Apparently "Zimtstern cooperated with Switzerland-based bluesign technology AG for the DLX line. The bluesign standard is an independent international quality standard focusing on environmental, health and safety standards." Isn't “focusing on environmental, health and safety standards” a bit vague?
If you're curious to find out more, Blue Sign can be found here:
www.bluesign.com/
Meanwhile Patagonia is aiming at making 53% of its Autumn '08 range recyclable (by existing recycling techniques.) I wonder if this percentage couldn't have been closer to 100% if Patagonia hadn't suddenly introduced a huge footwear range a few seasons back. If Patagonia were profoundly serious about being green wouldn't they chosen not to make life harder for themselves, increasing the workload required to take these measures.
Like many other Brands in the Industry, including many British brands, Patagonia have recently been keen to introduce more styles and more ranges. For a designer this is a positive trend (more work for us), but for environmental and quality reasons, this isn't the right approach. Instead we should be looking at improving the quality of the product, its durability and functionality (which will encourage less regular purchasing) and aim at reducing environmental impact at every level. To counter reduced purchasing and increased production costs obviously the product's price will need to rise. Brands here in the UK have pushed consumer expectation of price, so they expect luxury every time, meanwhile the performance has started to stagnate, if not already drop.
While some marketting may boasts !00% recycled this or 100% free of that, the one thing you can be sure of is that you're only being fed a fraction of the story.
Patagonia's submission, the Women's Powder Bowl Jacket and Pants are made of 100% recycled Polyester fibre. The greeness only goes so far - the colour of the jacket - white or light grey (the photo is unclear) and sky blue - will mean it will need regular washes. I don't only disagree with the colour on practical terms, but the whites of 2004 are uncomfortably fresh in my memory.
Last but not least is Klättermusen. Their Einride jacket has previously featured in Outdoor Friedrichshafen's “Outdoor Industry Award” in 2006. Why it qualifies for this competition – given that the designs are supposed to be new – I don't know.
The Einride uses what they call Eta-proof cotton, what most of us know as cotton ventile. Not only is the cotton more wear-resistant than most nylons, the cotton they use is organically produced. As a whole ( Klättermusen pride themselves on using the toughest, most reliable trim of any outwear in the industry) the jacket feels nearly bomb-proof, so undoubtedly will take a long time before it needs throwing out.
So I have little doubt that the Einride is the most environmentally friendly design amongst all the finalists. It is shame Klättermusen aren't more successful, because if they were maybe more brands would adopt their admirable environmental philosophy.
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