Top sustainability fashion labels in Australia and around the world trying to save the planet

Sneakers are being made from coffee waste and jackets are being created from plastic bottles. See a full list of key fashion labels making a motza from recycling.

Melanie BurgessSMARTdaily associate editor

@melanieburgess

4 min read

February 10, 2022 - 10:28AM

News Corp Australia Network

Australia's fast fashion addiction is 'unsustainable'

Lifestyle

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Fast fashion is a major environmental issue, with the global industry contributing more greenhouse gas emissions than France, Germany and the United Kingdom combined.

It produced about 2.1 billion tonnes of GHG emissions in 2018, according to a report by McKinsey and Global Fashion Agenda – about twice that of the pre-Covid aviation industry.

But before you go nude to save the planet, experts say small changes to what clothes we buy and how we buy them can make a big difference.

Yuko Oka, merchandise planner for fashion designer and retailer UNIQLO Australia, says Australians are becoming more conscious of the sustainable impacts of their fashion choices.

“We’re continuing to see growth amongst our sustainable products and categories, which tell us that the buying behaviour of the Australian consumer is changing,” she says.

“We’re constantly evolving the way we create clothing to ensure we’re helping make the

world a better place.

“An example of this is when we use yarn created from used plastic bottles to make new clothes such as our fluffy yarn fleece full-zip jacket.

“We also produce stylish bags incorporating yarn from nylon thread waste that the garment production process conventionally discards.

“As a brand, we want our customers to make ethical choices at our stores without even knowing it.”

UNIQLO’s fluffy yarn fleece full-zip jacket was made from yarn created from recycled plastic bottles. $29.90

So how can consumers make more sustainable fashion choices?

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

Fast Retailing group executive officer Yukihiro Nitta says one of the most sustainable things anyone can do is to only purchase clothes they know they will use often.

He recommends avoiding items that you will not want to wear beyond a season or two.

“Prioritise brands that offer high-quality, durable products, where there is a focus on simple, timeless style, rather than fleeting trends,” he says.

“Choose clothes you will love and enjoy wearing often and for a long time.”

CHOOSE BRANDS WISELY

Each year, Baptist World Aid Australia produces a report on the ethical and environmental practices of global fashion brands.

Its 2021 Ethical Fashion Report, which assessed 420 brands across 98 companies, found 37 companies received an A or A+ for environmental sustainability, including Adidas, Etiko, H&M, Hallenstein Glasson Holdings, Kmart and Target Australia, Inditex, Nike, Nudie Jeans Co, Patagonia and UNIQLO.

This was based on factors such as whether they assessed the environmental impact of their top three fibres, benchmarked water use, and mitigated the in-use and end-of-life impact of their products.

Nitta says reputable brands should also create their own annual sustainability report outlining goals and actions or make this information available their corporate website.

“This information should include details of efforts not directly related to products that customers see – such as eliminating plastics and other waste and reducing greenhouse gases in the supply chain,” he says.

“When doing so, look for brand commitment to meaningful, independent targets or international standards, such as the Paris Agreement, or for partnerships with reputable independent NGO stakeholders, such as the United Nations and its agencies.”

Fast Retailing’s Yukihiro Nitta recommends buying clothes you plan to wear for a long time. Picture: Supplied

UNIQLO’s greenhouse gas emissions targets are aligned with Paris Agreement objectives and are verified by SBTi (the Science Based Targets initiative).

The company’s RE. UNIQLO program also recovers used UNIQLO items from customers for donation to refugees or other people in crisis.

“Under RE. UNIQLO, we also recover used down products from customers through our stores,

and partner with Toray Industries on a special process to recover, clean and rejuvenate the down from these items, returning it to as-new condition and using it to make new UNIQLO products, starting with our 100 per cent recycled down jackets,” Nitta says.

BUY PRE-LOVED

Before purchasing a brand new item of clothing, consider looking in second-hand stores.

As well as charity op shops – such as Lifeline, Vinnies, Salvos and Australian Red Cross – there are also boutique stores dedicated to preloved designer brands and rare vintage items, and online marketplaces, including “buy, swap, sell” Facebook groups, that are dedicated to specific brands.

Similarly, apps such as AirRobe Marketplace allow people to list and buy preloved fashion from each other with the company’s payment protection.

HIRE ATTIRE

If you are looking for an outfit you only plan to wear once – such as for a special event – consider hiring rather than purchasing something new.

There has been an explosion of companies offering this service, including GlamCorner, The Volte, Designerex and Style Theory.

Rens Passion Red sneakers are made from coffee waste and recycled plastic bottles. $167

INNOVATION

Coffee sneakers

Every pair of sneakers produced by Finnish company Rens is made from six recycled plastic bottles and 150g of coffee waste, with the natural rubber sole derived from a milky sap-like material that can be harvested from the Hevea brasiliensis tree without harming the tree itself.

Carbon-positive cotton

Nobody Denim is taking manufacturing transparency to the next level, producing a collection of jeans that is traceable from the cotton farm to the store.

It has partnered with FibreTrace, which uses blockchain technology to embed luminescent pigments into cotton fibres, allowing them to be scanned and marked at each processing tier from ginning and spinning, through to final stage production.

A QR code on the swing tag allows consumers to read about the product’s journey.

The jeans are made with Good Earth Cotton from a NSW farm that has been independently certified as carbon positive – producing less CO² than it absorbs.

Recycled bottles

Recycled PET bottles – such as plastic water bottles – are used to create UNIQLO’s fleece and DRY-EX products, including polos and sportswear.

Saving water

The faded look of UNIQLO’s BlueCycle jeans is created without the need for large amounts of water and manual labour. The technology reduces the amount of water used in the jeans’ finishing process by up to 99 per cent.