Italian denim brand Replay has just set new sustainability standards for the rest of the industry. Though the company has been focused on reducing its environmental impact for the last couple of years, it just transformed its signature 360-degree stretch jean (Hyperflex) with a card-carrying sustainable version, Hyperflex Bio. The sustainable upgrade on the best-sellers is made with organic cotton, recycled fabric and recycled PET bottles, which they’ve spent both time and money to on replicating the original’s 360-stretch fit. Even better? Though the technology and research has cost the brand, it won’t cost Replay’s sustainable-minded customers—Hyperflex Bio is now on sale at the same price as the originals. This project is part of a wider approach, with ethics and respect underpinning all actions taken by the company, throughout what Replay CEO Matteo Sinigaglia describes as “the entire value chain.” Sinigaglia says: “We try to cover all phases from checking production processes in order to reduce environmental impact, to the close attention paid to workers’ and consumers’ health and safety, right through to the end product, using organic cotton and recycled raw materials.” Replay was among the first in fashion to introduce sustainability as an independent brand initiatives, back in 2010, developing new technologies and treatments with lasers (Replay Laser Blast), natural pigments (Replay Life) and generally less water consumption (Replay Water Zero). “In the beginning this form of sustainability was ‘reactive’ as it worked backwards,” he says. “Less water, less pollution, less chemicals. Lately, we’ve introduced a new form of ‘proactive’ sustainability, introducing Hyperflex RE-USED where the priority is managing resources based on their environmental impacts.” The initiative meets sustainability with a decisively innovative approach, not least of which include new fabrics (made by blending re-used cotton and recycled polyester). “Where the creation of waste is currently unavoidable, we will strive to reuse, recycle, or recover wasted resources, and that includes energy recovery.” When raw cotton is processed into yarn, 10% of it is typically lost as waste. “We continually strive to trace, track, and monitor this loss and reuse the cotton by adding it back into the spinning process. “Secondly, producing recycled polyester uses less energy than making a new one and reduces the dependence on petroleum as a raw material. Both factors reduce our overall carbon footprint.” Sinigaglia says sustainability within the denim sector has been an area of “critical focus” in the last year, but Autumn/Winter 20-21 will extend sustainability’s scope towards outerwear, knitwear and jersey within the brand. “All items come from either recycled and regenerated fibres or from sustainable production cycles’ sources such as organic cotton,” he says. “Even noble fibres like cashmere are natural and renewable with a low impact on the environment. The entire capsule is certified according to worldwide sustainability criteria,” starting from lower water consumption, no use of hazardous chemicals, pesticides or OGM seeds, as well as fair trade and wider criteria such as product safety and workers health in production cycle. “You can do a better product, of great quality, while having respect of our planet.”
