Putting jeans to work may seem like nothing new. But, reforming such an enduring garment to fit the principles of a circular economy, such as those championed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, is no easy task for the denim supply chain. 

“The right to make a dollar at any cost is seldom challenged,” wrote American author, conservationist and marine biologist Rachel Carson in Silent Spring, first published in 1962. Widely considered to be the foundational text for subsequent environmental movements in the US and Europe, at least, the banning of the synthetic insecticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) by the US Environmental Protection Agency in 1972 was, for many, attributable to the contemporary popularity of Ms Carson’s eco-conscious findings, which also met with pushback from chemical companies. Living in an era of fast or even rapid fashion today, the true cost (to borrow the name of the 2015 documentary on Fast Fashion directed by Andrew Morgan) of jeans manufacturing, alone, is increasingly being considered – and, crucially, acted upon – by key industry players.

Blueprints

According to a 2018 report by just-style.com, cited by Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF), the global jeans market was worth $57 billion in 2018, with this figure expected to reach $60 billion by 2022. In its own oft-cited 2017 study, A new textiles economy: redesigning fashion’s future, the foundation’s then circular fibres initiative (now Make Fashion Circular) quoted data from an earlier publication by market research firm Euromonitor International, which showed that between 2000 and 2015 the average utilisation of clothing – ie, the number of times each garment is worn before the end of its useful ‘life’ – decreased by 36%. The same data suggested that this drop could be as great as 70% for China-based consumers.

The UK-based, pro-circularity EMF estimates that less than 1% of the materials used to make clothing are recycled into new apparel, including recycling after use and the recycling of factory off-cuts – a figure that could be as low as 0.1%.

These figures go some way in presenting what it describes as the current take-make-waste extractive industrial model writ large. Jeans, as ubiquitous as clothing comes, play no small part in this. Cue EMF’s Jeans Redesign initiative, which takes the humble denim garment as its genesis, with the end goal to establish a scalable circular design framework compatible with the fashion industry as a whole.

Respect for the health, safety and rights of all people involved at all levels of fashion is a prerequisite for participation, combined with a commitment to the improvement of working conditions across the global manufacturing sector. Beyond this, the Jeans Redesign guidelines provide minimum standards for jeans in four areas: durability, material health, recyclability and traceability. Key takeaways include that articles produced according to the guidelines should withstand 30 home washings at a minimum (while still meeting original durability requirements), clear product care labels must be incorporated, jeans should be made with a minimum of 98% cellulose-based fibres by weight (and these fibres should be sourced either from regenerative farming or, if unavailable, organic or transitional methods), metal rivets should preferably be designed out and all jeans should be free of hazardous chemicals and conventional electroplating. Stone finishing, potassium permanganate (PP) and sandblasting are prohibited.

At least 75 brands, garment manufacturers, fabric mills and laundries committed to redesigning their jeans following the project’s launch. Reportedly, 650,000 new pairs will have been made according to the guidelines’ specifications by the end of this May.

Cuts and transitions

Chiara Catgiu, senior research analyst for EMF’s Make Fashion Circular team, tells Inside Denim that the guidelines were warmly welcomed by the denim industry. Acknowledging that, generally speaking, Jeans Redesign-approved trims and, the stretch factor have posed the greatest challenges for participants thus far, Ms Catgiu emphasises the need for industry-wide communication and “alignment” regarding the main hurdles to innovation in circular design, particularly as the initiative looks set to continue advancing beyond the May deadline. By taking such a collaborative approach, faster progress can be made with solving any issues that arise, thereby ensuring that “all jeans” can be  manufactured using circular systems, processes and values, she says.

When asked about a workaround for mills for whom organic cotton (the preferred option while regenerative cellulose fibre production increases) is in short supply, Ms Catgiu highlights in-conversion or transitional cotton as a viable alternative. “This is an opportunity to build momentum and encourage the industry to move forward,” she stresses. “By getting started with jeans, we can show what’s possible and develop the knowledge and experience that will help us to achieve even more in the future.” Jeans were chosen for EMF’s first run at redesign due to the comparative ease of recycling them, the analyst adds, thanks to commercial chemical and mechanical recycling facilities appropriate to the composition of denim jeans.

Creative disruption

At the time of going to press, only Lee, Wrangler, Guess, Outerknown, Nu-In, Frank and Oak, American Eagle Outfitters and Atelier & Repairs are yet to launch their redesigned jeans, according to EMF. Others, including Reformation, Tommy Hilfiger, Frame, Bestseller, Gap, Organic Basics, Mud Jeans, Unspun, Outland and BAM Bamboo Clothing have already taken their Jeans Redesign-branded denim to market. Fittingly, founder and creative director of the London-headquartered Fashion Revolution campaign, Orsola de Castro, captured the spirit of this new wave in a report released by EMF in February: “We all love our jeans, so let’s all wear jeans that love us back – by respecting the people who make them and the resources from which they are made."

Share this story: