How the sportswear industry plans to become more sustainable

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Ispo Munich, the sporting goods fair presented a new message for the coming seasons: More sustainability and expansion of the platform concept.

A 50th anniversary would be a reason for many to spend a long time looking at the past - with nostalgic pictures and all that goes with it. This was not the case with Ispo Munich, which ended after four days on 29th January. In view of the great challenges of our time, instead of looking back, the fair is looking forward: The goals are to link topics like sustainability and corporate responsibility even more closely to the Ispo; the fair wants to promote cooperation within the industry and in the future, the activity itself, i.e. sports, should play an even greater role. Away from being a pure product show and towards more movement - pun intended.

Cooperation with the conference programme of Neonyt

Visitors already got an idea of how such a cooperation could look like on the first day of the show. As a surprise, sustainable fair Neonyt showed up in Ispo’s conference programme. In the Ispo Sustainability Hub, sustainability experts from the world of fashion discussed different topics together with Thimo Schwenzfeier, Neonyt’s director and head of marketing communication textiles & textile technologies at Messe Frankfurt. “Sustainability efforts have led to numerous new cooperations between brands; between trade fairs it is still a rarity," said Schwenzfeier.

New event in 2020: Ispo SDG Summit

In the next few years, Messe München intends to increase the cooperation between all stakeholders and the expansion of the fair as a think tank. "The world is going through a great social upheaval. Developments such as climate change, globalisation and the division of societies have a major impact that are triggering discussions worldwide," said Klaus Dittrich, chairman of the management board of Messe München. "Solutions must be found before it's too late." Therefore, the fair will organise the first Ispo SDG Summit on 29th June 2020, parallel to the OutDoor by Ispo. The abbreviation ‘SDG’ stands for the 17 Social Development Goals of the United Nations, which are dedicated to ensuring a sustainable development on an economic, social and ecological level. The aim is to develop solutions and joint projects for the different sustainability goals.

Sustainability is the overriding theme of the fair

It is already hard to overlook the change in the industry: The issue of sustainability is being taken up by more and more brands. While earlier, competition between brands used to focus on classic functional issues such as waterproofing or lightness, today the focus is on sustainable innovations. Numerous new ideas were presented from new fibres, membranes and processing technologies to the development of new business solutions.

Outdoor brand Bergans of Norway presented the latter with a new backpack project. The pilot project "Collection of tomorrow" is about circularity. Using a co-owner approach, Bergans integrates consumers and gives them the right to have a backpack recycled after its use and to have a new product made from its material. The product consists of the fibre Spinnova and is completely recyclable. A technical innovation was presented by French action sports brand Picture Organic Clothing: It developed a triple-layer, waterproof jacket made with the novel, bio-based membrane Xpore from BenQ, which is extracted from the castor plant. The outer fabric consists of a bio-based polyester made from sugar cane waste, which can also be recycled again.

Investment in longevity

While some use innovative, sustainable materials, others want to achieve sustainability through better quality or a longer durability of each product. "We want our products to be used longer,” says Nikolai Rabaek Christensen from shoe manufacturer Ecco Outdoor, for instance, "even if this means that consumers will buy fewer pairs of shoes." Nevertheless, Ecco is working on new tanning processes such as DriTan, which consumes considerably less water. "Next year, we will switch the entire collection to DriTan." With the durability aspect, the correct care of the product moves also more in the foreground. At Fjällräven's booth, one could learn how to wax the robust G1000 material - for which the brand is known - and make it last for a long time. Versatility also manifests itself as a new sustainable trend and thus questions the development of recent years that everything has to become more and more specialised.

Conclusion: Sustainability is a process

There is no such thing as 100 percent sustainability, it's always about becoming more sustainable compared to existing processes or models. That is why supporting tree planting projects is already better than no sustainable commitment at all, even if product improvement still leaves much to be desired. Greenwashing is omnipresent, but only if sustainability is understood as a final state and not as a process. The future will show who is willing to continuously improve. What is clear is that in the future, designers will be increasingly involved in responsibility. They set the course already during the development process for the durability, versatility and disposal of the product.

Photos: FashionUnited / Regina Henkel

This article was originally published on FashionUnited DE. Edited and translated by Simone Preuss.

* This article was originally published here

& Other Stories to open first Russian store in Moscow

H&M Group has announced it is opening its first & Other Stories store in Russia in the autumn.

The store will be at the Metropolis shopping centre in Moscow and will stock the brand’s collections of ready-to-wear, shoes, bags, beauty products, jewellery and accessories.

“We’re very excited to make our debut in Russia later this year and introduce Stories in the best possible way. We can’t wait to open and get to know our Russian customers,” Karolina Gutke, managing director at & Other Stories, said in a statement.

Launched in 2013, & Other Stories offers women's fashion, beauty and accessories designed by three ateliers in Paris, Stockholm and Los Angeles. The brand currently has stores in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, the UK and the US.

Photo credit: & Other Stories, Facebook

* This article was originally published here

Paul Smith bans exotic skins from future collections

British fashion label Paul Smith has banned exotic skins in all its future collections.

The brand told animal rights organisation Peta that the ban includes ‘K-leather’ - leather made from kangaroo skin.

Peta - which has published several exposés on the exotic skins industry in recent years, including ones on the treatment of goats, alligators, ostriches and snakes - welcomed Paul Smith’s ban.

Yvonne Taylor, director of corporate projects at Peta, said in a statement: “Behind every accessory made with kangaroo, python, or alligator skin is an animal who did not want to die. Paul Smith's decision to ban exotic skins will spare remarkable animals immense suffering, and Peta calls on other luxury brands to follow its kind example.”

The sustainability page on the Paul Smith website reads: “We do not use exotic skins, fur or Angora rabbit hair. We also do not use species listed in the CITES Appendices - a list of internationally protected animals. For buttons and trims, any troca (snail shell) or mother of pearl is handpicked or sustainably farmed, and the horn we use for buttons is a by-product of the meat industry.”

The British brand, which counts 90 stores and 21 concessions across the world, joins a growing list of fashion brands to ban the use of exotic skins in its collections, including Chanel, Victoria Beckham, and luxury department store Selfridges.

Photo credit: Paul Smith, Facebook

* This article was originally published here

Louis Vuitton: Heaven On Earth by Virgil Abloh

Given exclusive access to Louis Vuitton's Men's Fall-Winter 2020 Fashion Show by Virgil Abloh, Loïc Prigent meets the incredibly diverse cast of models and special guests from around the world. Spend some time with Kris Wu, Ashton Sanders, Tyga, Kailand Morris, Diplo and J Balvin and discover how it feels dressing for Heaven on Earth.

Source: Video by Louis Vuitton, YouTube

* This article was originally published here

Why fashion's fairy grandmother Agnes b. is a true believer

French designer Agnes b. really doesn't like the fashion world of which she is one of the great survivors.

"I don't like fashion. I have nothing to do with that world where everyone is in a bubble," said the veteran creator, a lifelong activist for progressive causes.

"Some people like to go out and be seen," said the 78-year-old who dressed her friend David Bowie for decades and who made the famous black jacket with the leather collar that John Travolta wore in the movie "Pulp Fiction".

Like her, Bowie would run a mile from the "celebrity scene", she told AFP.

Both, however, shared a passion for all kinds of modern art. And now Agnes b. -- whose real name is Agnes Trouble -- is opening her own gallery in an up-and-coming corner of the French capital.

Fab will not only house her eclectic private collection of more than 5,000 works -- half of them photographs -- but will also, she promised, be a "factory of culture and social solidarity".

Next to Station F, the world's biggest startup incubator in the shadow of France's national library, the designer wants to put some fizz into what was a soulless corner of French capital.

Her idea is to bring the art, music, fashion and publishing worlds together with the neighbourhood's young tech crowd and its multi-ethnic working-class residents.

Even as she approaches her eighth decade, the grandmother of 16 and great-grandmother to 19, has lost none of the daring, drive and curiosity that helped her build a fashion empire of 300 boutiques, largely in Asia.

Art and activism

Indeed, Fab's first show is called "La hardiesse", or "The Audacious One", a nod to the self-taught designer who started out in fashion as a penniless young single mother with twin boys to look after.

Back then, after marrying a much older man straight from school, the young Agnes Bourgois (hence Agnes b.) dreamed of being a museum curator.

Now, she has a collection of Basquiats, Warhols, Nan Goldins, Martin Parrs and paintings by Gilbert and George all of her own that many institutions would mortgage themselves for.

But Agnes b. sees herself more as a motherly custodian than a collector of artists who can fall rapidly out of favour.

The art world can be just as ruthless and as capricious as fashion.

"Suddenly, no one cares about what these artists have done, and they drop them. I don't like that," she told AFP.

For her, an artwork becomes "an orphan when it leaves an artist's studio.

It needs to be adopted, loved, seen and understood," the designer insisted.

Born in Versailles, near Paris, into a genteel, but impoverished Catholic family, Agnes b.'s adolescence was marked by abuse by her uncle.

It took her more than 60 years to tackle the subject with the film "Je m'appelle hmmm" ("I'm called hmmm"), which she wrote and directed, although she insisted it wasn't actually her own story.

Agnes b. married the future publisher Christian Bourgois -- who was 12 years her senior -- when she was 17.

'78-year-old Greta Thunberg'

"After I had my twins at 19, I left Christian at 21 without a penny. I was lucky to be very poor without being very unhappy. I would buy ham from the shop with the money they gave me for bring them empty bottles. "One day, one of the twins said to me: 'Aren't you lucky Mammy to to have us!'"

The experience helped forge her social conscience that has seen her support innumerable liberal causes in France and beyond.

"I really feel for the Rohingyas, the Uyghurs and the climate," the designer declared, adding that she is "very afraid of Trump".

With France hit by strikes sparked by government pension reforms, she worried for those who have been "forgotten".

"Nobody talks about the cleaners or the artists who have nothing. Who is defending them?

"I am a bit of a 78-year-old Greta Thunberg," she joked, referring to the teenage Swedish climate activist.

Her liberal Catholic faith, however, is a comfort. "It's pegged into me," she said. "I don't have that doubt even though I really like people who doubt. I need to talk to my friends in heaven."

"We are not machines or animals, even if animals have a kind of soul themselves too."(AFP)

Photo : Agnès b. © Sakiko Nomura

* This article was originally published here

Suavs launches 100 percent recycled knitwear sneaker

Texas-based footwear brand Suavs has announced the launch of its first 100 percent recycled knitwear sneaker.

The first style to be rolled out using the 100 percent recycled knit is The Legacy high top, with all following shoes made by the brand to follow suit. Each pair of Suavs will be made using an average of eight recycled plastic bottles and 100 percent vegan materials.

By mid-2020, the brand said all new launches and current Suavs styles will be made with sustainable materials.

Further sustainable initiatives by the brand include using 100 percent vegan materials, including glues; donating all unsold footwear to organizations such as Soles4Souls and LifeWorks; reducing manufacturing waste through sustainable production; and using dual-purpose shoe boxes for both initial shipping and return packaging.

“My background in international fashion and footwear design encouraged me to create Suavs as a super versatile shoe. It was important from the beginning that we create a comfortable, easy-to-transport shoe without sacrificing on style," CEO of Suavs Monxi Garza said in a statement.

“Our customer feedback on comfort and style is so positive, we thought what more can we do to hold ourselves accountable in working our way towards decreasing our carbon footprint and becoming a more conscious brand? I'm thrilled to introduce our new 100 percent recycled knit fabric to Suavs customers and look forward to more ways we can become more environmentally friendly in the new decade.”

Founded in Austin, Texas in 2015, Suavs creates multi-functional footwear to be used for travelling, hiking or everyday use, featuring breathable designs and sweat-wicking technology.

Read more:

• Adidas achieves 50 percent recycled polyester in 2020
• Lycra's first recycled EcoMade fibers earn GRS Certification

Photo courtesy of the brand

* This article was originally published here

Virus and bushfires: Could medical masks become the next streetwear trend?

Berlin - 2020 has gotten off to almost an apocalyptic start. First, the Australian bushfires have drastically lowered air quality in the country resulting in a demand for anti-pollution masks. This week the Wuhan coronavirus has caused a surge in searches for medical masks on Google and several Vancouver pharmacies are selling out of masks as reported by Canadian Global News. In the 2019 “State of the Air” analysis published by The American Lung Association, it’s estimated that 133.9 million people in the United States are exposed to unhealthy air. With the unfortunate consequences of climate change and global health epidemics that’s become a stark reality, one medical supply company has teamed up with a Berlin fashion label to reinterpret surgical masks as the next streetwear trend.

#Damur x CSD

#Damur, a Berlin-based high-end streetwear label showed their AW20/21 collection at Berlin Fashion Week on January 16 at the soon to close club, Griessmuehle. For the runway show, the designer collaborated with CSD, a 73 years old medical supply company from Taiwan on a global mission to reinterpret the surgical mask in to a fashion accessory. Two special masks were used as VIP tickets and worn by models on the runway. The medical masks were adorned with renditions of the Brother's Kiss and graffiti culture that Berlin is known for.

Shih-Shun Huang, #Damur’s founder and designer, told FashionUnited in an email, “We want to be the first fashion show in the world to put (medical) masks on the runway, and to use them in art installations and graffiti. CSD's method of breaking the original label of the surgical mask is very similar to that of #Damur. Many of our designs are not only fashion creations, but also hope to present a dialogue with social labels, encouraging people to think and breakthrough existing frameworks.” Damur is currently a member of Fashion Council Germany and the McKinsey experience studio so it's no surprise that the District Mayor of Neukölln, Martin Hikel, was also seen attending the fashion show.

CSD’s COO, Jonathan Chang added, “#Damur is not only a clothing brand, but more importantly, every design tries to break stereotypes in society and even attempts to redefine these labels. This is a value that CSD admires and can benefit from. In the future, I hope to collaborate with Damur at other international fashion weeks, such as New York and London. Fashion week is an optimal time to showcase our products and Berlin as a diverse international hub can be a good entry point into the European market.”

Medical masks in Western subculture and streetwear

Already part of everyday wear in Asia and even becoming a fashion statement, surgical masks are still viewed as a novelty in the West; however, they have been making an appearance in Western subculture and streetwear. American rappers such as Ayo and Teo, 2 Chainz and Travis Scott have long incorporated masks to perform onstage while Virgil Abloh’s Off-White Diagonal Camouflage Mask retails for 68 US dollars. Atlanta-based stylist, Zoe Dupree was quoted in Billboard Magazine, "This is a new part of costuming, and you’ll see people doing new things with it. This is a trend that’s going to stay."

Most recently as K-pop cross overed into the mainstream worldwide, the record-breaking boy band, BTS, often don facemasks as part of their off-duty attire; streetwear-inspired medical masks are even beginning to grace Amsterdam’s notable concert venues such as Melkweg during K-pop parties.

Photos: courtesy of CSD and Damur, credited to Filip Kacalski, Silver Nebula and Martin von den Driesch

* This article was originally published here