Sustainability is gaining more and more consumer attention. According to a 2018 Nielsen survey, nearly three-quarters of consumers worldwide say they are willing to change their spending habits in order to reduce their negative impact on the environment. In the past few years, consumers' pursuit of the environment has also continued to advance, and in the June 2021 Global Consumer Insights Survey released by PWC, 50% of respondents believe that they have become more "eco-friendly".
Changes in consumers have brought greater shocks and changes to the fashion industry. In McKinsey's "Fashion Format 2020" report, the fashion industry still accounts for 6% of the overall greenhouse gas emissions, 10% to 20% of pesticide use, detergents, solvents and dyes used in manufacturing account for 20% of industrial water pollution, and fashion products account for 20% to 35% of the microplastics flowing into the ocean. For the fashion industry, sustainability is an urgent need to deal with, and the development of sustainable fashion is not only about the future of the brand, but also about the future of the industry.
The relationship between man and nature has always occupied an extremely important place in the creation of art, and sustainable development provides us with a new perspective on reimagining and practicing the relationship between man and other living and non-living individuals at a time when we are deeply mired in climate and ecological crisis, that is, the symbiosis between man and nature."
From April 13 to 17, Archaeopteryx and UCCA Lab held a unique exhibition of sustainable theme art at the Ancestral Home of Tseria.
This black and mysterious exhibition hall is full of possibilities for reshaping waste. Behind the colorful round holes on the exhibition wall are the parts and pieces of rags taken from the recycled clothes of Archaeopteryx, and as they go deep into the interior of the exhibition hall, the size of the round holes gradually becomes larger, and the fine parts gradually evolve into complete works along with the design language of splicing, which is the latest joint product brought by Archaeopteryx and Greater Goods. In the layout of the exhibition hall, the materials of UCCA Lab's past art exhibitions have also been applied to the exhibition with the theme of Sustainability of Archaeopteryx, which further implements the concept of circular sustainability.
Feiyu Tian, Director and CEO of UCCA Lab, said: "ARC'TERYX Archaeopteryx pioneered this time with its unique REBIRD sustainable plan as the theme, cross-border art, with the exquisitely conceived theme art exhibition as the medium, to show the brand's exploration and practice of this grand proposition to the audience, thus triggering more people's thinking and action, which is of great value and significance for artistic exploration and improving the actual living environment of human beings." ”
For outdoor brands, outdoor sports means being close to nature, and the functional design of outdoor brands is for human beings to live in harmony with nature. Hong Tianxiang, founder of the Planet Research Institute, mentioned that as an outdoor sports enthusiast, in the process of outdoor exploration, he will minimize the impact of his activities on the environment. Outdoor enthusiasts have the greatest respect and kindness to nature, which is the connection between outdoor sports and sustainable nature. Major outdoor sports brands see sustainability as the same DNA as outdoor sports, and they respond to sustainability.
In the view of Liu Xueli, artistic director of UCCA Lab, Archaeopteryx, who was born in the mountains and grew up outdoors, faces the shock brought by nature more closely, which is also the most primitive and authentic driving force for sustainable development. Zhang Dachuan, co-founder and vice president of WWD China, believes that Archaeopteryx's practice of sustainability has enabled the upstream, middle, and lower reaches of the industry and industry partners to see how to turn the concept of sustainability into reality through systematic and scientific methods.
As the leading brand of outdoor clothing, Archaeopteryx presents this vision to the fullest, and is worthy of being a pioneer practitioner of sustainability.
According to statistics, the world produces more than 80 billion pieces of clothing every year, and the textile fibers used to produce these clothes use about 3.78 trillion liters of water, 1.2492 million liters of crude oil and 9.072 billion kilograms of chemicals, and only about 20% of these garments are recycled or reused, and a large number of clothing will eventually become waste in landfills.
If these discarded clothes are properly recycled, redesigned and put into use, and revitalized, this will not only set off a trend of redesign of old things, but also a highly practical environmental protection measure. This aesthetic of reinventing old things is also attracting the attention of more and more sustainable brands and consumers. Zhang Dachuan believes that in the fashion industry with a complex industrial chain, when talking about sustainability, we must see the "integrity" and "systematicness" it contains, and think and promote it from the entire life cycle.
Archaeopteryx's latest series of Global assets products, which are "recycled", "restructured" and "unique", are designed to advance sustainability throughout the entire life cycle.
In REBIRD Sustainable Art, Archaeopteryx once again collaborated with Greater Goods, a leader in the aesthetics of remodeling old things. Since its inception, Greater Goods has been promoting and promoting the recyclability of materials, breaking the continuous production of goods through the recycling market, and the circular economy it represents is an important trend of sustainable fashion. In circular fashion, design once again gives second-hand clothing a differentiating value. Fashion is not only about bringing fresh products, but also more sustainable for consumers to recycle products with a high artistic atmosphere.
The works in this exhibition are all jaimus Tailor, founder of Greater Goods, using second-hand clothes recycled by Archaeopteryx, deconstructing and reorganizing them, using their creativity to unleash the infinite possibilities of each piece of material within a limited scope, thus creating a unique "work of art".
The published co-branded series uses a large number of collage elements. The fabric produced by rigorous craftsmanship presents an unconventional angle and irrational role under the seemingly random collage, and the misplacing and stitching of various patterns and color blocks form a broken but vibrant image, which well enhances the beauty and interest of collage art.
In Zhang Dachuan's view, such a model breaks the limitations of fashion being imprisoned by visual pursuits, and pays more attention to the contribution of environmental protection and public welfare, through the recycling and reproduction of some materials, not only makes each single item impossible to copy, but also brings a strong artistic atmosphere, which is very forward-looking. Liu Xueli believes that it is easier to broaden the boundaries of thought through the perspective of artists, and to explore the boundaries of outdoor design, it is easier to pass on the value of alpine outdoors to people at different levels, so that the spirit of artistic exploration can be transformed into practical actions that affect and improve the world.
Archaeopteryx's ability to be a sustainable pioneer practitioner has to do with its brand culture. Born in the Canadian Coast Mountains, Archaeopteryx, rooted in the mountains, has always adhered to the tireless pursuit of excellent products, with a practical spirit and trendy points.
Generally speaking, most brands will first choose to use environmentally friendly natural fabrics, reduce industrial wastewater and other "conventional basic" operations, but in addition to the time in these single dimensions, but also in the rapid economic development, industrial transformation and consumer awareness upgrade, the sustainable strategy of fashion industry participants has cut from "basic operation" to the path of finding complete sustainable solutions. This is also a sustainable development model from a single-line economy to a recycling economy to a circular economy.
In recent years, Archaeopteryx, the head brand of outdoor sports, has also been a "vanguard" in exploring sustainability. In 2021, Archaeopteryx launched the REBIRD Sustainability Program, which is not only the beginning of Archaeopteryx's integration of nature and fashion, but also the link of Archaeopteryx's "raw material-manufacturing-use-disposal" of the traditional clothing industry, through reduce, REUSE, REPAIR, RESPECT four dimensions into a pioneering practice with unlimited possibilities of circular mode.
Whether it's the REBIRD Sustainability Theme Exhibition or the launch of a new range of sustainable products with Greater Goods, it's actually an important part of Archaeopteryx's sustainability program, REBIRD.
REBIRD is a way for Archaeopteryx to give new life, with the concept of deeply practicing the circular economy and promoting net zero emissions, mainly from the four dimensions of REDUCE, REUSE, REPAIR, and RESPECT. In addition to the model of reproducing second-hand clothing with Greater Goods, Archaeopteryx is also increasing the utilization rate of products by clearing stocks, promoting second-hand leasing and resale models, and providing cleaning and repair services for products already sold to improve the service life of clothes, while products will choose environmentally friendly, humanitarian materials from the beginning. Archaeopteryx's REBIRD sustainability program not only upgrades the production model, but also includes a series of sales and after-sales service iterations of the brand.
It can be said that for Archaeopteryx, REBIRD is not only a pioneering practice for Archaeopteryx for sustainability, but also a "mission" of Archaeopteryx to advocate circulation and respect nature.
Under the consensus of the community of human destiny, sustainability is the "stepping stone" for the future development of the industry. For a notoriously polluting industry like the fashion industry, in addition to outdoor sports brands, such as popular luxury brands and fast fashion brands are working hard towards sustainability.
From manufacturing to marketing, embracing sustainability has never been more important.
The target consumer group of outdoor sports brands pays more attention to nature and the environment, and sustainability is more important for outdoor sports brands. But the significance of sustainability to the brand is by no means in the concept of environmental protection itself, Archaeopteryx as a leading enterprise in outdoor clothing in addition to focusing on their own sustainability, but also at the industry level to encourage everyone to "do the right thing".
Inspired by the Coast Mountains, Archaeopteryx continues to expand its horizons through product design. In the process, Archaeopteryx found that sustainable development requires the joint efforts and cooperation of all brands and consumers, "sustainable" is a design idea, a means of production, but also a way of life, but also the brand, industry and consumers will always work. Archaeopteryx put forward the sustainable development position of "pursuing a broader pattern beyond the surrounding environment".
The fashion industry has a long way to go in finding solutions that achieve sustainable long-term development, and in its pursuit of product design and outdoor adventures, Archaeopteryx finds that this is directly related to and interplays with the health of the Earth's climate, economic recyclability, worker well-being and community diversity. Based on this concept, Archaeopteryx has established a systematic sustainable development work framework with four pillars of community impact, circulation, climate and worker well-being to pursue a broader layout. Archaeopteryx recognizes that the global challenges we face can only be solved by working together, and "doing the right thing" is Archaeopteryx's call for positive change.
"Everything is connected, everything is relevant" Archaeopteryx's concern is also what the ecosystem around us tells us. In connecting with nature, everyone has the opportunity to participate in the change that comes with it. Archaeopteryx's commitment behind the REBIRD recycling concept is to extend the service life, eliminate waste and serve the longer present. Faced with the widespread problem of waste, Archaeopteryx issued an initiative for waste reuse, building a platform for upgrading, transforming, reselling, maintaining and repairing, and encouraging people to cherish items. Speaking of the significant impact of fashion on the climate, Archaeopteryx has proposed initiatives to reduce negative impacts, from renewable energy and supply chains to reduce carbon, increase durability, reduce carbon footprint and so on. Using 2018 as a baseline, Archaeopteryx expects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65% at headquarters, Canadian production facilities, global retail stores and the entire supply chain by 2030, and expects to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, looking beyond archaeopteryx's immediate actions and looking at changes across the industry. At the same time, Archaeopteryx is also launching initiatives to improve worker well-being, with 80% of its products certified fair trade by 2025.
Everything Archaeopteryx does is focused on the present and the future. Previously, Archaeopteryx also announced that Nicole McLaughlin, famous for recycling sports outdoor items and transforming them into cooler pieces, was the brand's first global design ambassador, which also shows that Archaeopteryx is still brewing more changes.
The future of the apparel industry is truly sustainable, and adhering to sustainability is also an important path for brands to develop in the long term. As a pioneer practitioner of sustainability, Archaeopteryx will meet a sustainable future with consumers who are increasingly concerned about sustainability by launching sustainable specialty products, holding high the banner of sustainability in marketing and publicity, and actively participating in social welfare. WWD
Content Planning Huayi Tomorrow Fashion Content Center
Written by Doyal
Image source provided by the brand