Innovation

In February 2023, Vuori officially launched its Fiber Guidelines. According to Mara Ley the purpose of these guidelines are “to give the materials & design teams an easy way for them to know which materials they should use to lower our carbon footprint.” Fibers are ranked from A-E based on their carbon emissions, with Vuori choosing to prioritize fibers that are ranked from A-C. Vuori has named these fibers Vuori Impact Fibers.

These fiber guidelines were primarily created by Vuori’s sustainability team through utilizing available life-cycle assessments for primary fibers as well as industry tools, such as the Higg Materials Sustainability Index ( Higg MSI) and the Preferred Fiber & Materials Matrix (PFMM) from Textile Exchange. The Higg MSI scores materials on their impacts on global warming, chemistry, water scarcity, non-living natural resource depletion, and eutrophication (nutrient pollution of water) based on life-cycle assessment data. While the PFMM also scores materials based on their impacts on environmental-related factors, it scores their impacts on human rights and initiative integrity as well. When creating these fiber guidelines, Vuori’s sustainability team additionally included general dollar signs next to each fabric choice. Ley states that “when the merchandising team is looking at it they can understand how [each fabric] will impact their margin.” Ley additionally highlights that although the sustainability team “owns [these fiber guidelines], it’s a collaboration across teams.” The sustainability team consults with the raw materials sourcing team to ensure that the company is able to obtain the fabrics. The raw materials sourcing team helps implement the Vuori Fiber Guidelines with this information then being shared with the design and merchandising teams.

It is important to note that the Vuori Impact Fibers and fiber guidelines are also constantly being updated as new information and tools become available. In fact, the PFMM recently launched a new version, which led Vuori to update their fiber guidelines. During the week this interview was conducted, Vuori was in the process of launching these new updates.

Inspiration

One of Vuori’s core goals is to form great relationships with their community and the planet. This point first inspired them to become climate-neutral certified four years ago. As Ley states, “The certification basically means that a company has actually calculated their carbon footprint, including their scopes 1, 2, and 3, and has gotten that verified by a third party as well as purchased offsets to equate to the total amount of that emission.” From there, the company set reduction goals. As of 2022, scope 3 contributed to approximately 98% of their total emissions, which was 63,248 mtCo2e. With this in mind, according to Vuori’s website, one of their reduction goals was to “have a 48% per-unit reduction in [their] GHG emissions across [their] Purchased Goods & Services” by 2030. In order to understand, as Leys states, “the levers [they] need to pull in order to hit certain targets that [they’re] setting,” they enlisted KPMG to help them create a 2030 climate roadmap. As Ley highlights, “One thing that was included in the roadmap is the need to prioritize low carbon materials,” which led to the creation of the Vuori Fiber guidelines.

Overall impact

In 2022, around 55% of Vuori’s total fabric spend was made up of Vuori Impact Fibers. This is evident in the variety of fabrics Vuori has available that utilize Vuori Impact Fibers. Fabrics include DreamKnit™ and Vuori BlissBlend™, which are composed of 89% and 75% recycled materials respectively, DuraTerra, which is composed of 98% organic cotton, and VCycled™, which is created with plastic bottles. Although these fabrics are environmentally friendly, they do not sacrifice the high-quality Vuori is known for. For example, according to the Vuori website, DreamKnit™ is “blended with four-way stretch and moisture-wicking performance qualities” and DuraTerra is “designed with performance-driven durability.” Vuori Impact Fibers therefore aid Vuori in their mission of creating high-quality products that are built to last.

Business benefit

Vuori’s increased attention to creating a positive environmental impact has led to increased customer support. As Mara Ley states, “Our customer was asking for it. It definitely has helped build our brand and support who we are. We’re always getting customers that come in who are either looking for a sustainable product or don’t know that we are sustainable and then they find out. It’s definitely an added bonus [for them].” In relation to Vuori’s Fiber Guidelines and Impact Fibers, especially the most recent updates, it may be too soon to tell what their impact has been on the brand. As Ley highlights, “We operate on a two-year timeframe when we are producing products, so a lot of the decisions that are being made now are for 2025 or 2026.” In other words, products have not been made yet utilizing the updated Vuori Fiber Guidelines. (However, this does not mean that Vuori has not utilized any preferred fibers previously.)

Social and environmental benefit

As products continue to be created utilizing Vuori’s Fiber Guidelines, Vuori hopes that they will lead to a reduction in their carbon emissions, specifically accomplishing the reduction goal previously stated for Scope 3. This will help Vuori do their part in striving to keep the global temperature from rising above 1.5°C. In the meantime, Vuori, through their transparency surrounding their use of materials, believes they are working to change consumer purchasing practices, specifically how individuals choose certain materials. They believe individuals may become more conscious of materials’ effects on the environment and choose materials accordingly.

Interview

Mara Ley, Sustainability Manager