Adriano Goldschmied, François Girbaud and Neil Bell
'I'm a real rebel with a cause.' This quote by jazz singer Nina Simone, served as the maxim of this year's Denim by Première Vision in Paris, the specialist trade fair for denim fabrics and meeting place for the industry. The question at the focus here is: how can we continue to manufacture authentic jeans without leaving behind a catastrophic ecological footprint?
Highlight of the two-day trade fair was the open podium discussion on the subject of sustainability. Denim expert Adriano Goldschmied, who has recently been causing a sensation with his own labels AG Adriano Goldschmied and Gold Sign, François Girbaud, who founded the successful and still just as innovative jeans label Marité + François Girbaud in 1970, and Neil Bell, Fabric Developer at Levi's, were just some of the guests who exchanged their opinions and experiences on all aspects of sustainability. Here are a few central statements:
Adriano Goldschmied: 'As far as the environment is concerned we are faced with a lot of different challenges. I would like to raise the awareness of one problem in particular: the high water consumption. This affects both the production process, from the raw material to the jeans, as well as the cultivation of cotton. The consumers should also realise that it matters how often they wash their jeans at home. We also have to give them the opportunity to be able to have their jeans recycled. At the end of the day, as providers of brand-name jeans it is our job to to tackle the ecological footprint topic. We have to find more efficient, and possibly also cheaper ways to offer a great product. What the customer demands from us, first and foremost, is a great design – as well as a high-quality product that justifies its sales value.'
François Girbaud: 'What do organic cotton and sustainability mean anyway? 6 billion pairs of jeans are made a year and their production is based on irrigated cotton fields in dry regions. How can that be sustainable? The real revolution is: we no longer need water for the finishing in the denim production process. The earth's clean water resources are so scarce – the next world war will probably be triggered by a dispute about our water resources. 10 percent of all annually produced jeans are meanwhile no longer washed during the finishing process. This has been replaced with new technologies like ozone and laser.'
Neil Bell: 'There is currently no alternative to cotton – at the most we can work with material mixes. And we are doing that – as part of the 'Better Cotton Initiative', which Levi's has joined. The initiative is campaigning for reduced water and energy consumption, as well as fair working conditions. One of the most important challenges is guaranteeing the transparency of fulfilling all criteria along the entire supply chain.'
