🌿 The Fashion Letter | #35 📩

👗Brand of the week: let's get to know Tentree, a brand that make an effort to regenerate ecosystems, capture carbon and provide planting jobs in communities around the world.

🎙What to listen: On today’s podcast, the Rule of Five's with Tiffanie Darke on What to Wear and Why.

📢Facts: Find out a report of some of the worst misleading claims include H&M, ASOS, and M&S.

📅Events: Know why you should visit The Design Museum’s "Future Observatory: Tomorrow’s Wardrobe

🔍Case studies: You will analyze the circularity of the brand Napapijri that represents a forward-thinking approach to sustainable fashion

Tentree is a sustainability-driven brand that plants 10 trees for every product purchased, with the goal of restoring ecosystems, capturing carbon, and creating jobs.

Their products are made using eco-friendly materials like organic cotton and recycled polyester, ensuring minimal environmental impact.

Additionally, Tentree promotes ethical manufacturing practices, ensuring fair wages and safe working conditions in its partner factories. Certified as a B Corporation and Climate Neutral, Tentree is committed to transparency and accountability, aiming to reduce its environmental footprint while making a positive impact on people and the planet.

The factories strive to meet the highest standards when it comes to upholding ethical labour rights. Their partner factories are regularly audited to ensure compliance with the tentree Code of Conduct and international labour standards.

In the "Rule of Five" podcast episode, Tiffanie Darke discusses her personal experiment of limiting new clothing purchases to just five items per year, sparked by growing concerns over fast fashion’s environmental toll.

This challenge, inspired by a report from the Hot or Cool Institute, illustrates how drastically reducing consumption can contribute to climate goals.

Darke’s approach encourages thoughtful fashion choices and aligns with sustainable practices by promoting longevity in wardrobes. She emphasizes that mindful consumption, rather than mindless trends, is key to a more eco-conscious lifestyle.

This concept resonates with the broader circular fashion movement, offering a practical solution to overconsumption while still enjoying personal style.

Are big brands becoming more sustainable, or is it all just greenwashing?😮

The not-for-profit Changing Markets Foundation highlighted that as many as 59% of all green claims by European and UK fashion brands are misleading and could be greenwashing—a stat that seems to apply to the industry at large.

Most fashion brands are “addicted to greenwashing”, says the report. Some of the worst offenders making false or misleading claims include H&M, ASOS, and M&S. The report also called out brands for lack of transparency,

H&M topped the list for the number of false claims, according to the report. As many as 96% of the company’s claims flouted competition and market guidelines in one way or another. Other “worst offenders” for greenwashing include ASOS with 89% of their claims misleading, and M&S with 88%. 

One of the biggest shocks came from H&M’s Conscious Collection, which was found to contain a higher proportion of synthetic fibres than its fast-fashion line. While the former contained 72%, the latter had 61%. 

Around 85% of the brands surveyed in the report had used recycled plastic bottles, with H&M again at the top. 90% of H&M’s recycled polyester comes from bottles.

Read the full report for more detailed information on companies, claims, and the potential for change in EU regulations.

📅Tomorrow’s Wardrobe - A journey into the present and future of sustainable fashion📢

14 September 2024 – August 2025 - The Design Museum -London

The Design Museum’s "Future Observatory: Tomorrow’s Wardrobe" exhibition explores the cutting-edge research and innovations aimed at creating a sustainable future for fashion.

It highlights the environmental impacts of the fashion industry and presents solutions by merging high-tech tools like AI and digital IDs with traditional methods like upcycling.

Featuring designers like Stella McCartney and Ahluwalia, the exhibition demonstrates how industry leaders are rethinking textile production, design, and consumption.

This initiative underscores the importance of addressing overproduction, material waste, and ecological degradation through collaborative innovation and sustainable practices.

Napapijri’s represents a forward-thinking approach to sustainable fashion by designing fully recyclable jackets made entirely from Nylon 6, a single material that can be chemically recycled.

This process ensures that the jackets can be broken down and transformed back into raw materials for new products, significantly reducing waste and reliance on virgin resources. With Cradle2Cradle Gold certification, the collection meets high sustainability standards for safety and material health.

Napapijri's initiative also involves a strong customer engagement component, offering a take-back program where customers can return worn jackets in exchange for discounts. This circular model not only promotes sustainable practices but also fosters a long-term relationship between brands and consumers, incentivizing them to support the recycling process.

By focusing on circularity and toxin-free materials, Napapijri's highlights how fashion can contribute to a more sustainable, waste-free future, setting a benchmark for other fashion brands seeking to reduce environmental impact.