Danish apparel company Bestseller has outlined a series of actions on post-consumer textile waste as part of its role as a strategic partner in the Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), a group working to set a common direction for industry efforts on sustainability in fashion.
In collaboration with other strategic partners, including the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and global sourcing specialist Li & Fung, GFA aims to mobilise the global fashion system to change the way fashion is produced, marketed and consumed.
As a strategic partner, Bestseller has announced three strategic action points on post-consumer textile waste as a response to the Call To Action put out by Global Fashion Agenda last year.
Call for brands to adopt circularity pledge
Founded in 1975 in Brande, Bestseller has around 20 brands in its range, including Jack & Jones, ONLY, Vila, Selected, Vero Moda and children’s brand, Name It. The family-owned business operates 2,700 branded chain stores, and sells clothing in 15,000 multi-brand and department stores across Europe, the Middle East, North America, Latin America, Australia and India.
Now, the company has committed to reporting on its sustainability progress annually until 2020 and aims to ensure that all of its designers and buyers have completed a training module on circular fashion design, followed by increasing its promotion of its used garment collection channel, as well as focusing on the goal of increasing its use of recycled textile fibres.
“Knowledge is the foundation to address the overall topic and the first action point of ‘implementing a design strategy for cyclability’,” explains Bestseller sustainability manager Dorte Rye. “The second action point supports the focus on increasing volume of used garments collected. By 2020, Bestseller will offer and promote a used garment collection channel to consumers in selected markets together with relevant partners, it must be a setup that makes sense for all parties involved.”
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataFinally, the third action point will see Bestseller conduct a pilot with two jeans styles containing recycled post-consumer cotton. The jeans are to be included in the ‘never out of stock range’ within menswear brand Jack and Jones, with plans to complete the study and evaluate the results over the course of 2018.
Dorte adds: “It is important to note that the Call To Action is focused on post-consumer textile waste, meaning that other recycled materials already used in the Bestseller supply chain, such as recycled polyester from PET bottles, are not included in this context.
“The published action points are part of a more circular approach in Bestseller, but they cannot stand alone. The coming years ahead both Bestseller and the entire industry as such must learn together and be very innovative to take on the challenge on creating a more circular system for fashion.”
In addition, Bestseller has also recently released its first publicly available supplier factory list, joining the likes of Pentland Brands, Gap, C&A and Marks & Spencer, which all went public with their factory lists over the course of the last two years.
While it does not own any factories, Rye says it is imperative for Bestseller to work with its suppliers in an open and honest way.
“We continuously seek to create more transparency in our supply chain to address risks and promote positive change. In the light of this, and to provide increased transparency, we are making supplier factory information publicly available.”
The supplier factory information includes the names and addresses of Tier 1 manufacturing factories of apparel, footwear and accessories representing the company’s main commercial sourcing volume. Rye adds the aim is to publish all on-boarded Tier 1 factories in 2018.
The list will be updated twice a year.
