The team FTS joined Modefabriek, an inspiring fashion trade event based in Amsterdam where several fashion brands and professionals join in a setting where “P2P (People to People) is valued above B2B.
We found an exciting mix of brands, from well-known labels to new designers reflecting the current fashion scene and in our pursuit of Sustainability, met Myomy, Loop.a Life and Ocean Textiles amongst many others!
We met the Myomy team first who shared their story of how the brand was born with a mission to do good, starting with their iconic Paper Bag.
It’s hard to talk about sustainability when thinking about leather. Nevertheless, Myomy is a great example of a sustainable leather brand. The raw material used in their collection is all Leather Working Group certified, ensuring environmental compliance of leather manufacturers. It is all sustainably tanned by a LWG-rated tannery and other fabrics used by the firm are organic or recycled.
The company has focused on sustainability in the production processes taking care of the upstream side of the supply chain. Now Myomy aims to pursue sustainability also within packaging and transport.
What they do for bag production? They recognize that they are more than a link in the fashion chain, and take care of the upstream steps. Indeed, they work closely with their fair trade supplier CRC in India, Leatherina in Bangladesh and i-did in The Netherlands. They support their producing partner ensuring natural production processes and taking care of the partners’ development. In particular, they set the basis for long term relationships ensuring a fair income, acceptable working times, safe working conditions and access to training and personal development for artisans.
LOOP.A LIFE
Our second meeting was with Loop.a life, the pioneer brand in the Netherlands to produce a collection of 100% recycled textile, originating from Dutch clothing waste.
They control the entire production process from waste acquisition, sorting, blending, spinning to end product and we do this as sustainably as possible, that means without using additional dyes and water. They created their own circular standard “Truly Circular”. The standard is based on 4 main principles:
# 1 Post-consumer waste & sustainable, natural materials
They utilize post-consumer recycled material in their textile end products, preventing raw materials and soil depletion, excessive use of water, energy & chemicals and the loss of valuable materials that are recycled or incinerated.
# 2 Local purchasing & production
Through procurement of materials and production within Europe exclusively, they ensure good working conditions and labor standards according to European legislation. In addition they work directly with their partners and often visit them, maximizing transparency in their production process.
# 3 No chemicals & water use
All Loop.a life clothing are produced without using a drop of paint, chemicals or water during the most important steps of the production process. They are skipping completely the chemical and water intensive part of processing raw materials into colorful textiles thanks to their circular and mechanical recycling process. Indeed, from the waste mountain they are able to sort on more than 25 different colors that can be blended into new yarns, ensuring that the available variety of colors is good enough.
# 4 Slow Fashion – Dutch Design
They use timeless designs because they believe in the Slow Fashion concept. They collaborate with professional Dutch designers to ensure that their collection is a must-have for every wardrobe and will last a long time. Then, to conclude the loop, their products can be recycled again.
OCEAN TEXTILES
Before leaving the fair, we noticed fun messages such as “I used to be a bottle” or “Made of social plastic” drawn on… T-shirts and hats and were immediately intrigued to go talk to the team.
Ocean Textiles makes yarns and fabric out of plastic materials they fish from the Ocean. They mostly sell those materials to large brands, including “big names” among their customers, but recently they started producing some end products upon request, such as bags and jackets.
They face several challenges to do that. In particular it is tough to obtain the permit to fish plastic in some seas, depending on the government that rules over them. But they are committed to go on with their sustainability issue, driven by the new generation of the family business.
Stay with us!
The FTS team
INSEAD SUMMER STARTUP TOUR 
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