In keeping with C&A’s pioneering spirit and commitment to driving innovation in circular fashion and sustainability, the fashion retailer is proud to announce another world’s first with ‘Beluga Denim’ – the first fabric ever to be awarded Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Platinum. Beluga Denim is currently the only fabric certified at this level worldwide by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. The fabric was introduced at the world’s leading Cradle to Cradle event last week, the C2C Congress 2020 in Berlin.
To create the world’s most sustainable denim fabric, C&A partnered with long-term supplier Rajby Textiles Ltd. and the Circular Economy advisor Eco Intelligent Growth (EIG). EIG, led by co-founder Ignasi Cubiña, collaborated with MBDC on the material health assessment component of the multi-faceted certification.
The material properties and production process were carefully developed and rigorously tested to meet the highest-level requirements for all five Cradle to Cradle Certified™ categories: material health, material reutilization, renewable energy and carbon management, water stewardship and social fairness.
The research to identify the most suitable materials and chemicals, to enable the product to be effectively recycled, was the result of a collaborative effort between Rajby, its supplier Archroma, EIG and C&A.
Rajby’s Beluga Denim for C&A is manufactured with 100 percent rapidly renewable resources and is fully recyclable. The new fabric is optimised for material health, from Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified organic cotton fibre to the process chemicals. Additionally, the process water is kept in a closed loop devised specially for this project and the final manufacturing stage is 100% carbon neutral.
This latest achievement represents another important step in C&A’s journey towards circular fashion. A journey that began in 2017 when C&A became the first fashion retailer worldwide to launch Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Gold T-shirts. In 2018, the brand launched another global innovation with the first Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Gold jeans.
“We owe this new success to the initial inspiration and the framing of this aspiration to William McDonough as well as to the strong spirit of collaboration with our supply chain partner Rajby Textiles Ltd., whose knowledge and determination were instrumental in achieving this breakthrough,” said Jeffrey Hogue, C&A’s Chief Sustainability Officer, at the C2C Congress 2020 in Berlin. “C&A is proud to be the first fashion brand to achieve the highest certification level within the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Product Programme, but as with our other circular innovations, we aim to share our knowledge open source to create a pathway towards circularity for the industry.”
To learn more about Cradle to Cradle Certified™ fashion, contact us!
