Designer Brands Embrace Sustainable Luxury

The public is often surprised by the innovative methods luxury designer brands use to embrace sustainability. In June, Bruno Pavlovsky, President of Fashion at Chanel, announced the launch of Nevold, a new division at the luxury fashion brand. This sustainable standalone entity, which has been in development since 2019, is “dedicated to developing recycled materials at scale”, which Pavlovsky says is “a strategic response to the growing scarcity of high quality, traceable raw fibres”.

The luxury designer brand doesn’t consider Nevold (a combination of the words ‘never old’) only a marketing campaign. Pavolvsky calls this a “third activity” in the Chanel structure, destined to sit separately and alongside the Chanel fashion unit and its Métiers d’Art division. 

This isn’t the first time this iconic designer brand has considered combining luxury and sustainability. It introduced recycled threads into the famous Chanel tweed and replaced “plastic reinforcements in shoes and bags” with “processed leather waste”.

On the Chanel website, the brand talks about sustainability: “As we face the urgent challenges of today and the future, we aim to be a part of what must come: a world where people, nature and business thrive together.” Regarding circularity, it says, “As a house of luxury, exceptional product creation is part of our savoir-faire.”

With this in mind, sustainable luxury brand Nevold was created to recycle fabrics that “don’t make it into a final product, or those that reach the end of their first life.” In an article on Vogue Business, Pavlovsky described how, “At Chanel, we didn’t destroy unsold products. But we also didn’t yet have a real system to understand their full potential. Nevold is that system.”

Nevold: Chanel’s B2B Open Platform

Former CEO of LVMH-owned French design house Patou, Sophie Brocart, joined Chanel in January this year, and is at Nevold’s helm. Under her, a key operation called ‘L’Atelier des Matières’ was formed to dismantle “end-of-life products and sort materials by type”. Nevold will work with French yarn manufacturer Filatures du Parc, which is a mill spinning recycled yarn, and materials innovator Authentic Material (they specialise in leather recycling) as well as academic institutions like the University of Cambridge and Politecnico di Milano.

According to an article in Vogue Business, Chanel’s new recycling platform has arrived at a pivotal moment – “… amid softening demand in China and mounting environmental expectations from younger consumers, brands are grappling with a dual imperative: reduce environmental impact while defending craftsmanship and desirability.”

The article quotes Pavlovsky saying that “Nevold is a strategic response to a looming materials crisis”. Apparently, the key raw materials used by Chanel, which include cotton, wool, cashmere, silk and leather, are “all under increasing strain, whether due to environmental degradation, limited traceability or geopolitical tensions”.

Pavlovsky is quoted as saying that “Nevold is how we explore long-term alternatives — not for next season, but for the next generation.” This sustainable luxury brand will operate deep within the supply chain, “developing hybrid materials that combine recycled and virgin content to meet the technical standards of luxury manufacturing”.

Luxury Brands Tackle Fabric Waste

Website One Green Planet describes Chanel’s decision to expand into circular materials as a ‘new recycling venture’ that ‘could change luxury fashion’s waste problem’. That’s a bit optimistic. Yes, this sustainable luxury focus will “tackle fabric waste, unsold inventory and fabric offcuts, and transform them into raw materials for future use”, but it won’t solve the fabric waste problem overnight.

However, it does show a shift in focus on how luxury brands and sustainability are embracing one another. “Historically,” according to One Green Planet, “unsold luxury goods were often incinerated to protect brand exclusivity”. This has changed as regulations have become more stringent, particularly in the EU.

Nevold will not only benefit Chanel; its focus is to assist other luxury brands be more sustainable, too, by using the recycled materials from Nevold to create their own fashion lines.

Is this move enough to make a difference? The industry hopes so. But at the moment, the way forward is for small businesses who use fabric in their products, like we do at maake, is to do what we can to assist wherever possible when it comes to fabric sustainability.

How maake Tackles Fabric Sustainability

Follow maake’s lead to make a difference in your small business. Learn all about our sustainability focus. By following some of the sustainability methods we use, you can ensure your business paves the way for more sustainable fabric. Let’s check out how we do it at maake:

·      We Print Sustainably

Traditional fabric printing uses an excess of water, energy and waste, which harms our environment. At maake, we have installed printing machines and methods that use 95% less energy than traditional fabric printing. These days, we use less energy for printing than the energy required to run an electric fan heater! We also use 100% renewable energy resources when we print, and very little water. 

·      Our Fabrics are Safe

The textiles we use are sourced ethically from trusted local mills in the UK, wherever possible. This way, we assist the local economy and reduce our carbon footprint. Every mill that we work with is REACH accredited, and many of them also hold SEDEX accreditation. The inks that we use to print with are all approved and have creditation from Oeko-tex and GOTS, which ensures they are safe for children. Our fabrics are also formaldehyde free and have passed stringent EN71-3 certification. For more information on all fabric certification, read our comprehensive Certification Guide.

·      We Print on Demand

To ensure that we don’t make excess or waste, we only print as much as our customers require – no more. 

·      We Reduce Carbon Emissions

We offer a free pick-up service from our NW10 factory instead of delivering your order to you. That sets our brand apart from others in the same industry.

·      We Believe in Zero Waste

Manufacturers have to deal with a certain amount of waste, and when we have any excess fabric, we donate it to charity and educational institutions. In addition, our maakeLess Fabric Waste Initiative offers our customers the opportunity to give fabric a second life and become more sustainable at the same time. We do this by offering free upcycling bags filled with plain fabric. There are 3 different size bags to choose from – a small bag (approximately 1kg) a medium one (about 2kg) and a large item (up to 15kg), filled with fabric offcuts from our factory. 

This fabric is either white, ivory or natural in colour, and is yours to use for any sewing projects you may have. Most of the material is at full width (140 to 150cm wide), and it varies in length from 20cm all the way to 2 metres. If you cannot collect your upcycling bags from our NW10 mill, we will deliver them, and all you will pay for is the delivery. The fabric is completely free!

What Can Consumers Do?

It’s time to advocate change by buying fewer new fashion garments, recycling what we have or purchasing gently worn items, and supporting brands that take responsibility for the waste they produce.

With assistance from sustainable luxury brands, we can change manufacturers’ mindsets to embrace sustainability rather than producing excess waste. This is the only way we will be able to foresee a more ethical future for the fashion and interior design industries.