Sustainability is a buzzword in the apparel world. It’s a wide-reaching term with a broad definition. We checked in with a range of industry voices to see how their company defines, why it’s important to them and the world at large, and how their brand is striving toward ever-more sustainable business practices.

Amanda Mitzman, Next Level Apparel (asi/73867): “Consumers have become more conscious of their health, social wellbeing and the vulnerability of the planet. This compels companies like Next Level Apparel to take action in the sustainable direction, not just because of the demand from clients but because of the awareness of environmental welfare is top of mind at a macro level.”

Chris Fox, Hanes (asi/59528): “We’ve spent tens of millions of dollars at our factories in the Dominican Republic and El Salvador building big biomass energy plants. Forty percent of the energy we use worldwide is from renewable sources. … Fundamentally, we believe that this is the right way to run our business. … [But] We weren’t just throwing money at the issue for the sole purpose of reaching renewable and sustainability goals. It makes business sense. Focusing on those ways that make business sense is the way to make sustainability sustainable.”

Ryan Moor, Allmade Apparel

Ryan Moor, Allmade Apparel (asi/34341): “What we want to get to is regenerative, so we’re actually improving the environment. Sustaining is better than the status quo, but if we can give back better than we take, that’s the best end result. … Ultimately, we’re going to have to replenish the world.”

Kriya Stevens, econscious (asi/51656): “Sustainability literally speaking means having business operations that allow you to meet current needs but don’t jeopardize future generations. That’s an incredibly complex metric. Our thinking on it is simply that these materials and modes of business operations are better in terms of environmental impacts than their conventional counterparts. …All business activities have an impact. I don’t know of a perfect fiber that is scalable on a commercial level. It’s about making better choices given what the options are.”

Glen Brumer, Royal Apparel (asi/83731): “About half our line is eco-friendly or sustainable. … We hear from bigger organizations out there. They’re coming to us saying their consumers are asking for it and there’s a need for it.”

Denise Taschereau, Fairware (asi/191452): “We’re an activist brand. We’re not here to sell stuff; we’re here to shift the world to a more sustainable direction. … One of the biggest trends for us is clients have stopped asking what a product is made from. They’re asking us what are we going to do with it when we’re done with it. There are lots of questions on the end-of-life of a product.”

Jamie Dillon, Print Natural: “We realized there was a demand for eco-friendly sustainable screen printing. … Our whole goal is to steer the customer toward the most sustainable choice. I’d much rather be printing on organic shirts made in the USA than anything else.”

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