Recycling is one of the universal ways that we can have a better impact on the environment. But, while many households and businesses recycle, it hasn’t always been de rigueur for luxury fashion brands. But as an industry that sucks up 342 barrels of oil for plastic-based materials and generates 13 million tons of textiles waste yearly, that has to change. Thankfully, slowly, it is. Adding to environmental pollution is becoming more and more of a faux pas. Collaborating with do-gooders that clean-up and protect our oceans is in. Luxury fashion houses like Stella McCartney and Burberry are already on this trend and this spring French-fashion house Dior partners with Parley for the Oceans for a limited edition capsule crafted from upcycled and recycled polyester.
What began as a research project in 2019 into fabrics and yarn designed from ocean plastic waste has become a fully-realized collection of luxury menswear that blends performance with environmental sustainability. The end result is a showcase to other designers that virgin-plastic materials aren’t needed, waste can be reduced and that we can in fact look to more sustainable fabrics to make recycling a solution from design to a product’s end-of-life.
Parley Fighting Plastic Pollution
The oceans give us life. We give them plastic. Let’s invent our way out of this. Together
The Parley mission is simple- reduce plastic waste to protect our oceans. As a think tank for environmental solutions, the minds behind Parley have developed a strategy to reduce plastic pollution in our oceans. These global efforts span from the great coral reef in Australia to the mangrove forests of Brazil and involve collaborations with local organizations, NGOs and corporations to to clean up plastic waste before it can irreversibly harm our oceans.
Avoid plastic whenever possible: Highlighting the hazards of plastic pollution through campaigns, clean up operations and recycling initiatives, Parley advocates for reducing the use of virgin plastics. The company also partners with major brands like Dior for product collaborations and campaigns to further reduce the use of virgin plastics while raising awareness about how to reduce our plastic use.
Intercept plastic waste: It’s estimated that 8 million metric tons of plastic waste are dumped into our oceans yearly. Parley teams clean up plastic debris that washes onto beaches and shorelines around the globe. By removing this plastic waste, they’re able to intercept plastic that might wash back out into the sea. Elsewhere they help small communities develop systems to recycle plastic waste before it ends up in landfills or is incinerated or becomes litter in our rivers that eventually flows into our oceans.
Redesign the material: Plastic is a flawed material. While it has a diverse lot of uses, its environmental impact is not worth the risks that it poses. As a solution Parley partners with organizations to cut down on single-use plastic production and develop new materials that can be used in place of virgin plastics. Some of these new materials are sourced from plastic waste from the ocean while others are sourced from plants to harness nature’s power of biodegradability.
Is Dior’s Sustainable?
While Dior is generally associated with luxury, sustainable ventures and collections have become more frequent for the brand. The French fashion house recently launched its Dream in Green committee, which the site states is ‘tasked with finding solutions to protect natural resources and slow down climate change’. However, details aren’t shared with customers as to what steps have been taken or the outcomes of said steps to minimize their impact on the environment.
One positive note in valuating Dior’s sustainable credentials is the fact that as of 2021, the brand’s sustainable strategy has received the Positive Luxury Brands to Trust certification for authenticity. Some of their strategies focus on crafting collections with circular design methods such as the Parley capsule so that clothing can be repaired and restored and eventually recycled.
Elsewhere LVMH’s 144-page 2020 Social and Environmental Responsibility Report offers more detailed information about how they are committed to making a positive social and environmental impact. You can read the report here.
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