened in Hong Kong, details of which have not yet been disclosed.

6. Italian luxury brand Gucci has partnered with outdoor brand The North Face to launch a collection of apparel, accessories, bags, boots, and even tents and sleeping bags. Based on social and environmental responsibility, the backpacks and belt bags are made from a special nylon created from recycled carpets, fishing nets and textile fiber landfill waste, which helps to reduce environmental pollution and protect biodiversity.

7. Hungarian designer brand Nanushka has partnered with Eon to launch “Connected Fashion”, lengthening product life cycles in a highly innovative way. The goal is to turn selected sustainable garments from the Resort 2021 collection into intelligent and lifelong digital assets. Simply scanning the garment’s QR code reveals styling insights, instructions for resale, services for rental and sustainability credentials. Nanushka's “Connected Fashion” aims to improve the utilization of products and materials, increase transparency to enhance the user experience, and call on consumers to extend the life of their garments for a better future of consumption and production.

8. Middle East online fashion retailer Namshi has become the region's first to join the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), and has also announced a series of sustainable and social responsibility initiatives. New measures includes promoting sustainable choices on its platform to support eco-friendly brands and to make it easier for customers who want to shop more sustainably and responsibly. The company is also planning to switch to using locally sourced and recycled materials for packaging, and is already transitioning its delivery fleet to hybrid vehicles to reduce emissions.

9. Furthering its commitment to transparency and sustainability in the supply chain, German eco-friendly leather manufacturer ISA TanTec has announced its LITE (Low Impact To the Environment) Sourcing concept with a focus on the sustainable use of natural resources, accountability in the supply chain, and the fair and ethical treatment of animals. According to ISA TanTec, its LITE Sourcing concept has fulfilled the requirements of multiple stakeholders.

10. Recover, the world's leading producer of sustainable, high-quality recycled cotton and cotton fiber blends, has announced that it will invest new capital to expand its operations and increase production over the next five years with a view to achieving its goal of increasing recycled fiber production to 200,000 tonnes per year by 2050. Recover reduces the need to grow cotton by recycling pre- and post-consumer waste cotton, and reduces the use of dyestuffs through color blending systems while also reducing textile landfill waste. Through a strategic partnership with investment firm Story3 Capital, Recover will expand production in the future, saving nearly three trillion liters of water per year, equivalent to the amount of drinking water consumed by three billion people each year.

11. Swedish fast fashion brand H&M has partnered with Indonesian bottled water brand DANONE AQUA in a program that turns plastic bottles into sustainable kids wear. The clothing is primarily made of waste plastic bottles from the Indonesian coastline. In this initiative, locals collected more than 3.5 million PET plastic bottles from Indonesia’s islands, cleaned them, and crushed them into 100% pure polyethylene flakes, which were then made into polyester fiber. H&M also invites parents to get involved in its used clothing collection by offering vouchers in return for garments that can be recycled after children have outgrown them.

About Top Ones to Watch in Sustainable Fashion

From 2021, Luxe.CO started to publish Top Ones to Watch in Sustainable Fashion on a weekly basis. The list selects initiatives in sustainability from fashion and lifestyle brands, companies and corporate groups. Our committee will select the best initiatives based on the criteria of “power to innovate” and “power to implement strategy”. It is our hope that this list will inspire every brand, retailer, and manufacturer that focuses on sustainable fashion.

| Photo Credit: Brand Website

| By Lingli Shu & Mireya