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

In the third week of 2021, Luxe.CO's Top Ones to Watch List contained a total of ten luxury, fashion and lifestyle brands and the latest developments from corporate groups. Swiss luxury leather brand Bally, French luxury brand Louis Vuitton and Italian art and design academy NABA were selected as the top ones to watch.

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

1. Swiss luxury leather brand Bally is breaking the mold and reinventing its materials with a deconstructive mindset. It has introduced its new B-Echo collection of eco-friendly bags featuring eco-friendly high-tech fabrics. These include 100% recycled nylon and post-consumer PET, as well as recycled discarded leather, all of which meet Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certification. The B-Echo collection features a three-in-one street bag, a woven toast bag and a recycled nylon tote bag, and is now available in Bally boutiques worldwide, on the official website, in the Bally Tmall flagship store and on the Bally WeChat app boutique.

2. French luxury brand Louis Vuitton has presented the LV Trainer Upcycling sneaker collection in five new collector's edition color combinations. To create this season's sustainable recycling collection, the LV Trainers, presented by LV men's artistic director Virgil Abloh at the brand's Spring/Summer 2019 debut, have been disassembled and transformed in the exclusive shoe workshop of Fiesso d'Artico to optimize the use of existing materials, using calfskin and suede with tie-dyed colored laces.

3. Italian design academy NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti), in collaboration with the international leader in the synthetic fiber market Fulgar, has launched FUTURE/Lab, a virtual ecological best practice platform designed to give young designers the opportunity to collaborate or share projects with manufacturers and fashion brands. Ten young stylists are invited to design with fabrics made from eco-friendly yarns from Fulgar's green product range from a sustainable supply chain, including experimenting with new fabrics and production processes to reduce environmental impact and create more sustainable fashion.

Other sustainable fashion trends (in no particular order)

4. Pitti Uomo 99 has launched Sustainable Style # 2, the second episode in a series. By offering special presentations, conferences and events, the project promotes the new eco-friendly menswear from 15 international designers who combine a strong and defined aesthetic language with environmental and social responsibility. Based on the principles of quality-oriented fashion products and high manufacturing standards, a variety of environmentally certified fabrics, recycled fabrics and innovative blends are used.

5. Swedish fast fashion brand H&M is collaborating with American denim brand Lee to push for the next generation of more sustainable denim. The partnership will lead to new designs and products, taking a range of approaches to examine every stage of H&M denim production, including H&M's first 100% recycled cotton denim and renewable man-made fibers. H&M has also confirmed that it will share Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data on hm.com, indicating the water and energy impact of each denim garment from raw materials to end of use.

6. Japanese technology and fiber company Teijin Group is establishing a new research and development center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to explore sustainable and profitable solutions. Teijin says it will use the new European Sustainable Technology Innovation Center (ESTIC) to facilitate collaboration between multinational researchers responsible for developing and utilizing Teijin's core materials and new green materials' lifecycle capabilities to support new businesses in the global circular economy, including efforts to reduce CO2 emissions.

7. New York apparel brand Unspun has produced what it says are its most sustainable jeans yet. The US firm, which uses 3D scanning to create personalized jeans that mitigate waste, has aligned with the principles of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Jeans Redesign Project to optimize its denim’s durability, material health, recyclability and traceability. To support this, the company has adopted Resortecs’ smart stitch threads – which can be heated and dissolved to aid end-of-life disassembly – and integrated scannable QR codes powered by Eon that will enable consumers to track the origins of their clothes.

8. Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) has published its Wool 2023 Strategy, which will inform stakeholders as they look to adopt sustainable best practices. The strategy is underpinned by five pillars, which address animal welfare and the environment, marketing, consumer engagement, innovation, and enabling growth.

9. US-based denim manufacturer Cone has completed its first Verification of Origin audit through supply chain traceability specialist Oritain as it seeks scientific proof of its commitment to responsible and transparent sourcing. Oritain believes that soil composition and other environmental factors give the cotton an inherent “fingerprint” specific to each location, and once these have been created, they cannot be tampered with, replicated or destroyed, unlike other traceability systems. Product can be tested at any point in the supply chain to verify origin claims. To date, Oritain has mapped over 90% of the world’s cotton.

10. American department store chain JC Penney has partnered with the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) to improve the sustainability performance of its energy, water and chemical usage. Joining the likes of Target, Gap and Levi’s, JC Penney will enroll in the Aii’s Clean by Design program, and improve existing facilities in ways that will have the most positive impacts on both sustainability and production costs.

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 and Fashion network

| By Lingli Shu & Mireya