We’re very excited about the Windows Wear awards 2018 and one of our favorite categories always have been the best sustainable practices, especially in these times where the environment claims for a change. Fashion industry causes a huge impact on the planet but some brands are aware of this situation and they are taking it seriously. These are our nominees for this year best sustainable brand.
Anthropologie
URBN Group is taking steps to be environmentally conscious now. Their commitment takes many forms – both in their stores’ interiors and windows – and their continually strive to be as eco-friendly as possible, with examples ranging from the renewal and reuse of materials, to the bags customers use, recycling programs and solar energy initiatives.
For them the greenest building is one that has been built already. Thus, their sustainable design strategy for their Corporate Campus at Philadelphia Navy Yard centered on historic restoration and reuse. Their recycled concrete to become landscape pavers, and materials and artifacts found onsite were used again. Old doors were merged together to form walls, wood floors were reclaimed from a high school basketball court and timbers found onsite now form a central staircase that connects all three levels of the Shared Services building.
The creativity of the Anthropologie visual team is beyond doubt, not only visually but also on the use of materials and techniques to decorate their stores and windows. Their windows are always eco-friendly using biodegradable materials like paper, cardboard and wood, water based paints and using recycled material like glass bottles or fabric scraps.
Versace
For Versace, Green is so important to represent the brand as Gold, and now it’s just one of the must engaged high fashion brands with the planet and good environmental policies.
Their Artistic Director Donatella Versace has received the CNMI Award in recognition of sustainability at the Green Carpet Fashion Awards to recognize commitment to environmental and social sustainability. The sustainability path – representing empowerment, evolution and excellence in fashion – is a core part of Versace’s commitment to redefine glamour.
Versace has been always concern about material innovation, fur-free production, collaboration, supply chain fairness, transparency, local Italian craftsmanship, sustainable boutiques and developing a culture of inclusivity and diversity are only some of the steps Versace has taken to create a more sustainable future.
Last November in Miami at Bal Harbour Shops, Versace opened a revolutionary new store, where the selection of materials with the highest environmental and transparency standards is evident. The construction included recycled, recyclable, and responsible materials – including glass in the mosaic, FSC-certified wood in the structure, and recomposed marble in certain decorative elements to minimize extraction of raw materials from the earth – a sustainable commitment in every detail.
Much of the impact of a store is in its daily operations, which at Bal Harbour Shops have been studied with attention to people and environment. From dimmable LED lights with central control installed to ensure efficient use of energy over the course of the day, to climate control equipment chosen for energy efficiency, and a system monitoring energy use and internal air quality added to provide a positive impact for wellbeing on people working and shopping in the space.
Everlane
True sustainability must always, always include good business practices and an ability to scale in a measured way. So Everlane took the extraordinarily pragmatic approach of building out their business model before writing a detailed “Our Ethical Standards” page. Unlike most of us in this space, they didn’t lead with their idealism.
“We believe our customers have a right to know how much their clothes cost to make. We reveal the true costs behind all of our products—from materials to labor to transportation—then offer? Them to you, minus the traditional retail markup.” – Everlane website
Everlane, implements several measures to reduce climate emissions, such as shipping its products CO2 neutral via DHL GoGreen. Everlane states that the whole production process is certified according to Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). It implies that products are certified which contain a minimum of 70% organic fibers. All their socks on the stores contain at least 80% of organic cotton. Also, for Everlane is a policy to eliminate all hazardous chemicals from the whole lifecycle and all production procedures to make the clothes and footwear.
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Timberland
“At Timberland, we strive to be Earthkeepers in everything we do. That means we come to work every day with a purpose. We work hard to make our products better, our cities greener, and our communities stronger. We like to believe we’re in this together. Let’s step outside and make it better.” – Timberland website
In order to walk through the green road, Timberland implements several measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as the use of renewable energy, implementation of energy efficiency measures, and the purchase of renewable energy credits. They also reports that 93.7% of leather sourced in Q3 2017 comes from Silver or Gold rated tanneries, what it’s great considering leather manufacture is one of the most contaminants in the industry.
Timberland also communicates to run a campaign (‘Second Chance’) to encourage consumers to recycle clothes (to bring worn shoes back into the store). This programme seems limited to some selected stores in Germany and Sweden only.
Ann Taylor
Their social and green commitment is one of the biggest policies for ANN INC, “Our strong foundation is based on the responsible sourcing of our products and the sustainable operations of our enterprise. We believe that caring for women around the world and providing them with opportunities to lead, give back and live well, will lead to a better future for us all. Our connection to our associates and customers is deeply rooted throughout our business to bring Her, at the Heart of Us to life. We support of women and girls globally to help them be their best selves through opportunities to lead, strengthen communities, and live well.” they said.
For their window displays they’ve worked hand to hand with ECOR Global. Their vision is simply to enable more types of waste to be recycled; offer advanced conversion solutions that increase the value of recycled materials; provide material solutions for products to be designed from 100% recycled waste that are also 100% recyclable; and to unlock new opportunities for cost savings and revenue generation through all stages of the supply chain and product lifecycle.
Helped with this great material they also used biodegradable materials like concrete, wood or natural fibers, giving always a fresh and natural environment with plants and flowers as a principal element.
Louis Vuitton
At the early 2000, this luxury brand wasn’t famous for been very sustainable, but lately, Louis Vuitton is committed to going Green and is making it step by step.
Adding environmental stewards, its global store on Guam became the first and only LV store in the world to install a solar panel system. It’s an initiative general manager Edouard Faure says has been a long-standing priority for Louis Vuitton in protecting the environment.
“We feel its very important and overall the responsibility of the company and probably its even more important in a small island like Guam where we know the resources are limited and so we need to try to do our best part of the community in this sense,” he said.
Louis Vuitton meanwhile has been reinforcing environmental measures in areas such as architecture, merchandising and creative development for years.
This last year, LV motivated with their solar panel windows, showing that they’re not just great for the planet, saving a lot of carbon emissions when the use electric energy decreased, but also they look pretty cool.