Global Brands in the Realm of Sustainable Fashion

With a growing population, there is a rise in waste generation. Unless the people of the world make drastic changes to their lifestyle and start to lead a minimalistic life, it is impossible to prevent the generation of this waste. In such a case, it is important to deal with the said waste to prevent it from getting accumulated in our ecosystems and cause damage to the environment and biodiversity.

In the world of fast fashion, the clothes go out of style very soon. The average life span of a garment in use by one consumer is estimated to be between 1 to 3 years. However, most of the clothes are often discarded after a year of use. This generates a lot of waste. In fact, according to studies, fashion industry generates over 13 million tons of waste every year.

There are many initiatives at regional levels across the globe that work towards making fashion more sustainable. However, there are very few corporates in this space.  Among these few are UNIQLO and ADIDAS.

UNIQLO’s Recycled Down Initiative

UNIQLO, a Japanese apparel brand, has initiated a campaign where it asks its customers to bring back their old clothes in exchange for some discount coupons for fresh purchase. The brand collects all these old clothes that likely would have ended up in landfills, and recycles them, turning them into brand new outfits.

The brand has over 2000 stores across the world from which it is collecting these old clothes. Through this campaign, it has collected over 620,000 unwanted items of clothing in Japan alone. The brand recycled them to produce a whole new collection of jackets for the upcoming winter season.

ADIDAS to Launch a Line of Sustainable clothing

ADIDAS has recently partnered with the American Supermodel and entrepreneur Karlie Kloss, to create an eco-friendly range of activewear. These garments are made with an aim to reduce the plastic pollution in the oceans and therefore the materials used to make these garments include PRIMEBLUE, a high- performance recycled material made in part with Parley Ocean Plastic, and PRIME GREEN, a series of high-performance recycled materials. The collection is designed to inspire young women to harness the power of an active life. In addition to this, the campaign has also put a spotlight on the non-profit run by Karlie Kloss called ‘Kode with Klossy’. The non-profit is working to teach coding to young girls. The campaign features two students from the said institute, thus putting young and ambitious women on the forefront.