Regenerative Fashion: Who’s supporting it?

Last week we introduced the topic of regenerative leather after our founder, Vivienne Austin, discussed the dichotomy she was facing when considering using leather for the new collection for Scarlet Destiny with Nina Marzeni, the founder of The Sustainable Angle with an MSc in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development from the Imperial College in London, kindly advised her to look at regenerative leather. So that’s exactly what we’re doing.

With the future appearing to be headed towards regenerative practices all around, we’ve given our insights on this topic on our latest blog post here. When it comes to the fashion industry, there’s only a few brands who are taking on this new aspect of sustainability and moulding it into their collections. This week, we wanted to share our findings on who actually is using regenerative leather in fashion and how.

Timberland

In 2019, Timberland, the footwear and apparel brand, revealed plans to establish a 'regenerative leather' supply chain as part of its 2030 goal to create products with a "net positive impact". The company pledged to acquire all its natural materials from regenerative agriculture to enhance soil health. To fulfil its commitment to regenerative leather, Timberland is collaborating with U.S. partners, where 90% of its leather originates. These partners include Other Half Processing and Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed regenerative ranches, known for their sustainable practices in social, environmental, and animal welfare. These partnerships provide Timberland with high-quality hides that meet its standards for biodiversity, soil health, and carbon sequestration.

Timberland has already introduced products from its regenerative leather supply chain, such as updated versions of the Earthkeepers® Original 6-Inch Boot with Regenerative Leather and the Timberland® Heritage EK+ 6-Inch Waterproof Boots with Regenerative Leather. These boots incorporate Timberland's ReBOTLÔ fabric lining, which contains at least 50% recycled plastic.

Mulberry

As Timberland stands out as the pioneer in regenerative leather, the brand is inspiring other brands to follow suit. One notable example is the British luxury brand Mulberry, which detailed its regenerative goals in the Made to Last Manifesto released in April 2021. This manifesto includes ambitious plans to produce the world’s lowest carbon leather sourced from a network of environmentally conscious farms.

The increasing interest from brands in investing in regenerative leather is truly promising. While traditional leather is still sustainable, regenerative leather takes sustainability a step further. It delves into the soil, supporting natural ecosystems and giving back to the Earth more than it takes. Of course, Mulberry’s Manifesto remains as such for now, but we can’t wait to see when the brand plans to bring their sustainability promise.

Kering

While Kering might not be using regenerative textiles in all their collections yet, they’re doing what they can to make sure that brands are allowed into this sustainable supply chain, by making regenerative agriculture a more widespread practice around the world. In 2021, Kering and Conservation International introduced the Regenerative Fund for Nature, which was later joined by Inditex in 2023. Their shared objective is to convert 1,000,000 hectares of crop and rangelands within fashion supply chains into regenerative agricultural areas by 2026.

The launch of the Regenerative Fund for Nature in January 2021 is in line with Kering's Biodiversity strategy, demonstrating the Group's commitment to advancing biodiversity conservation. This initiative is crucial not only for the luxury industry's future but also for the health of our planet. The Fund aims to showcase how agricultural practices can have a positive impact on nature, climate change, and livelihoods, while also encouraging responsible sourcing practices in the fashion sector to improve quality and quantity in the supply chain. Ultimately, the Fund seeks to deliver concrete results in terms of biodiversity, climate change, animal welfare, and rural livelihoods by utilising advanced scientific tools and methodologies. Practically, the Fund provides grants to farming groups, project leaders, NGOs, and other stakeholders who are eager to implement, validate, and expand regenerative practices that prioritise working in harmony with natural ecosystems.

Patagonia

Patagonia is another brand dedicated to supporting the growth of regenerative farming. In 2017, they played a key role in creating the Regenerative Organic Certified certification, which promotes holistic agriculture practices including pasture-based animal welfare, fairness for farmers and workers, and stringent standards for soil health and land management.

Through these regenerative organic farming practices, farmers cultivate healthy soil that has the potential to sequester more carbon from the atmosphere compared to traditional methods. This is achieved through the implementation of age-old farming techniques such as cover crops, compost, crop rotation, intercropping and low-to no-tilling the soil.

Although their certification focused more on fibres that grow from the ground rather than livestock, it still makes a massive difference to have a certification to base our standards on, as mentioned in our previous article on this topic. As the brand has only been using organic cotton in their collections since 1996, their commitment to the Regenerative Organic Certification only amplifies their efforts.

[info sourced on leathernaturally.org, mulberry.com, kering.com and patagonia.com

All images sourced on canva.com]