Carved in Blue - Interview

©CarvedInBlue

A big thank you to Carved in Blue for their interview as part of their Denim Dye Hards feature. Click here to read the full interview.

H&M | Mud Jeans

H&M

Can fashion become sustainable?

©H&M

©H&M

Today, being conscious in every part of the fashion making process is at the core of our business.

©H&M

How do they do it?

• Increasing their use of sustainably sourced fabrics and other materials year on year. The aim is for all cotton in their ranges to come from sustainable sources by 2020.
• Improving working conditions at their suppliers 
• making conscious choices in every step of the garments life from cotton farmers to customers.
• Launched a “conscious choice hangtag” displayed on all garments that qualify within their stringent scheme of sustainability.
• Offering recycling points in all the H&M stores for your old clothes no matter what brand and what condition. H&M recycle these with the goal being to reach a totally circular approach to making textiles and garments.
• Promoting a change of attitude in the mind of their consumers – Re-think your attitude to clothes. Become a less throw away society – Re-wear it! and other positive tips for the way we live with our clothes:

1. Someone’s trash might be your treasure!  Have a clothes swap party.
2. Don’t automatically throw away things that are too short or too small – re-work or cut off to make a different garment.
3. Replace zips, take up hems, patch with contrast.
4. Wash at 30degrees instead of 60 save tone of energy.
5. skip doing laundry so often and save gallons of water.
6. Remember that 26% of the environmental impact of a garment happens after it has left the store.

Mud Jeans

©Mud Jeans

Fashion is the 2nd most polluting industry in the World.  

The global production of all textile fibres consumes 1 trillion gallons of water.

We want to help to change that!

Our dream is:

• Use no chemicals at all
• All water usage is a close circuit of 100% recycled.
• To produce the first carbon neutral pair of jeans.

How?

Cotton.

• 2.4% of the worlds cultivated land is planted with cotton yet it accounts for 24% of the world’s insecticide market and 11% sales of global pesticides.  Being therefore, the most pesticide intensive crop grown on the planet.
• By using a cotton that uses only rain water for irrigation (organic) wereduce the water footprint of Mud Jeans at the outset. 
• By using BCI cotton ( Better cotton initiative) we reduce the damaging effects of cotton growth on people and the environment and train the small crop growers to adhere to better growing standards whilst enabling them to earn a decent living wage.
• By using recycled cotton ( recycled cotton waste and garnetted cotton garments) we save 40% of water, all pesticides or instecticides and eliminate all landfill garments.

Water and Chemicals.

• By Partnering with Yousstex, Tunisia we use Laser technique for garment ageing process and Ozone technology to reduce the water and chemical dependency in both denim and jeans manufacturing.

Recycling.

• Fast fashion like fast food encourages the consumer to buy way more garments that are required.  It is estimated that 30% of garments bought are not worn for a year.   Also estimated that the average person throws away 32kgs of clothing per year.  This all adds up to 1.7 billion kgs of unnecessary waste for landfills.
• Fabrics used by MUD Jeans use 98% cotton of which at least half is recycled. Buttons and other sundries are also made from recycled materials and all packaging is recycled paper.

MUD jeans objective is to close the loop creating cradle to cradle jeans that is commercially feasible.

©Mud Jeans

GStar | Source Denim

G-Star

 Just the product

©G-Star

Attention to their social and environmental responsibility goes beyond “just the product”. The clue is in the name – RAW! The brand started by marketing only RAW (unwashed) products in order to not only tap into fashion denim but also to promote denim produced with minimum chemicals and water.

Although the product has gone way beyond the raw concept, G-Star still remain committed to being responsible producers of what has been historically a very dirty product for all who produce both denim and jeans.

Along with collaborator Pharell Williams, G-Star launched the RAW for the Ocean collection. The products in the collection are all derived from ocean plastic which is broken down and woven with other materials to create the fabrics. The fabrics are developed in collaboration with textile company Bionic Yarn and environmental group Parley for the Oceans – an initiative that raises awareness and encourages creatives to repurpose ocean waste.

The four pillars of G Star responsibility are : Responsible supply chain – making sure their suppliers adhere to international law and social responsibilities. Making an environmentally sustainable product. Adhering to sustainable operations within their manufacturing facilities. Community involvement in their locations of manufacture.

Since 2011 G Star have a partnership with MADE-BY which is a multi stake holder organisation supporting brands in implementing strategies to improve environmental and social conditions in the fashion industry. 

SOURCE Denim

Comfortable. Durable. Sustainable. That’s better denim.

©SourceDenim

Denim that is “built” tough enough to last whilst being gentle on the planet and the people.

Denims used by SOURCE are produced using biodegradable materials replacing all harsh chemicals in denim production. SOURCE Denim boasts a 50% less chemical, water and energy use in every pair of jeans. All jeans are 100% organic cotton. None of SOURCE jeans are laundry pre-processed with no artificial distressing, washing and chemical treatments.  All are sold raw for self wearing in. This means that the water and chemical usage in SOURCE jeans is minimal. The cuts and fibre blends are designed for easy wear for an active lifestyle.

SOURCE denim jeans are made in their family owned workshop in LA which supports more than 100 workers all working under international health and safety guidelines. They collaborate with environmental associations for a better planet. SOURCE Denim gives support to: International Rivers Association – ensuring quality and quantity of water and the Washington Trails Association – helping to keep he trails clear and environment clean. 

Green Credentials: Denim Laundry | Energy | Recycling

LAUNDRY

The traditional laundry process involves hand sanding, grinding, ripping to re-create an aged appearance finished off with stone or enzyme washing several times in a giant industrial washing machine with or without bleach to determine the eventual shade of indigo.

Pumice stones of varying sizes are used in the washing machine to create a worn in appearance. Instead of pumice stones we also use enzymes which are a liquidised pumice stone.  

Composite Image ©TheDenimEye

The above images demonstrate the stone washing process in a modern commercial laundry. The laundry is a significant part of the jeans making process. 

Stones and chemicals are heavily used to create the vintage and used washes we love so much but they do create a large amount of waste sludge that has to be dealt with in the waste system..

Laser finishing

Laser finishing is a fast growing alternative to the hand degrading process.

Composite Image ©TheDenimEye

©Jeanologia

Laser equipment can replicate such effects but the denim purists can easily tell the difference, preferring the hand and stoned effects.  But this process is improving all the time.  Currently Jeanologia in Spain make one of the best machines for such processes.

Sand blasting whilst good at the time was outlawed some years ago as being dangerous.

Acid wash was likewise outlawed fairly soon after it became the hottest fashion jeans finish due to the fact the dry bleached stones caused skin burns and blindness in the operatives.

Energy

Composite Image ©TheDenimEye

Alternative sources of energy are now used to reduce what is an energy heavy industry – Solar Power; Wind energy; Water energy.

Recycle / Upcycle

Recycling

Composite Image ©TheDenimEye

Waste management is essential in a well run denim Mill. After the spinning process all waste cotton is swept from the floor, cleaned and re-used by blending with longer fibre cotton. Garnetting equipment enables old cotton garments to be chopped up and re-spun blending with longer fibres for strength.

Upcycling for fashion.

Composite Image ©TheDenimEye, ©RialtoJeanProject

Re-use old pieces of denim and cut up garments to make new items. This is more a handcraft based creative approach where each piece is unique. Whilst it is not a huge commercial operation for the high street it is a growing force in the jeans industry where most dedicated jeaners love the individual revival attitude.

Upcycling for the home

©Nudie Jeans

The Blue Jeans Go Green programme which is a trademark of Cotton Inc. repurposes old denim garments into Ultra Touch Denim Insulation.  Apparently, it takes around 500-1000 pairs of jeans to insulate an average sized western home. 

On a more handcraft level creative indigo rugs and accessories such as containers and organisers have reached an almost commercial level of “unique” pieces. Being sold in creative high street stores.

Trend Alert: Green Credentials

Can the fashion industry really be sustainable? 

Did you know that the fashion industry is the 2nd most polluting  industry in the World? Denim itself is a huge contributor to this shocking statistic, being a really filthy business!

Cotton, water and chemicals are the main culprits. The manufacture of textile fibres uses 1 trillion gallons of water per annum with denim production using dangerous chemicals to grow cotton and creating  millions of gallons of wastewater in the dyeing and make process of both denim and jeans. The denim industry uses a lot of water but manufactures products in places that don’t have enough water! Places such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Mexico where the droughts are notorious.

Why are countries without much water making denim and jeans?

The brands and retailers know there is limited water where their jeans are made but they seem not to care because the price of the jean forces them to manufacture in countries with low labour costs regardless of the water supply.

We are told that the consumers demand everything to be done as cheaply as possible whereas it is the retailers who wish to make things cheaper and ever cheaper to capture a higher margin for themselves whilst retaining or increasing their market share by advertising ever low cost jeans.  This encourages the consumer to buy more and dispose of more.

I wonder what would happen if the consumer had an informed choice of the global sourcing strategy of many top jeans brands?

So what of sustainability ?   

Whilst many denim brands are dipping their toes into the concepts of sustainability not many are really making a conscious effort to achieve this.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Later in this month’s analysis of we highlight some of the brands who ARE doing their bit to help the environment, setting aside millions of $ to redress these issues and further applaud those that have built sustainability into their manufacturing strategy from the outset.

But before that let's take a look at where the issues lie, and the improvements that are being made. 

Fibres

Cotton

©Composite Image ©TheDenimEye

It all starts with Cotton. Denim is made primarily from cotton. Although modern denims contain a number of other fibres for fashion for the purpose of this argument we will concentrate on COTTON.    Cotton is a contaminating dirty crop, just 2.4% of the World's cultivated land is planted with cotton yet it accounts for 24% of the Worlds insecticide market and 11% of global sales of pesticides.  It is therefore the most intensive pesticide crop on the planet.

There are different types of cotton available for the fashion industry to use.

ORGANIC cotton is grown with NO PESTICIDES but the output is very small, it is about 1/3 of normal cotton. Such that if it were to reach the output of non organic we would be taking the land from food production.

©Composite Image ©TheDenimEye

FAIRTRADE cotton means that all farmers are guaranteed a living wage for what they grow and sell.

©Composite Image ©TheDenimEye

BCI cotton - This stands for BETTER COTTON INITIATIVE -  where the smaller farmers are trained to grow and harvest their crops in an environmentally friendly way by following certain guidelines:

Use just the right amount of fertilisers

Use just the right amount of water for irrigation

Manage the planting such that water does not pool” around the roots.

Control the use of pesticides.

 OTHER FIBRES the sustainable ones!

©Composite Image ©TheDenimEye

1.     Tencel.  Is a cellulosic fibre originating from tree bark.  It is a “greener” fibre than cotton or many other common textile fibres.  It is grown in a sustaible manner - no pesticides are required to grow the trees.  An organic solvent is used to dissolve the wood chips into a solution. The chemical used to dissolve these chips is very expensive so it is recycled after the process is complete.

2.     Polyester.  Although the fibre itself is not bio degradable if denim was made from 100% polyester this would eliminate all the currently bad elements of the current denim making process..  The fact that it is not biodegradable makes it a tricky fibre for blending.

WATER

©Blue Planet

It takes around 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to produce just one pair of regular blue jeans.  “That's more water than it takes to make a ton of cement or a barrel of beer”

In the manufacture of Denim Jeans it takes approximately a whopping 9000 litres of water to make one pair of blue jeans.  Within a denim plant all waste water is recycled or returned to its source which is usually a river in close proximity or used to irrigate the land.  But this water whilst being clean is not always drinkable. 

Ways of reducing water consumption.

Using Ozone finishing Equipment will save 12 litres of water per denim jean.

Removing the de-size process step = saving of 5.9 litres per jean.

Foam dyeingrather than rope or slasher dyeing in one generic dye bath can save up to 5.7 litres of water.

Recycling water used in the denim processes.

Composite Image ©TheDenimEye

The above images depict the original primitive method of reclaiming the used dyestuff for further use on the left with a modern water treatment plant on the right.

All denim manufacturers must by law recycle their waste water.

Water is taken from the river ( denim plants are built next to a natural water source) used for dyeing, finishing, washing in the make process of the denim fabric. After which the used water passes through a purpose built treatment plant ( above) and either re-used again and again or returned to the water source.  

 INDIGO DYEING

Composite Image ©TheDenimEye

Denim production not only uses dangerous chemicals to grow conventional cotton it creates millions of gallons of waste water in the dyeing process. 

More harmful chemicals are used to adhere the dyestuff to the cotton. These are eventually washed away into the treatment plant where the water is recycled for the process to start again if the plant is a good one.  Otherwise the waste water is returned back to nature.

Indigo dye is expensive therefore recycling is an advantage.  To recycle the indigo dye sludge we use an Ultra Filtration process to extract the dye to re-use.

Today, less than 20% of the World's denim Mills use "pre-reduced " indigo dye which is a more sustainable dyestuff. The rest use powdered indigo which creates more sludge and slurry in the waste water. Whilst Japanese denim continues to be the most sought after in the world barely a single mill in Japan uses pre-reduced indigo. They still use powdered dyestuff. This seems not to deter the brands or the consumer who regard Japanese denim as the ultimate. Some Japanese Mills however use natural indigo which is much preferable to any chemically produced dye but it is limited in supply, hard to grow everywhere and difficult to handle, washing off extremely quickly making our favoured dark indigo shades hard to retain.

©Indigo The Colour that Changed the World, Catherine Legrand

The above images show what was the old primitive hand dye method from China and India with multiple dye baths to create the desired shade. the bottom right image shows a modern plant where the yarn has been mechanically dyed in "rope" form in huge bulk.

Forever White

Pure head to toe white - a look that many find hard to pull off. But in jeanswear it is fresh and less demanding of pristine purity. The textured nature of denim creates shadows, character and a certain relaxed imperfection.  

L-R: ©Ports 1961 ©Proenza Schouler

Fashion shapes in white denim outlined with black stitching.  Just a touch of black to highlight or matt chrome for accessories.  White alone is pure and sculptural demanding perfection of shape. It is crisply tailored or softly moulded.  In this case it is a positive "colour"with an architectural shape albeit being colourless white.

L-R: ©Wanda Nylon ©Chloe

Brand Spotlight: J Brand

JBrand jeans have one of the best collections of black denims for both genders.  Mostly in stretch and high stretch for super shaping with ankle skimming or kick flares for length interest.  Fitted and formed black denims are back.

Black//White

Mods influence and retro black and white. Chanel bold details look super modern. Retro black and white stripes could be 50's or 2000's. It is an enduring look which today is translated in white denim and jersey.

©Balmain

Street sport from the real Adidas stripes to its influence on black and white jeanswear.   Slick contemporary sporty statements which are only successfully translated through gender neutral black and white denim and jeans.