Denim Supply Chain Promotes Product Collaborations at Bluezone

Efforts to keep the denim industry moving forward were highlighted at Bluezone in Munich on July 18-19. In addition to showcasing their latest collections and products, representatives from across the supply chain met to discuss their new projects and how they’re overcoming challenges together.

From dissecting new legislation to promoting traceable and regenerative agriculture, here are some of the key soundbites from the show floor.

Alberto Guzzetti, sales manager for Tejidos Royo, joined partners to discuss how the Spanish mill has begun using traceable GMO-free cotton from Spain for part of its denim production.

The fabrics made with Spanish cotton are part of Royo’s In the Loop collection, which links the locally grown cotton with recycled cotton, recycled elastane and the mill’s water-saving Dry Indigo technology.

Spain-based Eurosemillas is providing the geolocated seeds. The cotton is being grown in an area with “tremendous regulations” and “very limited water irrigation” due to droughts. Tracer fibers from Tailorlux, a German marking solutions company, are added to the cotton bales, which mark and tokenize the virgin fibers, allowing Royo and brands to verify the traceability and originality of the fabric all along the supply chain. Every seed pack has a QR code which is scanned and records where it is planted. The tracer is permanent even when it’s recycled.

Barcelona-based software producer Retexcycle is responsible for creating a digital twin of the materials. With Retexcycle’s platform, brands and retailers can visualize their entire value chain map from origin of raw materials to the finished product.

The project is being driven by brands asking for traceable products with Spanish cotton. “What we are seeing in Europe as well as in the U.S. is more local production. In France and Germany, [companies] are building facilities to produce denim locally,” Guzzetti said.

Looming EU legislation like the directive on corporate sustainability due diligence will make the project’s traceability component all that more important to customers as well. By putting a QR code on every garment, Pepe Costa, Retexcycle CEO and founder, said brands can give their customers access to its sourcing and production history and map, and confidently say they’re validated by a third-party.

Suppliers like Royo are likely to face increased client demands for full supply chain visibility, traceability and data reporting, according to “An Apparel Supplier’s Guide: Key Sustainability Legislation in the EU, US and UK,” a report written by the Remedy Project and developed in partnership with Epic Group, Norlanka, Shahi Exports, Simple Approach, Gix Fabric and Transformers Foundation. The report provides in-depth insights into 12 different legislative initiatives that could impact the apparel value chain.

Transformers intelligence director Kim van der Weerd hosted a discussion about the report with Ilishio Lovejoy, ESG manager at Simple Approach, and representatives from fiber brands and denim mills.

“There’s a lot of legislation coming, and the supply chain is not as well informed on it or engaged in the process,” Lovejoy said. On top of that, she said that legislation can be interpreted differently among EU countries. “And within those countries, you will have different customers brands that are potentially going to interpret this legislation differently as well and implement that differently. So, there is a lot of risk of duplication being required,” she said.

The report urges suppliers to discuss the implications and make plans with their brands and customers, and to allocate sufficient resources to understanding and proactively responding to the legislation. Lovejoy added that, unfortunately, a lot of the legislation encourages a top-down approach to value chain management, which can be counterproductive. The report calls for more “equitable” conversations from the beginning. “We really would like legislation that is informed and implementable,” she said.

“This goes way beyond your sustainability teams. This is going to require your legal teams to be involved, your HR teams, and your product teams,” Lovejoy said. “Look at this as a holistic business change because it will impact all kinds of areas of the business.”

Jordan Nodarse, a consultant for Bossa, shared details about the mill’s new regenerative cotton farming project in the Aydin, Denzili and Urfa providences of Turkey.

Bossa is testing the outcome of regenerative farming using methods that minimizes soil disturbance, keeps plants in the ground year round, utilizes precise application of inputs and integrates livestock for cover crop grazing and more. Bossa is also measuring the associated water footprint, conducting social responsibility audits and ensuring price premiums to support farmers.

The project is divided into three trial tests with each using different farming methods. Conventional is the control plot; Regenagri follows the framework created in concert with farmers and agricultural businesses; and ROC is a crop rotation working off a wheat crop.

Nodarse said Bossa is 10 weeks into the project. Harvesting will begin in October. The project is already showing the benefits of Regenagri’s regenerative farming practices, however. Nodarse said the crop has about 2 centimeters of additional growth compared to the control plot.

While most exhibitors at Bluezone benefit from the sales of jeans, Bryan Szabo was there to encourage people to wear the same pair of raw jeans for a full year. The founder of the Indigo Invitational, a social media-driven competition to identify the pair of jeans with the best fades, presented a gallery of some of the winning styles and shared how the contest counters what he said the denim industry has grown to accept: consumers who want inexpensive product that looks good and performs well.

“They don’t want to spend a lot on it, and they want to buy as many pairs as they can—maybe a new pair every season and sometimes more than this,” he said. “What we’re trying to do with the competition is to reverse that trend.”

With the Indigo Invitational, Szabo is encouraging consumers to spend considerably more on a single pair of well-made selvedge denim and to leave their mark on it. Most of the raw denim jeans in the competition are simple five-pocket styles that land outside of the fashion industry’s seasonal, trend-driven calendar. They get their character from everyday wear-and-tear.

“Spending 365 days in that pair creates more of a relationship between the product and the consumer [and] a deeper relationship between the consumer and the brand that sold them that product,” he said.

It’s also a more sustainable way to shop and wear fashion, though Szabo is skeptical about sustainability being important to most consumers. Recent campaigns from brands like Nudie Jeans are helping reinforce the competition’s sustainable values, however. Szabo said they’re delivering effective messaging that promotes trend-resistant styles that will be tomorrow’s vintage.

“They are putting this in a way into the consumers’ camp,” he said. “They’re saying, we care about these things, and we hope you’ll purchase your jeans from us because we care about the same things you do.”

Up next for the competition, which restarts in January, Szabo said he would like to see brands participate. “If you’re [a] manufacturer, put a garment to [the] test,” he said. “If you have a prototype of a raw product, find somebody who’s willing to wear that product for the full 365 days. Put your product truly to the test.”

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