Founder, HYMNE (2015).
Creative Director, Designer and Entrepreneur. Osifeso founded his contemporary menswear brand HYMNE as a study on the utility of clothing, both functionally and artistically. He also leads Los Angeles-based design firm SVP&S whose clients have included the likes of Nike, Reigning Champ, the NBA, Jordan Brand, Top Dawg Entertainment, 100 Thieves and Universal Music Group, among others.
“We have to reapproach what we view as success. Maximising profits is wonderful, but it must not be at the expense of morality in regard to social or environmental impact. Companies with a great bottom line, but who are morally bankrupt should be held accountable and not categorised as ‘successful’.”
HOW TO PRODUCE WITH RESPONSIBLE FIBERS?
OCEAN PLASTIC® FIBERS
Parley for the Oceans developed the first global supply chain for upcycled marine plastic debris and introduced Ocean Plastic®, a range of eco-innovative materials that set new industry standards and transform products into symbols of change.
Created from upcycled plastic waste intercepted by Parley from remote islands, shorelines, waters and coastal communities, Ocean Plastic®provides an immediate replacement for virgin materials and a catalyst for solutions. Its use in the fashion, sports and luxury industries raises global awareness, champions the Parley AIR Strategy (Avoid, Intercept, Redesign), and helps fund initiatives focused on education, eco-innovation, research, and direct impact.
Believing plastic is a design failure for which there is no closed-loop system, Parley sees the key to ending marine plastic pollution not in recycling, but in the redesign and replacement of harmful materials, methods and thinking.
MATERIAL REVOLUTION
In close collaboration with major brands, artists, activists, creators, thinkers and leaders, Parley is working to reduce overall plastic use and calling for a Material Revolution to create the future of materials that can replace it.
Awareness campaigns, cleanup operations and Ocean Plastic®allow Parley to help alleviate immediate threats to marine wildlife and reduce the use of virgin plastics in product design, manufacturing and distribution.
Parley also recognizes that the only way to end marine plastic pollution in the long run is to invent smarter materials and synchronize the economic system of mankind with the ecosystem of nature. Therefore, together with a network of experts, Parley operates an extensive research and development program to invent alternatives, support eco-innovation and establish new industry standards to shape a new culture of creativity and collaboration.
Creating an Ocean Plastic® based tracksuit designed by Jide Osifeso for HYMNE.
PARLEY AIR
PARLEY AIR is the strategy to end the fast-growing threat of marine plastic pollution. Parley believes plastic is a design failure, one that can only be solved by reinventing the material itself. Inspired by the fact that every second breath we take is generated by the oceans, AIR stands for three pillars of action: AVOID plastic wherever possible; INTERCEPT plastic waste; REDESIGN materials, methods and mindsets. The strategy is simple and can be scaled across private households, businesses, governments — and the creative industries that mold reality through ideas, materials and products.
PARLEY FOR THE OCEANS
PARLEY FOR THE OCEANS is a global network where creators, thinkers and leaders raise awareness for the beauty and fragility of our oceans and collaborate on projects that can end their destruction. Founded in 2012, Parley believes the power for change lies in the hands of the consumer, given we all have a choice, but the duty to empower the consumer lies in the hands of the creative industries, brands, governments, and environmental groups. With a focus on marine plastic pollution, overfishing and climate change, and deep-sea exploration, Parley implements comprehensive strategies to ensure we are fast enough to meet the ultimate deadline, before we lose a treasure we have only just started to explore and still don’t fully understand: the magic blue universe beneath us — the oceans.
Learn more on Parley.tv.
PRIYA AHLUWALIA, JOINT WINNER OF THE LVMH PRIZE 2020
For CFS+ Avery Dennison have partnered with Ahluwalia, a pioneering fashion brand renowned for a design-led approach to sustainability, to demonstrate the opportunities to enable circular systems through digital labelling solutions.
Through her namesake, emerging brand, Ahluwalia, Priya references elements from her dual Indian-Nigerian heritage and London roots to explore the life of vintage and dead stock clothing, using textile techniques to give them new life. Ahluwalia has already amassed an enviable list of accolades, including the LVMH Prize (2020), Forbes 30 under 30 European Arts and Culture List (2020), and the H&M Design Award (2019).
“I think creativity and ingenuity are invariably linked to progression in technology. Technology has been vital to changing the fashion industry. Whether that is through material sciences or pattern cutting programmes, these advancements improve efficiency and reduce waste. None would be possible without creativity and ingenuity.”
In collaboration with Avery Dennison, for their SS21 collection, Ahluwalia have designed a bespoke label, which once digitally activated has the power to tell the past, present and future story of the garment. If we can understand the past, we can unlock the present, and connect the future of our garments to their past. Find out more about how Avery Dennison partnered with Ahluwalia to enable circularity for their SS21 collection by watching the trailer below.
HOW TO ENABLE CIRCULAR SYSTEMS?
FROM LINEAR TO CIRCULAR
For too long the apparel industries have functioned with a linear TAKE-MAKE-DISCARD model. The planet can no longer sustain this level of extraction and overconsumption.
A circular model aims to redesign this system – reducing energy use, maximising resources, extending the life of our products, and designing out waste.The goal is to keep products, and everything that went into making them, looping through circular systems.
For apparel to become ‘circular’ it must travel through a complex and fragmented supply chain – manufacturing, distribution, retail, recycling. To achieve this requires the design of products and businesses to be radically transparent and connected.
GET CONNECTED
How we view and design products, not as static objects but as dynamic and evolving systems, is key to a more sustainable future. Every garment has the potential to be circular. It just has to be connected.
The unassuming label inside every garment has the potential to transform how we source, design, manufacture and enjoy products while moving the apparel industry towards circularity.
When digitally activated, a label can be used to add connectivity to any physical item – enabling brands to track products from creation, through use and into their next life, capturing and recording vital data along the journey, while connecting the dots between complex systems.
AVERY DENNISON DIGITAL LABELLING SOLUTIONS
Leading brands and designers are increasingly experimenting with novel approaches and innovations. Today, 3D printing is often used for exclusively prototyping, but Zellerfeld believes this technology is ready to be scaled for production.
This will not only result in designers bringing bolder designs to market, but it will also open up new markets and opportunities that have not been addressable before – for example, by printing custom-fitted and recyclable shoes locally, which can help transform the industry to become more efficient and sustainable.
Avery Dennison is a global leader in physical and digital labelling solutions. We task ourselves with the invention of products that serve the evolving needs of consumers, while reducing our own environmental impact, advancing the circular economy and being a force for good in the communities where we operate.
We recognise there’s a clear role for technology in bringing about solutions. With an eight-decade history of materials innovation, over 15 years of pioneering development in RFID and digital ID technology, and the ability to globally support customers across many industries, we are uniquely qualified to partner with the most ambitious brands.
Together we can advance a more circular apparel industry and reduce the industry’s environmental impact. Find out more about how we can help you work toward circularity at our microsite.
Fashion Designer and Founder of HERON PRESTON.
Art Director, Consultant, DJ and Collaborator. His eponymous label features sport- and workwear-inspired separates and accessories for both women and men. In his role, Preston embodies the modernity of fashion and culture; cultivating a distinct community that is propelled by a synthesis of cutting-edge style, and complemented by art and music.
”I believe being small, smart, and lean can help the industry be better equipped to adapt to change. Producing locally and keeping inventory in flux with demand are also pillars of building a sustainable future.”
How to create a 100% 3D printed sneaker?
ZELLERFELD
Footwear designers around the globe often struggle to follow their true passion: creating beautiful and innovative shoes. Due to high upfront costs and often complex construction methods, experimentation in the industry is all too rare, while playing it safe is the norm rather than the exception.
To change this, the team behind Zellerfeld has spend many years developing a 3D printing technology that enables designers to produce wearable footwear, even at a small scale.
With this unique 3D printing technology, Zellerfeld is able to print entire shoes using highly flexible and recyclable materials that are both comfortable and strong enough for daily-use.
Zellerfeld’s printing capability allows for prints to have multiple densities and different textural finishes within a single print. With that in mind Heron and Daniel were fascinated by the nuance of “machining biomimicry”, deciding to feature the scale pattern from the talons of a Heron bird on the upper.We then chose to juxtapose the bio-mimicked upper with a clean, robotic like sole unit. Inspired by Conceptkicks® founder and product designer, Daniel Bailey’s conceptual “Sunday Sketch” footwear project, the sole is split into three sections also mimicking bird talons, with an outsole pattern inspired by the pores from their claws.
Visit Daniel Bailey. Visit ConceptKicks®.
Leading brands and designers are increasingly experimenting with novel approaches and innovations. Today, 3D printing is often used for exclusively prototyping, but Zellerfeld believes this technology is ready to be scaled for production.
This will not only result in designers bringing bolder designs to market, but it will also open up new markets and opportunities that have not been addressable before – for example, by printing custom-fitted and recyclable shoes locally, which can help transform the industry to become more efficient and sustainable.
“When Heron first reached out to us, we were overwhelmed by the myriad of design directions we could go together. They are so limitless! And as soon as Daniel joined, our ideas became even more tangible. In the end we were able to experiment with a design that not only rethinks footwear but also incorporates key elements from all three of us. Collaborating with Heron and Daniel has been fun, refreshing and good for the planet. We cannot wait for what the future will hold.“
– Cornelius Schmitt on behalf of Zellerfeld
Visit Zellerfeld.
The celebrated Grammy® award-winning singer, songwriter and actor Miguel Pimentel was invited to be the designer facing what, during 2021, was one of the trickiest tasks to date.
For 2021 the Designer Challenge sought to find solutions in sunglasses, one of the most over-looked products when it comes to sustainability in fashion.
FINDING SUSTAINABLE METHODS AND MATERIALS TO CREATE SUNGLASSES
The problems:
- Sunglass frames and lenses are mostly made of virgin plastic
- Plastic is created using fossil fuels and there are currently very few, small-scale technologies available to recycle sunglasses
- The market for sunglasses is expected to increase by 5.39% a year, faster than the overall rate of growth in the apparel industry which sits at 3.9%
With these issues in mind, the Designer Challenge set out to find a sustainable method and materials to create sunglasses that would show the wider industry that it can be done, and demonstrate to citizens that affordable and sustainable eyewear solutions are possible.
Miguel is not only a global musical recording and performance artist best known for celebrating his multi-cultural background, he recently launched Schedule 1 Concepts (S1C), a streetwear brand that utilises sustainable, ethics-driven practices in fashion production.
“I launched S1C because I couldn’t find what I wanted to wear,” says Miguel. “I know millions of people are trying to find the same thing as me without sacrificing their unique style. I want to be of service and educate people about why sustainable fashion is important and learn in the process. My belief is, if it doesn’t exist, just make it.”
“Sunglasses are one of my favourite items, you can use them to express yourself and protect your eyes. The function is there, and great sunglasses make a statement, they convey the energy of what you believe in.”
Miguel brought his drive for sustainability to Global Fashion Agenda in partnership with Sunshine Bertrand, whose eyewear design studio is committed to evolving the eyewear category towards a more responsible future, and retailer LN-CC, which is a progressive retail concept, combining a unique art-based installation store in London and an online platform run with a forward-thinking approach.
Miguel’s designs were inspired by sunglasses he has loved throughout his life; ones that feel right, now for Miguel and his 3 million strong community. Y2K Versace and Oakley, and the signature graphic black wraparound shades worn by rapper Eazy-E of N.W.A went into the design blender.
What emerged using the know-how of Sunshine Bertrand was a crystal clear Cat’s Eye frame with mood-enhancing blue lenses, and two Televisioni inspired frames – one black with uplifting red lenses, the other tortoishell with sunny orange lenses – finished with etched SC1 logo on the wide set arm.
With designs created, all that remained was to get them made with sustainable materials, using production methods with minimal Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG).
The initial material selected to create the frames was the versatile Acetate RenewTM, from Italian manufacturer Mazzuccelli 1849, a sheet plastic made from virgin flake that is waste product from the plastic industry. For the lenses the team wished to use fully-recyclable glass lenses by Italian glass producers Barberini.
However, in both cases, a small production run was not possible due to minimum order quantities. In addition, the need for Schedule 1 Concepts to have costly certification in order to use Acetate RenewTM also prevented the use of this material for this challenge and held up production of the final frames. “For small businesses, minimum orders mean they often have to buy more than they know they can sell, resulting in waste,” says Sunshine Bertrand. To complete the challenge, the team had to find different materials.
Mazzuccelli 1849 stepped forward with M49, their bioplastic made using cellulose acetate and a plasticizer of vegetable origin. M49 has been used to create the S1C frames. The mood-enhancing coloured lenses are Sunlens Sustainable Polyamide by Zeiss, which, while not 100% perfect, are an important step in the right direction as they use 39% bio-based materials, and their carbon footprint is 50% less than a standard lens. The Designer Challenge exposed the current barriers to producing sustainable sunglasses at scale, and that, particularly for small designers, it is difficult to overcome the red-tape set in place by large manufacturers.
The main learning from this Designer Challenge has been how much innovation and investment is still needed in the eyewear industry,” says Christina Iskov Senior Programme Manager, Design and Innovation at Global Fashion Agenda. “I hope this Designer Challenge can be a call for action in the eyewear industry to offer more sustainable solutions to a wider audience.”
