Soorty Says So Long to Seasons in Sustainability Move
This past year has given the fashion industry time to reconsider how it operates. With closed stores, inventory piled up and quickly became outdated as the season changed.
Even before Covid-19, about 30 percent of the 150 billion pieces of clothing produced never made it to the sales floor. Furthering the waste, 84 percent of the merchandise that is purchased eventually ends up in a landfill. Denim mill Soorty is breaking free from what it sees as a broken fashion system by ditching traditional seasons in favor of timeless designs. Its seasonless concepts feature styles that are meant to stay in consumers’ closets longer and serve as the basis for year-round dressing.
The seasonless push is focused on textile waste, but from a financial perspective, the industry is also losing $144 billion per year on e-commerce returns. About 40 percent of all online purchases get sent back, and digital buying is only increasing as consumers stay home. To combat this problem, Soorty has developed Re-Sync, which has “one-size-fits-all” technology that enables jeans to fit bodies that are two sizes larger or smaller. Aside from making jeans e-commerce friendly when bricks-and-mortar shopping is not as feasible, this concept is size inclusive.
Soorty is also considering the waste beyond denim. Only 14 percent of plastic gets recycled. Meanwhile, up to 80 percent of water use in cotton textile production happens at the farm stage. Solving both these issues, Soorty is turning to circular solutions. The mill’s Re-Dream concept uses post-consumer and post-industrial waste, recycled polyester, and fibers and yarns made from at least part plastic waste, including Lycra® T400 Ecomade, Coolmax® Ecomade and Repreve®.
Finally, Soorty’s Re-Fine concept offers conscious, luxury fashion. Re-Fine includes styles with cotton, as well as cotton alternatives such as TENCEL™ Lyocell, LENZING™ ECOVERO™ viscose and hemp.
Click through the slideshow to see Soorty’s vision for the future of denim.