Author: Huayi Tomorrow Fashion Content Center
Reprinted from: WWD International Fashion News
Original Title: WWD Perspective: Sustainable Fashion Discussions in Milan Fashion Week in Spring and Summer 2022
The impact of the epidemic has allowed Milan Fashion Week to continuously explore the form of presentation, while also enriching the content of the discussion.
Under the auspices of the Italian National Fashion Chamber of Commerce (CNMI), the Milan Fashion Week in Spring/Summer 2022, which is currently being held, will not only continue to conduct live shows and video content promotion on Tencent Video, but also jointly launched the Milan Fashion Week Cloud Forum this season. In the new session, experts and opinion leaders from the European and Chinese fashion industries will be invited to conduct online dialogues, presenting in-depth interpretations on current hot topics such as “social media”, “sustainable development” and “fashion technology”. These are all industry topics that WWD has always been concerned about.
Since the beginning of 2020, WWD has held dozens of summit forums related to sustainable fashion, from Beijing, Shanghai to Shenzhen, connecting the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and France, triggering a wide range of social issues related to sustainable fashion. focus on. On the occasion of Milan Fashion Week, WWD cooperated with the National Fashion Chamber of Italy (CNMI) and Tencent Video to bring the theme forum of “Milan Fashion Week Cloud Forum-Fashion Sustainable Development”.
Under the auspices of Zhang Dachuan, co-founder and content manager of WWD China, the online forum will be connected between China and Italy during Milan Fashion Week on September 22-27 by means of “Chinese entity site + European connection”. Line held.
Zhang Dachuan, co-founder and content leader of WWD China
The luxurious guest lineup participating in the discussion included Michael Beutler, director of sustainable development operations of Kering Group, Chen Lu, general manager of Jingyi Group Wujiang Jingyi Special Fiber Co., Ltd., Zhang Na, principal & designer of Remade Clothes Bank, and the creative of the franchise department Director and Diesel sustainability ambassador Andrea Rosso.
As Mr. Zhang Dachuan said in the opening introduction, the four guests of this forum are all from different fields of the fashion industry. They are from large international luxury goods and lifestyle groups, leading supply chain companies, independent designers and famous fashion brands. To share unique knowledge and viewpoints.
Michael Beutler joined the Kering Group 10 years ago and has since been committed to the overall implementation of the Kering Group’s sustainable development strategy.
Michael Beutler, Director of Sustainable Development Operations, Kering Group
Image source: provided by Kering Group
According to Michael Beutler, Kering Group has been committed to the sustainable development of the luxury goods business since 2011, and has set a goal of zero greenhouse gas carbon emissions by 2030.
Michael Beutler briefed WWD on the main content of the Kering Group’s new climate strategy just released a few months ago. It is particularly worth mentioning that Kering Group uses innovative online digital tools for environmental gains and losses to measure its environmental impact. It is open to all interested visitors, so that they can view the recorded content at any time and understand the work and results of Kering Group in reducing its environmental footprint and protecting natural resources.
Work in China, including cooperation with internationally renowned universities such as Tsinghua University, systematically cultivate the next generation of fashion designers who are deeply thinking and passionate about sustainable development, and guide them to really pay attention to real things, including Climate diversity, animal welfare, and truly make a positive contribution to the ecosystem.
Jingyi Group is located in Shengze, Suzhou, a water town in the south of the Yangtze River and the capital of silk. It is one of the world’s leading vortex yarn suppliers.
Chen Lu, General Manager of Jingyi Group Wujiang Jingyi Special Fiber Co., Ltd.
According to Chen Lu, as a new material company, “Jingyi Special Fiber” produces 100,000 tons of fiber raw materials worth about 2.5 billion yuan per year. The new materials mainly focus on sustainable, environmentally friendly, 100% bio-based, and 100% Degradation characteristics, of which about 70% of the products are exported to the international market, is an undoubtedly important player in the global fiber and yarn manufacturing industry.
By recycling plastic bottles into particles and then turning them into new fibers, “Jingyi Special Fiber” can eliminate 550 million plastic bottles a year. According to the overall scale of this market of 10 million tons, if the “Jingyi Special Fiber” method is adopted, it will reduce the carbon dioxide emissions that need to be consumed by 660,000 hectares of forest.
“Jingyi Special Fiber” will invest 30-50 million in this way every year to try to make this recycled result more in line with the needs of high-end clothing production. Next, it will continue to invest in recycling plastic bottles from the ocean. Work to improve corporate profits while protecting the marine environment.
As the founder and chief designer of the Remade Apparel Bank, Zhang Na is a well-known sustainable fashion participant in China. Since her brand was launched 10 years ago, the core business value is sustainable development, and she has been trying to reduce waste and waste utilization. And rebirth, to provide solutions for the development of sustainable fashion.
Zhang Na, the principal and designer of Remade Clothes Bank
In an era when Zhang Na started experimenting with sustainable fashion 10 years ago, the first question facing Chinese consumers was “Where should the old clothes go?” Most old clothes are piled up in urban garbage stations, but in the eyes of designer Zhang Na, they are too beautiful, because a piece of clothing can often reflect an era, and you can see 70, 80, 90 through this piece of clothing. Imprints of different ages. So Zhang Na cooperated with a local NGO organization in Beijing to hire migrant women to disinfect and disassemble these old clothes, leaving fabrics that can be used for re-creation, and then using her meticulous creativity to turn them into unique fashion pieces again. The work at that time not only solved the problem of old clothes, but also allowed migrant women to obtain an ideal income.
With the development of science and technology, when the recycled fabric technology has gradually been affirmed by the apparel industry, Zhang Na began to cooperate with excellent factories to recycle plastic bottles to make RPT fabrics, salvage ghost fishing nets from offshore China to make recycled nylon, and use corn starch to make Very beautiful cloth-clothes made of this cloth can be naturally degraded under normal temperature and humidity after being buried in the soil for half a year after being discarded.
After years of hard work and persistence, Refabricated Clothes Bank has now achieved mass production and industrialization. It does two big shows during Shanghai Fashion Week every year, develops 300 SKUs, and sells its products to all parts of the world through buyer channels. A piece of clothing is equipped with an exclusive QR code for consumers to check the sustainable development achievements such as carbon reduction, water saving and electricity saving.
Zhang Na hopes to appeal to consumers through WWD: “Environmental protection is really not for nature. Nature does not need human help. Environmental protection is for people. The more we connect with nature, we will realize urban symbiosis. Things, the more human beings themselves can benefit from it.”
Diesel has always been active in the field of sustainable development, and in 2020 it launched an initiative called “It’s Responsible and Dare to Behave” and a series of upgrading projects in cooperation with different brands. The planners behind these projects are all franchises. Andrea Rosso, department creative director and Diesel sustainability ambassador.
Andrea Rosso, Creative Director of Franchise Department and Diesel Sustainability Ambassador
Image source: provided by Diesel brand
Andrea Rosso particularly emphasized the role of “curiosity” and “R&D” in the sustainable development process of the Diesel brand: “Curiosity drives us to continue research and development, which has always been the source of our life and the DNA of our company.It is also part of our business core business.therefore, We have spent a lot of time on pigment research and development, and now we can produce the same output with the same number of people as before, but they appear in a more innovative and sustainable way. “
Not long ago, Diesel launched the “library” project, which combined the quality system and sustainability in the production process, and invited supply chain partners to work together.Work together to reduce water consumption.
In Diesel’s own R&D center, creating more durable clothing and reducing water consumption in the production process are all problems solved with the joint efforts of the entire team. Here, Diesel can continuously expand its new dimensions in the field of sustainable fashion. .
At the end of the forum, Mr. Zhang Dachuan posed a key question to the guests on behalf of all consumers: “As a consumer, what can I do?”
Michael Beutler’s answer is: “Through recent research on Chinese consumers, we found that their awareness of sustainable development has improved significantly. So I suggest that everyone can report on corporate sustainability reports and environmental issues. Profit and loss statements, and use applications that can provide information about the sustainable attributes of products, or simply ask questions about the sustainable attributes of products when you walk into a store. The journey begins with doubts, only to obtain more information Only then can we truly understand sustainable fashion and resonate with everyone’s own values.”
As Mr. Zhang Dachuan said in his concluding speech, today, we shared the concepts and measures for the development and implementation of sustainable development in different areas of the fashion industry, but only from the supply chain, designers to international brands, plus consumers With the joint efforts of the United States, a bright future of sustainable development can be truly realized.WWD