Group items tagged

Knowing how conventional cotton is grown and denim is made, Patagonia has set out to change the industry. The company has partnered with Archroma on a new denim collection, launched this week, which is said to use 84% less water, 30% less energy and 25% less CO2 compared to conventional denim dyeing processes - as well as a campaign telling us all about it.

Knowing how conventional cotton is grown and denim is made, always-a-better-way outdoor apparel brand Patagonia has set out to change the industry. The company has partnered with chemical company Archroma on a new denim collection, launched this week - which is Fair Trade certified and said to use 84 percent less water, 30 percent less energy and 25 percent less CO2 compared to conventional denim dyeing processes - as well as a campaign telling us all about it.

Swedish denim label Nudie Jeans is touting its 100% organic jeans, which it says need to be washed only once every six months, with the promise that it will repair them for free if users manage to ding them up. "People sometimes say that we'd earn so much more if we didn't have this service. ... Yes, we could, but that's not the point. We think long term," says CEO Palle Stenberg

Following 10 months of pressure, G-Star joined the Detox campaign in early 2013, committing to eliminating all uses of hazardous chemicals from its supply chain and products by 2020. Now, as Forbes' Rebecca Suhrawardi reports, the company is launching "the most sustainable denim ever."

Representatives from across the apparel industry recently came together at the Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute of Texas Tech University, where Wrangler, Lee, the Walmart Foundation and Indigo Mill Designs unveiled a disruptive new dyeing process for producing denim. In a radical departure from water-based dyeing, IndigoZERO™ uses a foam-based process to reduce water and energy use by more than 90 percent

Machine washing of clothes is a major contributor to plastic pollution in the oceans. Every time we do laundry, garments made from synthetic fabrics such as fleece and polyester shed small plastic fibers that end up in the water and pollute rivers and oceans. So denim giant G-Star and marine pollution campaign group the Plastic Soup Foundation are joining forces to stop this process in its tracks with a battle against microfiber.

Levi's is offering customers a 20% discount if they bring their old duds to the denim brand's retail locations for recycling -- even if the old clothes aren't Levi's brand. The take-back program is an attempt to further the company's "vision of a more circular economy or closed-loop system for our products," said sustainability chief Michael Kobori. 

Levi Strauss & Co. launched its Wellthread Collection, which is produced with around 65% less water in the dye process and requires up to 50% less water on denim finishes, compared to conventional methods. The collection is also designed for 100% recyclability and produced at facilities that invest in the advancement of financial literacy, women's health, and family wellness. 

This week, Levi's announced the Fall 2015 launch of the Levi's Wellthread™ Collection, which touts a holistic, sustainable design approach: The line was made in 100 percent cotton for easier recyclability, by empowered workers - and includes the first garments to feature Levi's Water<Less denim finishes, which use up to 50 percent less water. 

Levi Strauss has created a process for using 100% recycled water in parts of its garment production, Michael Kobori, vice president of sustainability at the company, has told the Guardian.