Diesel outlines circular denim progress in 2024 round-up
OTB Group, owner of Italian denim brand Diesel, has reported a 31% decline in total emissions for 2024 compared with 2023, and 100% renewable energy usage in Europe and North America at directly managed sites.
In its 2024 Sustainability Report, it also noted the OTB Foundation supported more than 380 projects, impacting the lives of more than 380,000 people.
Organic, recycled or regenerative cotton accounted for about 31% of Diesel's total cotton purchases, compared with 24% in 2023, and it "continues to prefer alternative fibres such as hemp and linen, as well as responsibly sourced viscose and FSC-certified paper and cellulose".
Diesel continued to work with a Tunisian supplier on a UNIDO-led project that recycles denim scraps, adding the recycled cotton into new jeans. Since the project began in 2022, 24 tonnes of waste fabrics have been transformed into 88,000 pairs of jeans.
In September, Diesel relaunched the Rehab Denim collection, developed with Spanish mill Tejidos Royo and initially presented in the 2022 autumn-winter collection. The yarns - recycled cotton, elastane and Tencel Refibra - are foam-dyed with DryIndigo technology.
The Diesel♥ves Lee collection was launched in March 2024 with 1,700 unique pieces made combining half pairs of Diesel jeans with half pairs of Lee, with a second drop in December. This year, it teamed up with Timberland for collection of shirts. Diesel donated €100,000 to UNHCR humanitarian projects for each collection, through the OTB Foundation.
Renzo Rosso, chairman and founder of OTB Group, said: "Sustainable development, together with innovation and the use of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and blockchain, must drive a contemporary way of doing business and will play an increasingly important role in the future. I’m very proud of the goals we’ve achieved. They are the result of the work of the 7,000 people who are part of our group and the spirit we all share.”
OTB group also includes Jil Sander, Maison Margiela, Marni and Viktor&Rolf.
