Rombaut x Melissa collaborated on a series of blockbusters
In order to create a sustainable future, all parties in the industry need to be involved. Young, independent brands have developed a root-drafting campaign, consumers demand transparency and two-way commitments, big companies invest in advanced technology, and governments enact laws to hold polluters accountable. ”
Entering the third decade of the 21st century, with the all-round rise of the "post-materialistic carnival era", the formation of environmental activists and the use of influence on social networking sites, people are beginning to re-examine the astonishing waste behind this gorgeous palace. In 2019, as the radical climate strategy protest group Extinction Rebellion "invaded" London Fashion Week, they held aloft the slogan "There's No Fashion On A Dead Planet," a threatening letter to the future that further fueled the hottest conversation in fashion circles today. Will we witness "sustainable" brands spread like wildfire? What will sustainable fashion look like in the foreseeable and optimistic future? Here, we talk to Mats Rombaut, an environmental pioneer and founder of vegan footwear brand Rombaut and Virón, about the behindmath of the "sustainable" journey nine years ago, the ambitions of the "vegan" closed-loop system, new materials, and the current and future of sustainable fashion.
Rombaut shoe series blockbuster
Sustainability is the future
Rombaut and Virón are two of the most popular eco-friendly footwear brands today, founded by Mats Rombaut in 2013 and 2020 respectively, and creating responsible fashion in the best possible way has always been the Belgian designer's most interesting topic. At the beginning of Rombaut's founding, there was no decent luxury or independent designer brand in the fashion industry to produce beautiful vegan shoes, Mats hoped to turn things around in a sexy and eye-catching way; by 2021, things have changed, and the new brand Virón, which he co-founded with environmental activist Julian Romer, which mixes electronic music and street environmental resistance genes, quickly won the attention of Kanye West and achieved explosive growth. Their shoes are now becoming one of the favorites of the younger generation.
Mats believes that "we no longer need to rely on animal leather or fur to keep out the cold" and "there is no need to kill animals in order to produce more clothes". This core idea is now mainstream, and in recent years luxury brands including Gucci, Prada and Burberry have issued statements that "refuse to use animal furs". Despite the question "Who is greener with real and fake fur?" The controversy has been ongoing, but by February 2020, peta of the American Society for Caring for Animals published a note about "it's time to end the anti-fur street nudity campaign that links celebrities," which means that our designers rarely use animal furs anymore.
Virón shoe series blockbuster
Fashion companies are starting to reflect on what they've done in the past, and that's fine. Huge profits have been made in the past in barbaric expansions, while also creating mountains of unmarketable goods (which has led to areas such as Chile's Atacama Desert becoming "fashion junkyards"...). Fast fashion brands can only now look for more reasonable forms. Due to the involvement of relevant legislation, brands must be held accountable for their entire supply chain, and the once ruthless cutting behavior no longer works. In 2020, France introduced the Anti-Waste Law, which further regulates and punishes the destruction and landfilling of unsold unsold unsalable items; the following year, the "Repairability Index" was introduced, which means that manufacturers must incorporate "sustainability" into the thinking process of product design and score products on a 10 out of 10 points for the difficulty of repair; and in the same year, the European Union passed a proposal on "due diligence on environmentally friendly governance". The profit-driven, more-than-all business philosophy is outdated and has a bigger impact: in the future, a fast-fashion model of selling a lot of inferior clothes at low prices will be a huge disaster for brands and will give way to brand strategies that sell fewer and more durable clothes at high prices.
However, even if the future of sustainable fashion is promising, it does not mean that emphasizing "sustainable" will generate additional sales for brands. Mats' view is that "sustainability needs to be attractive and sexy if it's going to work". That's what he's been working for for Rombaut since nine years ago. At the same time, as "sustainable" became a new trend in fashion, brands that branded the label began to be further regulated by legislation. As recently as 2021, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority issued the Green Claims Code, which stipulates that companies that make misleading or vague sustainability statements will find themselves inadvertently violating consumer protection laws. Brands that cannot clearly state the specific areas in which they have implemented "sustainability" will be taken seriously. Mats Rombaut is currently working on an entirely new closed-loop system, which he believes will be the future of sustainable fashion and will truly change the world.
In a sexy way
Make responsible fashion
Q: Can you tell us about Romeut and Virón and how exactly these two brands are sustainable?
A: Rombaut and Virón were born out of the need to make an impact on the fashion industry with sustainability as a primary goal. For us, that means sourcing the best non-native and recyclable materials and bringing together a human community around both brands that cares about the planet as well as design.
Q: You mentioned how Virón converted food waste into footwear and old rubber soles into new sneakers, how did that happen in your work? Why is sustainability so important in the fashion world today?
A: The main idea behind the use of bio-based leathers is to reduce the amount of chemical oil contained in vegetarian leather alternatives. Of all the materials we've tested, we've found Appleskin™ to be the most effective because it's plant-based leather made from scrap from the apple juice industry in northern Italy that's both durable, recyclable and anti-polluting. Sustainability is fundamental not only for the industry, but also for society as a whole; the future of the planet depends on us.
Q: Does your country or government help or reward your brand for these sustainability strategies?
A: In Belgium, the government has not yet helped with this eco-friendly initiative. For me, it's purely a matter of personal vision and ethics. This help would have been very much needed because the initial cost and investment made to achieve the kind of product we are making is considerable.
Q: Before sustainability became the buzzword today, how did you get into sustainability and firmly make it a part of your brand DNA?
A: It all started when I was 21 years old, I watched a lot of documentaries about pollution on the planet and realized that animal husbandry, the way farm animals are industrially raised, has a huge negative impact on the environment. In addition to that, it's also brutal. After watching all these documentaries, I decided I wanted to make a change.
In the fashion world at the time, no luxury or designer brand produced good-looking vegetarian shoes. The only material available is cotton, such as canvas. I decided that if it was going to work, sustainability needed to become attractive and sexy. That's what we've been doing for Rombaut since nine years ago.
Q: What future trends in sustainable fashion have you noticed over the years? What impact does this have on the sustainability of your brand?
A: I don't think sustainability should be classified as a trend, it's a long-term process and goal. Unfortunately, it's treated like that by a lot of brands that try to take advantage of the word.
That's why we prefer to say that we make responsible fashion in the best possible way. Compared to others, we are quite ahead of the curve in terms of production methods and concepts, so we don't look at others. Since we've been doing this for so long, we're committed to long-term solutions, not trends.
Q: What are some sustainable fashion trends that excite you right now, and why?
A: We're working hard to build a closed-loop system, and we believe that's the future. The most exciting thing will happen in a more responsible way of producing. The process starts at the very beginning of your design, because you have to test what happens when the wearer runs out of shoes. It's a challenge, but exciting because it can really change the world.
Q: Where do you look for the latest eco-friendly materials?
We look for three types of materials: existing materials, which you call "upcycling." We go to old military warehouses, inquire around, and do a lot of research online; recycled materials, which can be recycled cotton, recycled nylon, which we find at suppliers in Italy, Spain and Portugal; at the same time, we keep in touch with many innovative suppliers who are developing new high-tech materials, such as Appleskin™, which is the main material we use in all our boots. We find these people through our network, at trade fairs and online. Sometimes, they even contact us because they love what we're doing and they want to launch an exclusive material with us.
Q: What does the future of sustainable fashion look like?
A: For a sustainable future, we need all parties in the industry to be involved. Independent, young brands like ours create grassroots movements, consumers demand transparency and cross-commitment, big companies invest in advanced technology, and governments enact laws to hold polluters accountable.
Q: What's next for Rombaut and Virón?
A: At Rombaut, we actually maintain a fairly focused collection and produce fewer products at a higher level of design and creativity than ever before. In addition to that, we've built a core collection, which is just a few of the necessities you'll need in your wardrobe. The story became more personal, tied to my personal inspiration and whatever I wanted to do at the moment. That's good because I really don't need to think about sales.
For Virón, its influence is exploding to the point that we don't have enough inventory to meet demand. Kanye West uses our shoes in his latest music video, and there will definitely be more cool projects coming up soon. We have many exciting collaborations coming soon. We always try to keep it fun because in the process, our fun is important. Not only is the fashion brand on our list of collaborations, it can be magazines, scientists, DJs, artists.
「 Virón 」
More than just a fashion brand,
It's a platform,
It is a complete world.
Written by J
Edit William