The denim marketplace is evolving, enter the era of responsible design

The average pair of jeans was once a detriment to the environment, with every stage of production a sustainability hazard. From natural cotton production using huge amounts of water (25,000 litres per kg), to employing harmful pesticides to grow the natural cotton, to chemical substances used for finishing garments.

It is no state solution how denim undergoes a harsh chemical substance dyeing and finishing process, you start with what gives the fabric its signature indigo color (originally a plant-based dye, but today largely replaced with a good synthetic version). After dyeing, fabric are repeatedly treated and washed with a variety of chemicals, like bleach, to soften, fade, or texturize the fabric. Most of our favorite shades and styles-acid-washed, distressed, light-washed-require additional treatments and chemical substances. In general, producing a single pair of jeans necessitates an immense volume of water and energy and creates significant pollution, says the U.S.-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Much criticism has been directed at denim producers, which range from environmentalists to a more educated generation of consumers. Eco-friendly jeans include until now experienced the minority, but makes are being the pressure and a fresh era of sustainably made jeans is normally assisting to phase out legacy functions, replacing them with innovative, low-impact production methods.

The most clear eco-friendly denim is making jeans from upcycled and repurposed products. While difficult for large conglomerates, small batch development and limited capsule ranges could be a commercial driver for smaller brands and designers. Repurposing indigo cotton deadstock or patchworking classic denims into new types reduces waste materials and eliminates the tough dyeing and finishing processes.

Traditional ways of denim washes to get an aged and worn-in look were detrimental to the environment as they required harsh chemical compounds and copious liters of water. New solutions include using ozone machines, which uses ozone gas to naturally bleach down garments. One leader in the field can be an Italian sustainable chemical company called Officina+39. It recently debuted Oz-One Powder, cure that allows laundries to attain bleached, distressed or acid-rinse looks on garments within an environmentally friendly way that is much like ozone, using conventional machines without water.

Accordding to the Sourcing Journal, the pandemic has encouraged its set of fashion trends, one of which is “lived-in” skinny jeans that may only be developed in another of two ways: by actually using them in, or through impressive finishing methods that mimic the look. Though traditional finishing technologies entail pumice stones, potassium permanganate (PP) spray or additional reportedly harmful practices, a fresh system was just lately developed with security and the environment in mind.

Called the Jecostone Program, it was created by Italian abrasives service Itexa Group after 4 years of collaboration with laundry experts. Two products get together to create the machine: Jecostone, an abrasive multi-fiber floor covering that covers the complete drum of an industrial washing machine, and Jecorock, an abrasive pad simply just 7 centimeters in diameter that works freely inside machine in an identical fashion to pumice stones.

The lightweight and long-lasting active abrasion produces unique effects on cotton, denim, knitwear and leather-including the popular ’80s-inspired stonewash effect for denim and a softer hand feel for knitwear. The system is already being adopted by supply-chain companions throughout the sector, including Diesel, which executes almost all of its development in Tunisia with Jecorocks.

The technology is currently on the right track to becoming circular when it reaches the bare minimum volume required. It plans to recollect each of the exhausted material towards the end of its existence and re-use it for several purposes such as highway pavement and thermal insulation.