Arquivos Economia Circular - Fashion Label Brasil

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Coletivix, conscious consumption and (R)evolution

“A pact to raise awareness of social, environmental and economic agendas present, not only in fashion, but on the planet.”

/coletivix/

ETIM lat. collectivus,a,um ‘that which groups together, gathers’

1. covering several people or things.

2. that belongs to several people

Coletivx promotes the philosophy of awareness and social, environmental, and economic responsibility in the curation of brands, through the study of the 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and the framework of conscious production and consumption.

“ECO = MMERCE” represents a catalyst for change through the dissemination of knowledge and education on macro issues and in the curation of brands and partners.
“Coletivx is more than an e-commerce platform, it is a collective and a conscious community in search of a better future (and present).”

Collective Philosophies

“At Coletivx we believe that it is possible to produce and consume more consciously. We work with a selection of brands that have in common the desire to reduce their impact and increasingly evolve towards a fashion with more social and environmental responsibility.”

Circular Fashion: using the planet’s finite resources in a more sustainable and responsible way. Circularity proposes the reuse of materials to increase the product’s life cycle and reduce its impact on the environment.

3 possibilities for brands to move closer to a more circular production model:

● New products from recycled materials;

● Upcycling: the technique presents a new purpose to existing materials that would otherwise be discarded;

● Second-hand products.

Eco-friendly: products with the aim of causing less impact on nature and the world.

Low/Minimum Waste: the concept of zero or minimal waste in fashion presents a production of little or no textile waste in the production cycle. The technique allows different ways: creating a design that uses 100% of a certain material or using these leftovers to make another product, always with the main objective of avoiding the disposal and production of waste.

Made by women: brands that celebrate and value women in the workforce. Fashion as a path to female empowerment.

Handcrafted: handcrafted products and traditional techniques, careful choice of materials and a strong connection between the creator and the final product.

“The “handmade” not only brings a more human connection to fashion, but also a certain exclusivity for the consumer, since the production of the articles is not mass.”

Social Responsibility: products and brands that value the positive social impact on the community, value their employees in an egalitarian and fair way, in addition to respecting diversity and practicing inclusion throughout their production chain.

Conscious use of natural resources: as an industry that uses natural resources on a large scale, brands that value the conscious use of resources in their production are extremely important. This includes the way in which water, soil and forest resources are used.

“To move towards a more conscious production, it is interesting to use reused water or think of ways to reduce the use of water and energy, rethink the use of chemical products and, of course, preserve our forests.”

Slow Fashion, timeless and on demand: a fashion movement that values the product’s production processes: who makes it, the way it is made, the materials used, cultural aspects and respect for the time of making that product. It’s about producing in a slower, more conscious and respectful way with people and the planet. Many brands that adopt the movement work with an on-demand production, avoiding waste and excess inventory.

Ethical and/or local production: ethical fashion is one whose main pillar is the concern for the people involved in its production chain – decent and fair working conditions, contributing to the preservation of cultural traditions and prioritizing local production that values the region and its community.

Transparency and Fair Trade: transparency in fashion is fundamental for the sustainable development of the sector. Transparent businesses promote more conscious choices.

“It is through knowledge that we are able to demand more from the industry and start a discussion aspiring to an increasingly sustainable fashion.”

Sustainability, Curation, Community, Transparency, Education

Brand curation and analysis in 3 steps:

1. Brand analysis by framework and criteria – brands must fulfill at least 1 of the 20 criteria;

2. Meeting with the brand;

3. Sending a questionnaire to the brand that allows questioning the entire production process and brand governance, in order to verify its eco-responsibility.

“We want to help people make more thoughtful decisions, and show that it is possible to consume more sustainably; Coletivx was created with the aim of promoting conscious consumption of fashion and lifestyle. We want brands that share these values with us and that care about the future of our planet, seeking to minimize their socio-environmental impacts and trying to be their best versions throughout their production chain.”

Coletivx Brands

“From personal experience, I know how hard it is to find brands committed to social and environmental issues, without leaving fashion curation aside. That’s why I wanted to create a single place where people could find all these brands and make it easier for them to consume in a more conscious way,” Sofia Oliveira, Coletivx.

Circular Economy

We are experiencing a transition, a paradigm shift where creativity and empathy are imperative.

Platforms like Coletivx lead the way with new ways of working and caring for their employees.

The circular approach stimulates innovation and gives meaning to business, giving impetus to the development of new materials and processes. Read More…

#sustentabilidade #coletivx #circularidade #economiacircular #modacircular

18.04.22

Second-hand market by Fashinnovation

Blog

“Fashinnovation crosses boarders and broadens certain topics, including goals for sustainable development goals, social impact, diversity, inclusion, entrepreneurship, connectivity and new technologies, which are all seen through the lens of innovation.”

The journalist and head of content for the Fashinnovation platform, Júlia Vilaça, presents the article “Second-hand market: the future of the fashion industry or a momentary trend?”

Second-hand market: the future of the fashion industry or a momentary trend?

The second-hand market has clearly grown in recent years. Buying used products has proven to be a trend not only in Brazil, but also abroad.

However, is this a trend that is here to stay, or will we once again witness the emptying of second-hand stores?

In order to understand this phenomenon and its growth better, it is important to analyze the tangible data that is available and how the market is facing this new reality.

Second-hand products: warming up a circular economy

In a simplified way, the act of selling and buying items that a person no longer uses and enabling others to redefine those items promotes a circular economy in society.

This concept emerged in 1989 in an article written by the British economists and environmentalists David W. Pearce and R. Kerry Turner. At the time, They discussed how the traditional economy was not taking recycling into account. Thus, the environment was taken for granted, treated exclusively as a source of raw materials and, later, as a mere waste reservoir – in other words, a waste dump.

Therefore, as a counterpoint to the traditional linear economy, which has a motto of “extracting, producing and discarding”, the concept of a circular economy emerged, inspired by nature’s cyclical logic.

Although the concept of circular economy is relatively new, resale, or rather the sale of second-hand products, is not a new practice. Quite the contrary. This type of activity has been around since before the invention of money.

In the famous barters, people would exchange food products and basic needs among themselves. However, the exchanges did not stop there. Getting rid of an item or material which was no longer needed was also common and widely practiced. After all, why keep something if it can be used by someone else? And, better yet why not earn money from selling the items that are sitting in the closet?

The Strong Return of the Second-Hand Market

The practice that was once very strong in the 1980s and 1990s has fully returned.

In October of last year, Vogue Brasil published a news article discussing the increase in sales of second-hand products during the pandemic. According to the article, even though the circular economy was already a growing reality before 2020, the pandemic consolidated this practice. Currently, nearly a year after the article was published, estimates have proven to be vigorous.

Jordana Guimarães, co-founder of Fashinnovation – a global platform of fashion and innovation – affirms that, “resaleis definitely a tendency that is here to stay and will continue to grow. It is a way of becoming more sustainable without interfering on many aspects of the production chain.”

According to ThredUp’s 2021 Resale Report, the estimation is that market reaches US $64 billion in the next five years – a 500% growth.

Generation Z is the group that has been buying and selling second-hand products the most. If in the coming years more and more young people achieve economic independence and purchasing power, this tendency is really promising.

The alliance between Resale and Sustainability

Buying and selling second-hand products happens for a number of different reasons. Passion for vintage items and cheaper prices are certainly strong appeals. However, there is one key element that must be mentioned: sustainability.

The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. It is responsible for 8% of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, second only to the oil sector. Polyester, one of the most commonly used fibers in the market, is responsible for the annual emission of 32 tons out of the 57 million global tons of carbon emissions. It does not stop there.

The amount of waste generated by the fashion industry is daunting. Textile waste strongly contributes to the pollution of rivers, oceans, and the overcrowding of landfills – which, in turn, incinerates a large part of the discarded material, generating more pollution.

When buying second-hand products, a new meaning is given to the used items and there is a new possibility of circulating these products, which can be put to new use. In other words, new products are not created in this process, reducing carbon emissions and, obviously, the generation of waste. After all, it prevents items from being discarded.

Of course, the resale issue is much more complex than that. The quality of the items is essential for buying and selling second-hand products. However, concerns regarding eco-responsibility also plays a role in this area, since an increasing number of consumers are demonstrating their commitment to the quality of the products and the brands’ transparency.

Technology in the Second-Hand Market

Today there is a wide variety of apps and websites that sell second-hand products. It is possible to find clothes, but also accessories and decorative items in digital stores that bring together several brands in one place. In other words, we are talking about a resale marketplace.

On the other hand, those who think the second-hand market is exclusively fostered by thrift shops are mistaken. There are currently many platforms and tools that allow brands to resell their own products.

From luxury brands to those with more affordable prices, gradually consumers are finding a section of used items on the websites of these brands. Those who wish to let go of a certain item can now deliver it to the brand and get a discount on their next purchase, while the loyal resale buyers are given the chance to purchase the items directly on the brand’s website.

Whether one visits the iconic thrift shops in São Paulo or does online shopping on websites and apps, the second-hand market has proven itself strong and has gained more and more followers. The combination of consumer awareness with the need to change the current forms of production and consumption patterns is a great ally in promoting resale. So, whether buying a 2000s Louis Vuitton or vintage jeans for BRL 25.00, this market has united eco-conscious practices with more affordable prices. It has proven to rise and succeed and it is here to stay.

By Júlia Vilaça, Journalist and Head of Content at Fashinnovation

#fashioninnovatioln #mercadodesegundamão #fashinnovation #circularidade #economiacircular #resale

26.10.21

Circular Economy, the future of fashion

Blog

Since before the pandemic hit, trend studies and futurism point to a paradigm shift, and the future of fashion is not different.

The way we live and consume is at stake: knowing and understanding sustainable work processes expands our creative perspective and shows that it is possible to transform through concrete actions, using tools and processes to develop products and services that respect the environment.

No wonder that research presented by the McKinsey & Company reaffirms that sustainable brands and circular business models are the future of fashion.

“The fashion industry emits approximately the same amount of greenhouse gases per year as all the economies of France, Germany and the UK combined. By 2030, it will need to cut its emissions in half – or else it will cross the 1.5-degree path to mitigating climate change, established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and confirmed in the 2015 Paris agreement,” McKinsey & Company.

“The value chain of traditional linear fashion transitions to a circular system”, Business of Fashion.

We are living through a transition, a change, and a paradigm shift. What now? The pandemic further leveraged what was already underway and created new demands for the fashion business.

Creativity and empathy are imperative and Brazilian brands have been looking for new ways of working and caring for their employees. The circular approach encourages innovation and gives more meaning to the business that is done, creating momentum for the development of new materials and processes.

The article “A more circular fashion industry will require a collective effort,” published in The State of Fashion 2021, a global fashion industry report, and co-published by BoF and McKinsey & Company, presented consumer commitment and circularity as the keys to a more sustainable future.

“Luxury brands are evolving, more than 75% of the top 50 global luxury players are now using eco-friendly materials, while 75% are looking to reduce packaging, use more renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions”, WGSN.

What does the consumer want?

A more conscious consumption process and future express the consumer’s social responsibility. “Over three of every five consumers said that environmental impact is an important factor in making purchasing decisions”, McKinsey.

Having said that, a promising way for the fashion world to reduce its environmental impact is by expanding circular business models, strategies to reduce waste and more efficiently use resources. “When it comes down to protecting the environment, the fashion industry knows that ‘less is more,’” the least amount of impact on the planet, the more benefits will be generated for business, people, and the environment.

“Despite the efforts of some participants, up to 12% of fibers are still discarded on the shop floor, 25% of clothes remain unsold, and less than 1% of products are recycled into new clothing. Given these numbers, action is imperative and inevitable. In fact, circularity could become the biggest disruptor for the fashion industry in the next decade,” BoF.

The priority must be to define circular strategies, address scalability challenges and take steps to scale the solutions.

The challenge of sizing circularity is the value multiplier effect in the circular system that is radically different from the linear system. “In essence, a single piece of clothing can create value over and over again – through sale and resale, repeated rental or being sold, repaired, returned, refurbished or recycled and resold again to restart the cycle,” says the Business of Fashion platform.

The sizing of circularity promotes strategies led by a diverse cast of actors and based on three core capabilities: embrace sustainable design – circularity begins in the drawing board, fabrics, and materials that designers use in their creations, “projecting for zero waste requires innovation of materials and products;” increasing reverse logistics – to optimize value retention; and support customer adoption – “for younger consumers born into the shared economy, adopting circularity is a natural step. However, older consumers may demand education and encouragement.”

In an interview with the O GLOBO newspaper, Oskar Metsavaht, creative director of Osklen, the OM.art studio, and founder of Instituto-E (which has developed and implemented social and environmental projects for over 20 years) analyzes:

“What’s lacking is an understanding of the Sustainable Social and Environmental Development concept. We forget that the human being’s relationship with nature was what led to the evolution of civilization, with its achievements and consequences. We can use natural resources for economic development, if we leave everything the same or better than what we found, for future generations. My take is to think ASAP, ‘As Sustainable As Possible and As Soon As Possible.’ Being 100% sustainable overnight is not viable”, Oskar Metsavaht.

Circularity is not the kind of revolution that can be led by some people, while others wait and see. The effort must be collective and collaborative. Let the changes begin.

Ana Khouri and Projeto Ovo (“Egg Project”)

“’Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.’ This is a quote by Barack Obama. We at Projeto Ovo love this quote, for we believe it is of the utmost urgency to become the creators of our lives and of a new reality, rather than placing ourselves as victims of it.”

In 2014, associate Ana Khouri launched Projeto Ovo, a nonprofit organization to raise funds for 80 Brazilian NGOs.

“Projeto Ovo does two things at once: gives new life to old clothes and helps underprivileged people by donating 100% of sales proceeds.”

The project sells second-hand clothes and accessories on the online platform and reverts 100% of the value to social and environmental causes in Brazil.

“The egg symbolizes rebirth and a new life, hence the name of the project. We regard the whole as part of ourselves. And so, we are one.”

#economiacircular #projetoovo #anakhouri #modacircular #sistemacircular #circularidade

25.10.21

BRAZILIAN FASHION IS SUSTAINABLE AND UNIQUE IN ITS PERSONALITY

Blog

Amazon and Fashion

To protect the Amazon, one of the most valuable natural assets and the largest natural reserve on the planet, Brazilian brands have developed initiatives that empower coastal communities and use ecological raw material to renew the local flora and fauna. Brazilian fashion is sustainable and unique in its identity.

Indeed, we are polluters. The fashion market has great challenges ahead. No wonder, several movements and initiatives are spreading throughout the world. For many brands, it is still no possible to be 100% sustainable. There are many factors to consider for restructuring the entire chain, but it is vital to be aware of the tools and pay attention to the transformations that are already in course.

The future of the industry depends on a more sophisticated outlook to reassess the industry’s goals, adapt management schemes and seek strategies not only to meet customer demands, but also to review work processes and the chain as a whole.

Amazon Made in Brazil

Sustainability is not an option. Now, consumers are seeking transparency and the pandemic has surely accelerated the tendencies that were already underway before the crisis.

“We are aware of the problems and challenges involving our biome, but it is more a question of knowing what tools we need to overcome these issues and the results we must attain. Our job has been geared towards proposing a positive agenda for the sustainable development of the biome. Amazon Day is a day of celebration,” emphasizes Maria Cecília Wey de Brito, general secretary of WWF-Brasil.

September 5^th was chosen as the date to promote awareness regarding the need to preserve the world’s largest tropical rainforest.

Osklen, Vert, and the sustainable processes in the Amazon

Osklen

Osklen, a Brazilian brand committed to sustainability, found a way to consciously use the skin of Pirarucu fish from sustainable farms in the state of Rondônia, in the Amazon, which was previously being discarded and becoming a polluting element.

“Pirarucu is one of the largest freshwater fish on the planet. It is a native species from the Amazon and a vital part of the ecosystem, in addition to being a source of income for riverside communities that live off non-predatory fishing.”

The process implemented by Osklen protects the species, balances the region’s food supply and economy, while also contributing to the preservation of the Amazon Forest.

“When compared to cattle raising, this system emits far less quantities of carbon dioxide and helps reforest the region. Pirarucu breeders can reach 40% more productivity than cattle breeding using the same amount of land.”

Simultaneous actions unite us in the search for solutions

Hub-E and Pre-COP Conferences are held in September 2021, and it is where Oskar Metsavaht, founder of Osklen, presents workshops to inspire, engage and promote a change in mindset when it comes to sustainability.

Hub-E presents the 6E’s concept of Instituto-E: earth, environment, energy, education, empowerment and economics. Learn more.

Vert

Vert, a clean urban design footwear brand, features its 100% Brazilian production and raw material, always seeking positive impact, both social and environmental.

Since 2005, the brand has used around 120 tons of organic cotton and 75 tons of wild rubber from the Amazon. During this period, 160 people were given job opportunities in the brand’s cooperatives and over 30 direct jobs were created around the world.

“Vert bets on fair trade as an essential tool for green economy.”

Each pair of sneakers sold generates an average of BRL 1.10 for cotton producers in the Semiarid Northeast and BRL 1.00 for rubber tappers in the state of Acre. As an incentive, Vert pays an additional BRL 2.50 per kilo of cotton, which associations use to improve working conditions.

“We don’t believe in a romantic view of ecology. Our path is economic recovery. At Vert, this involves social work: the rubber tappers and the cotton producers receive a distinctive value for preserving our forests and Brazilian land,” explains François-Ghislain Morillion, co-founder of the brand.

Vert develops shoe soles made from native Amazon rubber, from the Chico Mendes co-op, which in partnership with WWF and the state of Acre’s government, generates income for 90 rubber tapper families who extract the raw material from the heart of the forest.

The process features the Smoked Liquid Sheet (Folha Defumada Líquida – FDL) technology, developed at the University of Brasília by professor Floriano Pastore, that transforms latex into semi-finished rubber sheets, without any intermediate industrial interference, and has a higher resale value.

“For the soles of our sneakers, we buy rubber directly from three rubber tapper associations in the Amazon, paying a differentiated price for latex. This fair pricing values the work of rubber tappers and thus helps combat deforestation.”

Vegan raw material

Transparency is one of the brand’s main commitments and its possible to find information about the chain of production and management, including the stages in which the brand has not yet achieved 100% sustainable solution.

“Our synthetic suede is made in Brazil in a factory that monitors the use of water and chemical products. Even so, synthetic suede is still petroleum-based, and our goal is to find 100% organic alternatives.”

On the brand’s website, they explain the origin of materials used in their production, while also presenting the obstacles and difficulties faced in the process: “CWL is an alternative material to leather we have used since January 2019 in the Camp model. It is of biological origin and composed of corn. Today, it is difficulty to trace the corn production sector, where the large scale ends up hindering the transparency of the bio-plastic industry. We are looking for solutions to accompany the entire organic agricultural waste chain.”

It is also important to point out that Vert Shoes (known abroad as Veja Shoes) is a company undergoing certification by B Corp. “Selo B” is a certification that assesses the company’s global impact, “A global community of leaders who use their businesses to build a more inclusive, equitable and regenerative economic system for people and for the planet.” (Learn more about B Corp Certification). Yes, we are polluters, but changes are already underway, and the fashion industry will not be left behind.

04.09.21