The 2023 Textile Exchange Conference is shining a spotlight on responsible materials, and Naia from Eastman is taking center stage as one of the event's sponsors. Naia Renew, a breakthrough in sustainable fibers, combines molecular recycling technology with eco-conscious sourcing. Comprising 60% sustainably sourced wood pulp and 40% certified waste materials, it can be blended with other sustainable fibers, offering endless fabric possibilities while significantly reducing its carbon footprint over its life cycle.

Eastman's patented carbon renewal technology transforms hard-to-recycle waste materials into biodegradable fibers, aligning with its goal to eliminate textile waste from landfills and incinerators. The company actively engages with industry players through the Alliance of Chemical Textile Recycling to advance chemical recycling technology and maximize the use of recycled textile waste.

Naia Renew's fully traceable and responsible supply chain adds to its allure, with certifications and support for reforestation projects. Fashion brands like Patagonia and COS are already adopting Naia cellulosic fibers, underlining their commitment to sustainability without compromising quality or performance. Ruth Farrell, General Manager for Eastman's textiles division, highlights how Naia Renew empowers sustainability without trade-offs.

For years, fast fashion brands the likes of H&M and Zara have been pulled up for not being truthful about their sustainable supply chain, mostly dismissed off as ‘green-washing’. What is interesting is sitting at the topmost echelons of fashion, most European luxury clothing labels haven’t been truthful either about their supply chains – the fact that from textile to stitching to embellishments, most haute couture are actually produced in Asian hubs that have been reliable providers of craftsmanship and quality for the likes of Saint Laurent, Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and so on. 

However, with European Union laws being circumvented, these brands can stitch a button here or sew an applique there in Italy or France and have the right to say that these garments are made in Italy and France. The belief is that revealing the garments are actually made in China, India or Vietnam would damage a luxury brand’s reputation as Western luxury buyers do not approve of their high-ticket items being made in poor countries. 

They are under the false belief that countries like Italy and France actually have skilled labour working on handmade items – there is a handful and their handmade pieces are priced well above the usual luxury ticket. As Isabel Marant the French designer behind the eponymous label points out, the bulk of all haute couture is India-made nowadays not only for the practicality of cost but also for skills that no other country can offer when it comes to handcrafted work. 

Luxury labels have obfuscated transparency

Sitting lofty, talking about sustainability and innovative technologies that propel such luxury labels as the bearers of the ethical way to a greener world is just the public-facing story. By not acknowledging their supply chain as a long practice, these are the well-known labels that have been the reason the international fashion sector is moving at a snail’s pace when it comes to transparency. 

For the first time in 2023, two brands scored 80 per cent in the Fashion Transparency Index Study done by Fashion Revolution. In fact, 28 per cent of the 250 brands studied failed to cross double-digit transparency percentages.  As luxury labels don’t want to insert the source ‘Made in India, Made in China’, the average score in transparency of 250 of the world’s largest fashion brands went up by a mere 2 percentage points to just 26. As long as Western fashion executives harbor the misconception that their Western luxury consumers might question the working condition and product quality at source, transparency will remain obfuscated. 

In the realm of social media, much has been discussed on how hubs like India offer exquisite craftsmanship and are also major supply source for many of the finest luxury fashion labels. 

India finally gets her acknowledgement

The first-of-its-kind Dior Fall 2023 collection held at Mumbai’s iconic The Gateway of India put the spotlight on Indian contribution to French haute couture brand as it paid its long-overdue homage to Indian craftsmanship. International fashion media wrote their own tributes to these craftsmen as other collections let out their Indian stories. The India factor in luxury clothing is now being acknowledged with leading labels like Bvlgari, Hermes and Balenciaga now crediting and using Made In India for some of their statement pieces. However, this still remains the exception and not the norm. 

High-end fashion brands do have things they want tightly shut in the closet. As this sector has high profit margins, the operational costs can only be kept to a minimal, which makes them seek shores where labor is cheap, and labor laws not conducive to the vast population of workers engaged in production. However, its time they reveal their actual sourcing hubs and be more transparent.

The GenovaJeans initiative, held in Genoa from October 5 to 8, celebrated the new generation of jeans and set the premises for the creation of a community dedicated to this iconic, revolutionary, and highly innovative garment.

30 prominent industry leaders, divided into three categories (heritage, new creatives, and production chain), created a unique and inspiring experience in valuable historic venues in the heart of the city. Presented in-group exhibitions, they forged a circular journey from the design to the creation of jeans, from the ingredient to the final outfit, and vice versa.

Heritage brands

Heritage brands, exploring the history, evolution, and best practices of this iconic garment, were hosted inside the Biblioteca Universitaria and included:

Blue Blanket Division

Blue Of A Kind

Diesel etc

Here is a closer look at some of the heritage brands featured at GenovaJeans:

Blue Blanket Division

Blue Blanket Jeans is a brand that draws from vintage-inspired garments to create collections considered contemporary in terms of style and sustainability. One of their claims is #BEST UNWASHED, proposing RAW garments that, through the genuine and natural wear and frequent use, tell the story of the owner who wears them, thus fulfilling two major requirements expressed by designer Antonio Di Battista: genuine and natural wear and a moral commitment to environmental impact, making them sustainable.

Blue Of A Kind

Blue of a Kind is meant to be not just a fashion company, rather a community built around an idea. 

Diesel

The Diesel items presented at GenovaJeans this year belong to a new generation denim collection that promotes circularity: Diesel Rehab Denim. 

Bangladeshi garment workers protesting for higher wages

The ongoing wage talks for the Bangladesh ready-made garment sector could result in a new poverty wage of just 95 USD per month (10,400 Tk), based on an outrageous proposal presented by employers at the latest Wage Board meeting. 

Trade unions and labour organizations reject this barefaced attempt to keep workers trapped in poverty. The deficient offer results from the reluctance of major fashion brands to actively support workers in their struggle for decent wages.

Living-wage-committed brands such as Asos, H&M, M&S and Uniqlo must end their silent complicity with cutthroat business owners, pay higher prices for their products and support Bangladeshi trade unions’ demand to raise the wage to at least 207 USD (23,000 Tk) per month.

“If the new minimum wage is as low as 10,400 Tk, this means that the majority of workers cannot survive on an income they earn for a 48+ hour workweek in this industry,” says Kalpona Akter, president of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation. “International buyers should take responsibility now before the situation gets even worse.”.

Trade unions have staged several demonstrations in Bangladesh and have reached out to over 60 major brands sourcing from Bangladesh. Brands were urged to support the demand for 23,000Tk, commit to sourcing from Bangladesh after the minimum wage increase, and absorb the higher cost of labour in their purchasing prices.

This was underlined by the BGMEA’s recent call on the ACT brands urging them to consider the higher cost of living and inflation that workers are facing by paying a “fair price” and be more “empathetic and rational on pricing and sourcing practices”.

A few brands have acted upon the call from trade unions and published individual statements in support of their wage demands. 

The silence of buyers encourages employers to continue violating the human right to a living wage that ensures workers and their families a life with dignity.