Reactions to RiverBlue Speak to a Movement Toward Sustainability
The apparel industry has been weighing on the global environment for centuries—and denim has played no small role.
Now, however, more and more brands and manufacturers are looking for ways to lessen their impacts on the world, and sustainability has been a constant topic of conversation. And that’s why there’s been a general feeling among the industry that there was no better time than now for RiverBlue to hit our screens.
The film, which has been rolling out in recent screenings around the world, including last week at Bluezone at Munich Fabric Start, documents the destruction of the world’s rivers, following international river conservationist Mark Angelo on his journey to uncover solutions for a more sustainable future.
To get the denim industry’s pulse on the film and what it means for the sector, Carved in Blue caught up with key experts to hear their perspectives.
“We humankind usually learn our lesson in the hard way,” said Ebru Ozaydin, head of global marketing and U.S. sales for Artistic Milliners. “The RiverBlue documentary reveals a sad truth about fashion pollution and how much it hurts our beautiful planet—more in the depth of toxic dyes from textile manufacturing which is often dumped directly into rivers where environmental regulations aren’t strict. The documentary is clearly giving message to everybody who buys, sells and manufactures ‘fashion.’”
That message, for Simone Seisl, materials consultant for Textile Exchange, was a sad one.
“I have dedicated my work for sustainability in fashion since 10 years but I will never get used to these images. How come we can swim in the Rhine and Thames river again but cause such pollution in other parts of the world? Because we want to save money even if we have better practices—all the way from farming and fiber production to processing and even recycling. At Textile Exchange we promote such best practices, connect the whole supply network and create tools and services to enable collaboration and change…We need a new approach to fast fashion and real pricing for textiles and garments.”
Today, buying and making fashion means more than just designs and deliveries: it means creating a product with care for what its short and long-term impact will be. And purpose-driven companies are finding various innovative ways to accomplish this.
“At Lenzing we take a value chain perspective and strive to improve water impacts through operational efficiency, state of the art wastewater technologies and product innovation,” said Tricia Carey, Lenzing’s director of global business development for denim. “Lenzing Modal® black, a solution dyed fiber, can save 60 percent more water than conventional dyeing of fabric. The RiverBlue raises the awareness of not only the issues around water we are facing globally, but also the impact to humans.”
And humans are the world’s consumers, so everyone has a stake in the game.
“We can no longer play the ignorant and be blind,” Ozaydin continued. “The media (Conventional and Social Media) and NGO/NPOs can help by continuing to educate the general population and holding large brands accountable. Consumers can be rewarded by choosing eco-friendly products whenever possible….Brands can create the largest impact by changing their own practices, be a role model for rivals and make it as the new normal.”
Turning to a vital point, Ozaydin said, “The collaboration is the keyword in an industry with a long supply chain like denim.”
Collaboration has been key for Panos Sofianos, Bluezone Curator for Munich Fabric Start, too.
“RiverBlue is a documentary projecting reality about the abuse of water and chemicals in textiles and apparel. Our innovation and future technology hub, the KEY HOUSE, has been founded to serve and communicate those actions,” Sofianos said. “Munich Fabric Start believes in the sustainable way and continues to support mills and surrounding companies to present their latest achievements. The last edition had a distinctive number of exhibitors with high-end products and concepts that move the textile industry on a higher level. Among other distinguished companies, we hosted Lenzing presenting their latest product, RefibraTM fibers based on the philosophy of preserving the planet’s sources really efficiently. We are grateful to have such partners to reach our mission.”
For Carmen Silla, director of marketing for Jeanologia, it was a good thing that the documentary called all of these things up. And though it’s a sad set of conditions to come to terms with, she said there’s a positive message in all of this.
“Every player in the industry, we should join forces to transform our industry to become sustainable, eco-efficient and ethical,” Silla said. “We should be more transparent and use technology and know-how to improve our industry. Also, government should push and move to action to cut the problem and be conscious that there is a water crisis and we should move forward.”
The notion of change was one RiverBlue also called up for Ana Silva, head of sustainability for Portugal-based Tintex.
“In my opinion RiverBlue shows a reality that we are able to change and opens the door to the industry to transform itself into a better one—and to the brands and consumers to think and buy in a different way,” she said. “Tintex vision is to build a new generation of textile business that truly delivers an eco-sustainable strategy for all its production and fabric innovations. Change is needed, but it is key to start from the company vision that is going to drive the journey toward innovation that also includes responsibility of production, sourcing, products, ethical and social elements. New values are driving contemporary consumer, and that’s where we need to start from.”
It was a sentiment that denim savant Adriano Goldschmied echoed during a talk following the screening.
“People, the consumers, they realize the importance of compliance,” he said. “And what is even more important, the big players understand that the only way to make money in the future is not polluting the world, but cleaning the world and giving a product the consumer is happy to buy.”
For more information on where to see RiverBlue, visit: http://riverbluethemovie.eco/find-a-screening/, or look for it on iTunes and Dot Studio Pro.