Bestseller is a strategic partner in the Global Fashion Agenda, a group working to set a common direction for industry efforts on sustainability. Bestseller has announced three strategic action points on post-consumer textile waste in response to the ‘Call to Action’ put out by the Global Fashion Agenda in early 2017. The action points are considered accelerators in the transition to a circular fashion system, and Bestseller has committed to report on the progress annually till 2020.
By 2020, all Bestseller designers and buyers will have completed a training module on circular fashion design. Bestseller’s sustainability manager Dorte Rye says knowledge is the foundation to address the overall topic and the first action point of ‘implementing a design strategy for cyclability’. The second action point supports the focus on ‘increasing volume of used garments collected’. By 2020, Bestseller will offer and promote a used garment collection channel to consumers in selected markets together with relevant partners, it must be a setup that makes sense for all parties involved.
Bestseller will conduct a pilot with two jeans styles containing recycled post-consumer cotton. The jeans are to be included in the ‘never out of stock range’ within Jack & Jones. In 2018, the pilot will be completed and results evaluated.
Dorte says it is important to note that the Call To Action is focused on post-consumer textile waste, meaning that other recycled materials already used in the Bestseller supply chain, such as recycled polyester from PET bottles, are not included in this context. The specific products in the pilot will contain the highest possible amount of recycled post-consumer cotton to reach a high level of quality. The remaining cotton will be sourced as either Better Cotton or organic cotton.
