Sustainability

Flamingo's Life

THE LIFE OF FLAMINGO
ANIMAL FREE COMPANY - IN THE BUSINESS TO SAVE THE PLANET
Each year, millions of animals are killed to make the shoes we wear. Livestock farming is the most polluting in existence, even before transport. In addition, this industry is associated with the deforestation of the planet.

VEGANISM IS A VEHICLE OF CHANGE. IT IS THE KEY TO REDUCING CO2 EMISSIONS, SAVING WATER AND RESPECTING THE LIFE OF OTHER LIVING BEINGS.

The fashion industry is the second most polluting and one of the most opaque sectors in existence. Millions of people, including boys and girls, work while being exploited in the supply chain that makes the clothes we wear.

WE ARE HERE TO GIVE A VOICE TO THOSE WHO DON'T HAVE IT.

Our philosophy revolves around three axes:

1. We use our company to provide a solution to the ecological crisis we find ourselves in. Veganism is a vehicle for change, it is key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and our water footprint.

2. Animals are a value in themselves and have the right to a life without suffering.

3. Make the fashion industry visible, make it transparent for the consumer and provide all the information so that they can make wise and conscious decisions.

We manufacture biodegradable slippers. All our production centers are local, located in Elche (Spain) and run by families. We use materials developed in-house such as corn, bamboo, hemp, organic cotton grown only with water (without pesticides), and natural rubber sustainably sourced from the Hevea brasiliensis tree.

EACH OF OUR SNEAKERS COLLECTIONS HAS A SOCIAL PROJECT THAT WE BALANCE OUR IMPACT AND ENHANCE THE LIFE OF THE MOST DESIDED LIVING BEINGS.

We are working with Agua ONG for the construction of water wells in deprived areas of Uganda.

Together with Eden Reforestation Projects, we have several reforestation projects in Madagascar and Mozambique.

We partner with Waste Free Oceans by making monthly donations to collect marine litter and generate educational projects for environmental awareness.

Everlane

At Everlane, we are working to build a transparent and environmentally responsible supply chain.

We all leave an impact on the planet, so we should all play a part in cleaning up our footprint. Businesses especially must help lead the way. At Everlane, we are working to do our part by building an ethical supply chain that creates high-quality, low-impact, long-lasting products. We carefully consider our materials and work with our production partners to reduce waste, chemicals, and plastics that endanger our planet's ecosystems. Our timeless basics are designed to last—so making the right choice by the planet can be as simple as putting on a T-shirt.

The world needs to move fast to make a meaningful difference in the fight against climate change.

In order to hit our sustainability goals—and hold ourselves accountable to our customers—we have publicly committed to two broad initiatives: eliminating all virgin plastic from our supply chain and moving all of our cotton production to organic. Large-scale change rarely happens quickly, but we are making swift and promising progress toward our goals.

No New Plastic

There are more than eight billion tons of plastic on the planet. And once it is made — it never goes away. In 2018, we made our first environmental commitment: eliminate all virgin plastic from our supply chain by 2021, which includes our products, packaging, poly bags, offices, and stores.

Our Progress

In 2018, our use of virgin plastic was concentrated in three areas: fabric in our apparel, structural components in our footwear and accessories, and polyethylene bags (aka polybags) that protected every product leaving our factories.

Here's what we've done as of April 2021:

Apparel fabrics: 97% of our apparel materials containing polyester and nylon are now made from certified recycled fibers. That material is made from recycling plastic water bottles, fishing nets, fabric excess from cutting patterns, and other items otherwise destined for the waste stream.
Footwear components: 45% of our plastic footwear components are now made from recycled materials.

Much of our remaining virgin plastic requires materials innovation that is currently not available. We are working directly with our partner suppliers to develop functional alternatives, like recycled elastane for stretch fabrics.

Certified Organic Cotton

Worldwide, cotton farming uses more toxic pesticides per acre than any other crop. These chemicals are harming our planet—stripping the land of nutrients, contaminating our water, and endangering the people who grow it. That’s why we’re moving all our cotton to certified organic by 2023.

Our Approach—Certified organic is better for the planet. Instead of toxic pesticides, organic farming uses crop rotation, cover crops and organic fertilizers to create rich life-supporting soil. Pesticides have a bad habit of poisoning groundwater, streams, and rivers, which endangers the people and wildlife that rely on those sources. By replacing dangerous chemicals with natural alternatives and old-school agriculture techniques, farmers are spared dangerous levels of exposure.

Read more at Everlane.com/sustainability

Kings Of Indigo

OUR MATERIALS

OUR COLLECTION IS MADE UP OF 95% SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS.

Our first and arguably one of our strongest pillars.

Studies suggest that almost two-thirds of the harmful climate impact over a garment’s lifetime comes at the raw material stage – this is because of the vast amounts of energy, water and chemicals that are used to create materials such as polyester and cotton.

Since we started production in 2011, we have never compromised on sustainable materials, organic cotton being our baseline standard.

Our collection is made up of 95% sustainable materials. The non-sustainable materials for example, are elastane, found in stretch denims.

NATURAL VERSUS MAN-MADE FIBERS

First things first, difference between natural and man-made fibers. It may seem counterintuitive to hear that we use “man-made materials” as a sustainable brand. Organic = sustainability, right?

Well, not quite. While the natural fibers we use are sustainable options versus conventional ones, the fact is that even organic fibers come from the earth, so we are relying on and taking from mother nature again.

Although man-made may immediately conjure up images of heavy metal and clouds of smoke, we can assure you that’s not really our style. Man-made fibers in our collection are materials such as TENCEL™, recycled wool and recycled PET. The fibers began life as natural, but need a ‘man’, or let’s say, human hand, to make them into a material.

LABFRESH

Sustainability
"Buy less, wash less, wear longer" is our mission. Sustainable innovation without compromise. We use the latest technologies to make clothing better and more durable, without compromising on quality or style.

American cotton, spun in Switzerland
Our cotton is supplied from the USA and woven into cotton in our Swiss weaving mill.

The cotton is processed.
The cotton is bleached and cleaned. Then the cotton is washed in a special way so that the Freshcore™ treatment and the paint adhere better.

Proven technologies combined
Hydrophobic, antibacterial and wrinkle-free technologies have been used in medicine, aerospace and the military for decades. We combine these technologies and apply them to cotton. This makes our clothing unique.

Comfort above all
Our products are treated around the cotton thread (without using a coating) making the fabric water-repellent, antibacterial and wrinkle resistant. The natural feel and breathability of the cotton is preserved.

The test process
The stain resistance of the fabric is tested with a special dropper and the antibacterial effect under a microscope. The crease resistance is tested with a special crease machine.

Nudie Jeans

Nudie Jeans is characterized by timeless design. We want to create timeless and seasonless garments, clothes you want to wear every day and keep over time, garments that last, and garments that can live through repairs. Long before circularity became a buzzword, we focused on longevity and knew that garments you love – you keep. We believe that denim is a material that grows more beautiful with time. Starting with a pair of dry denim and wearing them every day will produce the most beautiful and personal wear and tear and the jeans will tell the story of the life you spent wearing them.

94% of all the fibers used in our garments is cotton and we are proud to say that we only work with Organic, Fairtrade or Recycled cotton, as the largest environmental impact of our products is from growing the raw material. The first goal was reached in 2012 when all our denim was made in organic cotton and the journey has continued since. In 2017, we reached the same goal for the rest of our product groups.

Exploring new sustainable fabrics and fibers is also part of the design process at Nudie Jeans - working closely with our fabric suppliers, adapting new developments, and keeping track of new technologies. In 2019 we included more recycled fibers in our collection and thereby decreased our environmental impact. We define a garment or an accessory as sustainable when it contains at least 70% sustainable fibers defined in our material tool.

Nudie Jeans Material Tool

Although organic cotton is the main material we work with, we strive to use other sustainable materials for non-denim products. In 2018, we created the Nudie Jeans Material Tool with the aim of guiding our designers and product developers to achieve Nudie Jeans goal to work with 100% sustainable materials.

We have created Nudie Jeans Material Tool, based on Made By’s Environmental Benchmark for Fibers and the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI), to guide our designers and product developers to achieve Nudie Jeans goal to work with 100% sustainable materials. The Nudie Jeans Material Tool has three categories of sustainable fibers, all of which are defined as Sustainable by Nudie Jeans. By sorting them as seen in the Material Tool, we want to highlight the most sustainable and circular fibers, with the aim of pushing our development further and challenging the industry to scrutinize the definition and use of sustainable fibers.

To complement the Sustainable categories, there is a Non-Sustainable category for fibers that may be used for Nudie Jeans products, that are not defined as Sustainable, and a Do Not Use category for fibers that should not be used in Nudie Jeans products at all.

Outerknown

OUTERKNOWN WAS BORN

With the challenge from Kelly, Outerknown was created, and we started our journey. When we began, our own friends and trusted peers from the clothing industry doubted us. They said consumers didn’t care enough about sustainable style to pay more. It was also challenging to find factories and material suppliers willing to go through the extra steps we required as a startup. We built an entire collection that never saw the light of day because it couldn’t deliver on our vision, but we continued to persevere until we found the right partners who believed in our mission and could deliver on our strict sustainability standards. It’s been five years since we sold our first item of clothing, and we couldn’t be more proud of what we have built and accomplished. We haven’t figured it all out, but we continue to learn every day. We’re quite proud that we’ve pioneered many new ideas at Outerknown while raising the standard for sustainable design in our industry and beyond. We look at our sustainability commitment like the North Star. We will never actually get there, but the North Star is always reminding us what direction we should be going. Our commitment as a brand is to keep learning, exploring, and innovating. With every decision we make, we will always choose the most responsible path.