apparel

Vegan's apparel choices keep growing - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The world's most valuable apparel brand is… - Chain Store Age
Just dye it: how this apparel company is developing water- and chemical-free textile tinting - GreenBiz

Vegan's apparel choices keep growing - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Posted: 03 Mar 2019 12:08 AM PST

Q My boyfriend is vegan and will not wear clothes that violate his principles. This very much limits his clothing choices. We both like upscale dressing, but it is hard to do when you can't wear leather, wool or silk. Are there any quality cotton options or does he need to rely on synthetics (which don't strike me as particularly eco-friendly)?

A While cotton is my recommended fabric for shirts, it is true that choices for other clothing are definitely limited; but today, as with all things vegan, the options are increasing. Linen for suits is an option I have advocated in the past; of course, it has always been animal free. However, not only is it limited to warm weather dressing, but many dislike its crumpled look. And a pair of linen dress shoes would be hard to come by! Recently I mentioned the use of cork as an eco-friendly option for shoes, hats, wallets, etc. (one inexpensive brand is Qeork). Just in the past few weeks, at the Fashion Week shows I attended in New York, one of the menswear designers actually tackled this very problem.

Joshua Katcher, a relatively new designer whose men's clothing line is known as Brave GentleMan, presented his latest collection. It included suits, neckties, shoes, boots and small pieces of luggage -- all 100 percent vegan. Described as "The first high-end vegan suit collection to be made in New York City," the garments were fashioned from luxury materials. He used Italian-milled bamboo fabric (which resembles and feels like fine cotton or super-fine wool) for meticulously-tailored three-piece suits with vests and two-button closures. They came in colors spanning traditional dark navy, bolder blue, rich brown, black and charcoal gray. The fabric looked like conventional suiting material and the classic tailoring would allow a man to wear them with, or without, the vests for many occasions.

The collection also replaced traditional leather items as well as (if not even better than) it replaced wool. High-tech Italian microfiber (which looks and feels like expensive suede and leather) was used for hand-held totes and knapsacks, and for some of the best looking and best-priced leather-like footwear you are likely to find at any price. When I touched these innovative shoes and boots, I really could not detect any difference from fine leather.

The show was classic Fashion Week. The crowd that gathered at The Mercer, a chic hotel in Manhattan's SoHo district, looked like some movie director's fantasy of how the super-cool kids look when they grow up. Almost everyone was dressed in New York "all-black." The event was made even more interesting because it was "hosted" and introduced by Alan Cumming, the well-known actor who is currently starring in the CBS crime drama Instinct and the off-Broadway play, Daddy. He arrived wearing a tailored burgundy bamboo suit with a light blue windowpane check and a pair of dress sneakers from the designer's new collection. This combination would look perfect on a dressed-up professor (or, in a different color and with different shoes, on a CEO).

I can't help but point out that there certainly were elements of the shows that were far from what your boyfriend or other "normal men" would wear. Fashion Week is known for presenting garments that are not expected to actually be worn the way they are shown, but rather to grab the attention of the viewer, to introduce new trends, and to stimulate conversation ... and press. Earlier in the week, I attended the runway show of Joseph Abboud, a longtime designer of beautiful menswear. His American-made clothes for fall 2019 were presented, appropriately enough, at one of the piers at the South Street Seaport. In a departure from his usual traditional wool suits and classic sports coats, this time there was a rather odd emphasis on immigrant dressing (an apparent reference to his background as the grandson of Lebanese immigrants) with a variety of mended-patchwork additions to the jackets, mismatched buttons, fuller trousers, flowing capes, layering, and a surprising use of belts worn over a sports jacket. (In reality, the suits and sports coats he will be selling next season will be elegantly tailored of fine earth-toned tweeds and textured fall fabrics from all over the world.) At the show, many of the models carried great-looking leather totes and satchels that only the luckiest of immigrants would have owned.

Needless to say, nothing at this show was vegan.

Please send your men's dress and grooming questions to MALE CALL:

Lois.Fenton@prodigy.net

Photo by Special to the Democrat-Gazette
Alan Cumming (left) and Brave GentleMan founder/designer Joshua Katcher presented his collection of made-to-measure, luxury bamboo suits Feb. 16 at Fashion Week in New York.

High Profile on 03/03/2019

The world's most valuable apparel brand is… - Chain Store Age

Posted: 27 Feb 2019 12:58 PM PST

STORE SPACES

Nike has left other apparel brands in the dust for the second consecutive year.

The sportswear giant ranks as the world's most valuable apparel brand, according to the latest report by brand valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance. Nike's brand value has increased by 16% since last year to $32.4 billion on the back of healthy sales growth in China, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Rival Adidas has bitten into some of Nike's North American market, with brand value rising by 17% to $16.7 billion. But the gap between the two remains colossal as Nike's brand value is nearly double that of Adidas.

"Nike's bold marketing makes it stand out in a busy marketplace of sportswear apparel brands," said Richard Haigh, managing director of Brand Finance. "In a time when customers look for experiences and emotional connection, Nike's offering comes with unambiguous messages and values that people can rally behind."

Spanish fast-fashion giant Zara, whose brand value rose 6% to $18.4 billion, has moved into second position supplanting H&M which falls down to fourth place (brand value down 16% to $15.9 billion). Zara's acclaimed integrated store and online business has seen it gain access to a further 106 countries, while H&M has struggled with a mounting stack of unsold inventory.

Luxury brands account for seven out of the top 10 strongest apparel brands, showing importance of brand strength in the segment, the report noted. (According to Brand Finance, brand value is understood as the net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market. Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand's performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors.)

Here are the 10 most valuable apparel brands from the Brand Finance Apparel 50 2019 report:

1. Nike (Brand value: $32.421 billion)
2. Zara. ($18.424 billion)
3. Adidas ($16.669 billion)
4. H&M ($15.876 billion)
5. Cartier ($13.642)
6. Louis Vuitton ($13.576 billion)
7. Uniqlo ($11.991 billion)
8. Hermes ($10.920 billion)
9. Gucci ($10.192 billion)
10. Rolex ($8.047 billion)

Rounding out the top 20 were Coach, Victoria's Secret, Christian Dior, Burberry, Prada, The North Face, Omega; Polo Ralph Lauren and Ray-Ban.

Just dye it: how this apparel company is developing water- and chemical-free textile tinting - GreenBiz

Posted: 26 Feb 2019 01:00 AM PST

This article is drawn from the Circular Weekly newsletter from GreenBiz, running Fridays.

The apparel industry is quickly becoming a leader in circularity, from scaling innovative business models such as recommerce and clothing rental to developing textile recycling programs to incentivizing product take-back. Given the potential for brand-boosting (and undeniably compelling marketing narratives), it's no surprise that many companies are beginning their foray into circularity with consumer-facing programs. This approach can tell a strong story about closing the loop and curbing environmental impact, and engages consumers in the process.

But not all circular developments in the apparel industry are seen by consumers, even though they may feel their impacts each day. Much of the action is behind the scenes and can include some impactful innovations.

One innovator to watch is Netherlands-based DyeCoo, a company that developed the first commercially available textile dyeing machine that eliminates the need for water and processing chemicals in the dyeing process.

When it comes to fashion, water is no drop in the bucket. Conventional textile dyeing uses anywhere from 25 to 40 gallons for every two pounds of fabric. Globally, the water used in textile production (including cotton farming) adds up to about 24.56 trillion gallons each year, according the to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's New Textiles Economy report. A single DyeCoo dyeing machine saves 32 million liters of water and about 176 tons of processing chemicals per year, according to the company's website. As water scarcity increases, DyeCoo's approach offers textile manufacturers geographical freedom from water sources when citing new operations.

The name "DyeCoo" comes from mashing up "dyeing" with "CO2," a nod to its approach. The process works by pressurizing and heating carbon dioxide to above 31.1 degrees Celsius (about 88 Fahrenheit), the temperature at which it becomes "supercritical," a phase between a liquid and a gas. This allows dyes more easily to dissolve and to penetrate deeply into fibers without the use of water or bonding chemicals. The CO2 is then cleaned and 95 percent is recycled back into the machine to be reused.

The technology doesn't just save water and chemicals. Because DyeCoo's approach is waterless, fabrics don't need to be dried, speeding up the dyeing process by 40 percent and cutting energy use by 60 percent. Impressive.

DyeCoo has been working with Nike, Ikea and Adidas since 2013 (both Nike and Ikea are investors), and the company was recognized in Davos last month as a finalist in The Circulars. This award program is led by the World Economic Forum and the Forum of Young Global Leaders in collaboration with Accenture Strategy, and recognizes individuals and organizations worldwide making notable contributions to the circular economy. (I encourage you to peruse the diverse and inspiring list of honorees.)

DyeCoo is one of several companies working to reduce the resource intensity and toxicity of the apparel industry: The Vienna Textile Lab& fabricates sustainable alternatives to conventional, chemical-intensive, synthetic colors by using naturally occurring bacteria; Unmade gives brands the ability to offer custom-manufactured products, cutting down on overproduction; and Worn Again Technologies chemically recycles non-reusable textiles and plastic bottles into virgin-quality fibers. And, no doubt, lots more to come.

From shifting toward renewable and nontoxic ingredients, to keeping clothing at its highest and best use and recycling it at the end of its usable life, the apparel industry has a ways to go before circularity is adopted widely. In the meantime, companies such as DyeCoo offer encouraging proof points.

Follow along with the circularity conversation at GreenBiz 19 in Phoenix this week. If you can't make it in person, I encourage you to register for GreenBiz 19 Virtual to livestream all plenary sessions and online-only sidebar interviews — plus, access the archived footage following the event.