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INNOVATIVE COLLECTION CLEANS UP JEANS’S ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT  

© 2020 Avery Dennison Corporation, All Rights Reserved.

Various trademarks and trade names are used herein and are the property of their respective owners.

Press Release


The R Collective’s upcycled denim collection, supported by Levi’s®, unites innovative design with manufacturing and labeling to reduce clothing’s climate impact and cleans up consumers’ care habits

HONG KONG —May 4th 2020— The R Collective announces its upcoming 11 May retail launch of its upcycled nine-piece Denim Reimagined collection, made with denim provided by Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) and designed by award-winning Hong Kong designer Jesse Lee, alongside their #WearAndCare sustainable consumer care campaign. The R Collective partnered with apparel industry innovators including LS&Co., through its Collaboratory fellowship program, Crystal International Group, Avery Dennison, Electrolux and environmental charity Redress to spearhead this innovative initiative that reduces apparel’s climate impact. 

“Our mission is to reduce fashion’s negative environmental impact. The fashion industry contributes to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. [1] When it comes to denim, consumer care and fabric production are the most significant phases for climate change impact. [2] This brave partnership with global-leading fashion businesses highlights how collaboration can pave the way for sustainable fashion breakthroughs,”


explains Christina Dean, founder The R Collective and Redress.
 

“Upcycling excess materials and extending the life of garments is one of the most sustainable things we can do with our clothing, as anyone who has owned a pair of vintage Levi’s® knows. As such, we’re proud to support creative upcycling projects like The R Collective’s Denim Reimagined and are encouraged to see the progress they have made.”

said Liz Lipton-McCombie, Director of Sustainability, at Levi Strauss & Co.. 
 

This unique upcycled collection offers a solution to one of the most pressing questions facing apparel supply chains: what should be done with excess materials? The R Collective’s answer is to utilize select Levi’s® aged inventory and irregular and leftover samples in a creative design effort to prolong denim’s lifespan. One pair of jeans, along its entire lifespan from crop to disposal, generates 33.4kgCO2-e, which is the equivalent of driving 69 miles by the average US car.

“My upcycled collection brings sustainability to the forefront,” said designer, Jesse Lee. “I reimagined my design process, by starting with excess materials and having a goal of creating a product that creatively helps people to understand how their clothing choices and care habits affect climate change.”


Denim Reimagined launches The R Collective’s global #WearAndCare sustainable consumer care campaign to educate the public, who contribute 37% of jeans’s total climate change impact after the point of purchase in how they wash, dry and dispose of their clothes.
 

To maximise the consumer experience, world-leading packaging materials science, manufacturing and tech partner, Avery Dennison, created Denim Reimagined’s innovative product labeling, made from recycled materials and using zero-waste water-soluble materials. Each of the clothing’s care labels include an integrated digital experience, provided by Avery Dennison’s Janela™ solution  and connected to a unique digital identity in the cloud to manage data from and about the denim item. Using a smartphone, consumers simply scan the unique QR code on the garment’s care label to learn more about the clothing item and receive one of four different sustainability-themed messages and videos: how the garment was made; how to care for clothes to reduce clothing’s climate impact; solutions to keep fashion in use and out of landfills; and the collection’s story. 

The R Collective’s #WearAndCare consumer care campaign, which is funded by the LS&Co. Collaboratory fellowship program for social entrepreneurs who are pushing to create a more sustainable apparel industry, includes videos, virtual fashion influencer and consumer workshops and collaborations with social media influencers, primarily targeting consumers in China, which has a high reliance on non-renewable energy, and Asian consumers. The R Collective’s core consumer care message has a message of: Wash Less (wearing jeans 10x before washing, instead of China’s average of every 3.9x, reduces washing’s energy usage by 61% on a typical lifecycle), Wash Cold (washing cold instead of warm reduces climate impact by 69% on a typical lifecycle), Line Dry (instead of using a dryer which reduces climate impact by 65% on a typical lifecycle) and, only following restyling, repairing or swapping, to Donate to Charity. 3

The R Collective’s sustainable consumer care video, created by award-winning sustainable fashion director, Lindsay Robertson, was further supported by Electrolux - the global leading manufacturer of sustainable clothes’ care solutions. The R Collective and Electrolux believe in supporting consumers’ sustainable wardrobes by creating the needed awareness around better ways to care for clothes, making them look and feel new for longer. 

 

For media enquiries, please contact: press@thercollective.com

 

Notes to Editor

  • Denim Reimagined is available for pre-order on TheRCollective.com from 4 May and for retail at Levi’s® store in Hong Kong’s K11 MUSEA from 11 May. Price points from USD120 to USD298 

  • The #WearAndCare consumer care campaign launches on 4 May 



Supporting statistics:

  • 80% of a product’s environmental impact locked in at the design stage [4]

  • The fashion industry contributes to around 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions [5]

  • An estimated 92 million tons of textile waste is created annually from the fashion industry [6]



About The R Collective (www.thercollective.com) The R Collective upcycled fashion brand creates sustainable womenswear using rescued excess fabrics sourced from world-leading brands, mills and manufacturers, in collaboration with award-winning sustainable designers around the world, who are alumni of The Redress Design Award, the world’s largest sustainable fashion design competition. Born from the 2007-founded charity Redress, The R Collective launched in 2017, with debut collections bought by Barneys New York and Lane Crawford. In January 2020, The R Collective launched on Net Sustain, of Net A Porter. The award-winning social impact business is focused on Sustainable Development Goals #12, Responsible Consumption and Production, and #13, Climate Change. Twenty five percent of profits are donated to environmental charity Redress to further drive sustainability in the fashion industry.

 

About Jesse Lee: Jesse Lee won the Redress Design Award 2018 Mentorship with Orsola de Castro as well as the Hong Kong Best Prize the same year. He is a Kingston University graduate currently based in London where he is now studying a MA program in Menswear at London’s University of Westminster. 

 

About Avery Dennison

Avery Dennison Apparel Solutions is a global leader in providing physical and digital labeling solutions that enable brands and retailers to address challenges and opportunities from source through to store, and in consumer engagement. Apparel Solutions provides end-to-end solutions in predominantly the apparel and footwear industry and is a $1.7 billion division of Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE: AVY). Its products include tickets, tags, woven and fabric labels, heat transfers, software, printers and consumables. The Intelligent Labels division that sits within Apparel Solutions is the world’s largest UHF RFID partner, with over 1750 patents and applications worldwide serving multiple industries across retail and industrial segments. Apparel Solutions serves the global marketplace with operations in 50 countries, across six continents. For more information, visit apparelsolutions.averydennison.com .


About Crystal International Group Limited (CIGL): CIGL Crystal International is a global leader in the apparel manufacturing industry. They were ranked 17 out of 50 ‘Change the World’ list by Fortune Business Magazine in 2016, which recognizes companies across the world that have made significant social and environmental contributions and innovations. CIGL attained Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence.

 

About Electrolux: Electrolux is a leading global appliance company that has shaped living for the better for more than 100 years. We reinvent taste, care and wellbeing experiences for millions of people, always striving to be at the forefront of sustainability in society through our solutions and operations. Under our brands, including Electrolux, AEG and Frigidaire, we sell approximately 60 million household products in approximately 120 markets every year. In 2019 Electrolux had sales of SEK 119 billion and employed 49,000 people around the world. For more information go to www.electroluxgroup.com.

 

About Redress (www.redress.com.hk) Redress is an environmental charity with a mission to prevent and transform textile waste to catalyse a circular economy and reduce fashion's water, chemical and carbon footprints. Redress’ programmes work to change mindsets and practices to stop the creation of textile waste now and in the future, as well as creating systems and partnerships that generate and showcase value in existing waste. Working directly with designers, manufacturers, brands, educational bodies, government and consumers, Redress aims to create lasting environmental change in fashion. They organise The Redress Design Award sustainable fashion design competition. 


About Levi Strauss & Co.:

Levi Strauss & Co. is one of the world’s largest brand-name apparel companies and a global leader in jeanswear. The company design and markets jeans, casual wear and relates accessories for men, women and children under the Levi’s®, Dockers®, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co.™, and Denizen® brands. Its products are sold in more than 110 countries and worldwide through a combination of chain retailers, department stores, online sites, and a global footprint of approximately 3,000 retail stores and shop-in-shops. Levi Straus & Co.’s reported fiscal 2019 net revenues were $5.8 billion. For more information, go to http://levistrauss.com


About the Levi’s® brand:

The Levi’s brand epitomizes classic American style and effortless cool. Since their invention by Levi Strauss & Co. in 1873, Levi’s jeans have become one of the most recognizable garments of clothing in the world—capturing the imagination and loyalty of people for generations. Today, the Levi’s brand portfolio continues to evolve through a relentless pioneering and innovative spirit that is unparalleled in the apparel industry. Our range of leading jeanswear and accessories are available in more than 110 countries, allowing individuals around the world to express their personal style. For more information about the Levi’s brand, its products and stores, please visit levi.com.

 

  • 1.  UNFCCC, 2018  
  • 2. The Life Cycle of a jean - understanding the environmental impact of a pair of Levi’s 501 jeans.   
  • 3. This uses data from Levi’s Life Cycle Analysis - Understanding the environmental impact of a pair of Levi’s ® 501 ® jeans# over a typical lifecycle of two years with washing and drying once per week and using Chinese consumers’ care behaviours
  • 4.  WRAP and the Circular Economy
  • 5.  UNFCCC, 2018
  • 6.  Ellen Macarthur Foundation (2017), A New Textiles Economy