Innovation

Every year the fashion industry as well as consumers dispose of millions of pounds of clothing that often end up in developing countries or in landfills. In an effort to combat this, fabric mills are creating textiles and fabrics that use 100% recycled material to reproduce and reuse instead of continuing to create more and more items that eventually just end up not being used or causing more environmental problems.

Carvico, which is a fabric mill in Italy, creates a variety of different fabrics that include the VITA fabric that can be used for swimwear, dance and more. When HCV Swim was being conceptualized and being introduced to the many different options for fabrics they realized that the path they wanted to take their company was one that was going to be different from other brands and make a difference in the world also. The garments are produced in America by workers who are employed in safe, clean conditions and paid well for their work. The recycled fabric is used in every style and has pushed the company to go further by also using recyclable plastic for their packaging as well. Any effort that can be made to reduce the amount of materials we are using in any way as consumers and manufactures definitely makes a differences and will impact the world for the future to come.

The brand strives to educate and inform customers to make themselves aware of their contribution to the problem with overconsumption and wastefulness. We often do not think of where all the clothes end up or what happens to them. As mentioned in our interview, clothes and other garments can be just as harmful as plastic is when it is not recycled and reused properly. The brand has made a huge part of their mission to be a company that is doing the right thing by its planet and by the people they service. If someone buys a suit made out of recyclable fabric it could inspire them to look further into how much they consume and waste, causing a domino effect and a change in their lifestyle. Engaging in only ethical or resourceful business practices is a mainstake for their company and they hope to continue to grow.

Inspiration

We interviewed the Project Manager who said that the brand was inspired by multiple things when they started. One thing being that they wanted to try to make the a difference in the fashion industry oppose to just contributing the wastefulness. Any brand can make a garment in China at a super low cost but, not many brands make the decision to be ethically involved in trying to better the lives of workers as well as changing views of how people consume.

Overall impact

Short term effects of the innovation are reduced waste, consumer attitude shifting to conscious shopping and being able to introduce a niche product to the market in an effort to make a difference in the global industry.

Long term effects will be increased awareness and overall change in judgement while manufacturing and consuming, improved welfare of employees in all parts of the supply chain, growth of the company in a target market and reduced waste of the industry and hopefully change from bigger companies in how they do business as well.

Business benefit

This innovation is beneficial to the business because there is growing market and demand to invest and purchase from companies that are ethical and conscious in their doing business. This has allowed HCV Swim to create not only a dialogue on sustainability, but to have lasting impact on its customers and their employees. Employees are more satisfied knowing that they are working for a company that is doing its part to make the world a better place. It has a positive impact on revenue because of the growth in the market with such little supply available at the moment and allows for the brand in the future to continue to develop product lines in different aspects of lifestyle products that share the same value of being environmentally friendly.

Social and environmental benefit

The use of recyclable fabric and employment of workers to provide economic growth and quality living standards benefits both society and the environment because it allows for there to be more conversation about doing more to change bad habits of the fashion industry as well as practices that have become normalized that are in fact inhumane. If you pay people fairly for their work they can reinvest it into their communities and economies which stimulate growth and promote a higher standard of living. For the environment it allows for us as a planet to globally reduce the amount we waste per country and in everyday life. Using recyclable materials allows us to decrease the amount of natural resources, energy and pollution that is often produced in the process of manufacturing.

Interview

Jessica Torres, Project Manager

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