CSR & Sustainability
-
Article
Asos, Boohoo, George at Asda commit to green claim rules in the UK
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that Asos, Boohoo and George at Asda have signed undertakings that commit them to an agreed set of rules around the use of green claims. The regulator also issued an open letter urging fashion retailers to review their claims and practices in ...
-
Article
Tempe to build a new distribution center in Valencia region
Tempe, the footwear unit of Inditex, will build a new 141,000 square-meter distribution center in the Valencia region. The announcement was made by Inditex which plans to invest €900 million a year in 2024 and 2025 to increase its logistics capacity. The other projects include a new 286,000 square-meter distribution ...
-
Article
France’s proposal against fast fashion
The administration of French President Emmanuel Macron, founder of the Renaissance party, will support a law proposed by an opposition party to penalize fast fashion. The text in question is no. 2268, “aiming to render fast-fashion out of fashion, thanks to a system of incentives and penalties.” Its proponent is ...
-
Article
How a French startup helps to manage unsold stocks
The clearance of unsold stock is a financial and environmental conundrum for manufacturers and retailers and the issue is likely to become more acute in the current poor business environment and amid growing pressure to avoid waste and promote a circular economy. Data by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. ...
-
Article
For Ever to produce compostable soles with Balena’s technology
For Ever, a Portuguese sole brand created in 1973, is joining forces with Balena to produce compostable soles. Balena is a circular economy startup founded in 2020 and located in Tel Aviv. The collaboration, unveiled on Feb. 20 during the Milan-based trade show Lineapelle, will combine For Ever’s mold injection ...
-
Article
Lenzing, Recyc Leather launch Pélinova with Ganni’s Slouchy Boots
Lenzing, an Austrian producer of wood-based specialty fibers, has partnered with Recyc Leather, a leather alternative expert, to introduce Pélinova, an innovative material that fuses Lenzing’s Tencel Lyocell fibers and recycled leather fibers for high-end fashion applications. The duo joined forces with the Danish brand Ganni to bring the material ...
-
Article
Destruction of new shoes is an absolute exception in Germany
The destruction of new apparel and footwear is the absolute exception and new items only make up a small fraction of the goods sent to the landfill, according to Germany’s textile, shoes and leather goods trade association, BTE. The remarks followed the European Union’s steps in early December of ...
-
Article
CEC welcomes EU comprise on ecodesign
The European Footwear Confederation (CEC) welcomed a compromise reached on Dec. 4 between the European Parliament and the European Council regarding proposed legislation on ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation launched by the European Commission on March 30, 2022. It also believes that the forthcoming legislation could relaunch leather as a ...
-
Article
EU to ban the destruction of unsold clothing and footwear
During the night of Dec. 4, the European Parliament and the European Council reached a provisional agreement, at a technical level, on revising the European Union’s ecodesign framework for sustainable products, the parliament said. The parties plan to introduce “ecodesign” rules for products, ban the destruction of unsold clothing and ...
-
Article
Coats’ sales trends improve in H2
In the four months running from July 1 to Oct. 31, Coats’ overall revenues fell by a reported 9 percent year-on-year, while organic revenues dropped by 12 percent at constant currency rates, an improvement on the first half of the year. In the first six months of 2023, organic growth ...
-
Article
Legero United wins eAward business prize for its ecological database
The footwear group Legero United was awarded the Austrian business prize eAward for its ecological database. The company won the award, one of the largest IT business awards in Austria and German-speaking countries, in the “Sustainability and smart data” category. The company’s own ecological database allows to calculate ...
-
Article
The Footwear Collective seeks to drive industry’s transformation towards circularity
Athletic and outdoor footwear brands Brooks Running, New Balance, On, Vibram, Crocs and Ecco, along with US lifestyle brand Reformation and U.S. retailer Target, have partnered with EarthDNA to launch The Footwear Collective (TFC), a non-profit initiative dedicated to uniting the global footwear industry to accelerate the ...
-
Article
First Italian companies ready for ESG certification under trade association’s aegis
Out of the nine companies that have engaged into a self-assessment of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performances under the aegis of Assocalzaturifici, the Italian footwear association, three are now ready to enter the certification phase. The audit phase, which will be carried out by ICEC, an independent certification institute ...
-
Article
World Shoe opens a shoe factory in Ghana
On Oct. 10, World Shoe announced the opening of its inaugural factory in Ghana to produce the first antimicrobial, eco-friendly footwear brand manufactured in Africa. ”The production launch represents a collaborative effort among public, private, and civil service sectors to provide high-quality, low-cost products for retail consumers throughout African and ...
-
Article
Huntsman launches a liquid thermoplastic polyurethane for midsoles with framas
Huntsman said that it has developed a liquid thermoplastic polyurethane (LTPU) that enables the rapid manufacture of high-performing midsoles and is “aligned with the circularity ambitions of brands manufacturing sports and athleisure footwear.” The system is being launched jointly with framas, a German firm specializing in injection moulding and plastic ...
-
Article
Coats Footwear joins forces with Lenzing
Coats Footwear has entered a collaboration with the Austrian-based Lenzing Group to create the footwear industry’s first synthetic-free engineered uppers and fabrics. The companies have combined Coats Footwear’s ProWeave technology with Lenzing’s Tencel Lyocell Filament to create a “dynamic re-imagined footwear uppers and fabrics, which combine sustainability and performance ...
-
Article
Why footwear brands are reluctant to be fully transparent about the supply chain despite client demand
Consumer demand for traceability in the footwear supply chain is here to stay but many brands around the world are still failing to pay enough attention to the trend, according to Bruno Venditti, chief operating officer of the Italian digital product passport start-up Blockvision. In an interview with Shoe Intelligence, ...
-
Article
Canada probes Walmart, Hugo Boss, Diesel for alleged use of Uyghur forced labor
The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) will launch investigations regarding the alleged use of Uyghur forced labor in China by the Canadian units of Walmart, Hugo Boss and Diesel. CORE has published initial assessment reports regarding complaints about Walmart Canada, Hugo Boss Canada and Diesel Canada for allegedly benefitting ...
-
Article
How Portugal is planning to spend €120m to boost its footwear industry
Portuguese footwear producers are working on two projects to modernize the country’s industry with critical financing provided by Portugal’s recovery plan. The Agile, Intelligent, Sustainable and Technological Factory (FAIST) and the BioShoes4All projects rely on funds from Portugal’s €16 billion Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), part of the European Union’s ...
-
Article
Allbirds is giving away the secrets of its net-zero shoe
Allbirds has released the details of its net zero carbon shoe, M0.0NSHOT, and, in a bid to encourage competitors to create their own version, is giving away its entire methodology. M0.0NSHOT, set to launch commercially in spring 2024, is a high-top shoe wrapped in carbon-negative regenerative wool. The midsole features ...