Sustainability Across The Denim Supply Chain in 2022 – Sourcing Journal

2023-01-03 12:52:01 By : Mr. Peter Zhou

Sustainability yet again was the most used buzzword of the year in the denim supply chain.

However, two recent studies revealed that fashion’s sustainability claims remain convoluted, desperately in need of a single global standard and easily manipulated to seem better than they really are. Then there was perhaps the biggest shocker of all—many brands have reverted to previously proven harmful environmental and social practices. Industrial Filament

Sustainability Across The Denim Supply Chain in 2022 – Sourcing Journal

In November, global advocacy group Remake issued an evaluation of 58 of the world’s largest fashion, luxury and big-box retail players that bluntly stated, ““We are back to cheap consumerism, high profits, low wages, massive greenwashing, tokenistic racial justice and the constant churn of new collections.”

That same month denim-industry watchdog Transformers Foundation released a report on the ineffectiveness of chemical auditing in the supply chain. It revealed that the lack of single, worldwide guidelines has allowed harmful chemicals to continue to be used by the industry and that major change is desperately needed.

Despite these setbacks, visible and tangible progress was made in the sustainability arena in 2022, helping to make the production and selling of the beloved blue fabric greener than ever.

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A report by retail analytics firm Edited showed that denim makers continued to replace conventional cotton fibers with other natural alternatives. Although cotton remains the number one fiber of choice for denim, organic cotton saw an increase of 17 percent year-over-year, recycled cotton a 125 percent increase and hemp and 15 percent jump.

In addition, the number of waterless denim concepts in the U.S. and U.K. leapt 32 percent year-over-year according to Edited.

Sustainability Across The Denim Supply Chain in 2022 – Sourcing Journal

Mediem Tenacity Yarn Sustainable fibers were the main draw at both the Sourcing at Magic trade show in Las Vegas in August and Denim Première Vision in Milan in November. Among the many innovations introduced at the latter