How to tell if company clothing is really sustainable

Sustainability, it’s a theme I’ve written about before. With more and more companies embracing sustainability, it’s no surprise that this is a hot topic. Yet sustainability remains a grey area. How to tell if company clothing is really sustainable? And how sustainable is sustainable? A long period of guesswork is coming to an end, thanks to the development of a clear sustainability standard for (company) clothing.

Prefer to read in Dutch? Click here

I spoke with Shirley Schijvens, owner of Schijvens Corporate Fashion. Shirley plays an active role in the project and already uses a system to trace her clothing. The system allows you to know exactly where your clothes come from. Very interesting! Time to dig deeper…

Shirley, the first thing I’m curious about is where the standard is at. Why and how badly is a standard needed?

“It is very important that there is a guideline for circular textiles. Because nowadays many companies claim to be circular, but it means something different for everyone. For example, one company might take their clothing back while another upcycles. Also, the chance of greenwashing, pretending to produce circular clothing, is high.

That’s why we’re currently developing an NTA, a Dutch Technical Agreement, in collaboration with companies, the trade association, and the NEN. Once this standard is ready, all companies that claim to produce circular textiles will need to follow it. Right now, we’re working with the NEN to establish a national standard, but I expect it to be adopted at the European level in the future and eventually become an ISO standard.”

 

Can you explain what requirements companies must meet to qualify for this standard?

“Not every company produces 100% circular textiles, so we distinguish roughly four levels.

First, there’s reuse. This involves garments that have been worn but are still in good condition and can be worn again. For example, when employees leave a company and return their work clothes, we can easily pass those items on to new employees.

Second, companies can repair clothing. Although this option doesn’t get much attention, it’s a simple and effective way to extend a garment’s life. A small hole or broken zipper shouldn’t mean the item is discarded. At Schijvens, we handle repairs in our own workshop. One challenge is the shortage of skilled repair workers in the Netherlands. Luckily, one of my employees from Somalia ran a sewing factory in his home country and now continues his craft here. So far, we’ve already repaired more than 20,000 garments in-house.

The third level is re-manufacturing. Instead of throwing old clothes away, we give them new life by turning them into entirely different products like bags or other accessories.

And finally, there is the level of recycling. Old clothes being used to make new clothes. Depending on the fabric, you sometimes have to add extra raw materials. With clothing made of 100% polyester, you can easily make a new shirt from an old one. Whereas with cotton, you need to add other raw materials, but these can also be waste such as PET bottles.”

 

And where is Schijvens at with these levels?

”We’ve operated at the highest level of circular textiles for years. We actively recycle our clothing and use as much waste as possible to create new raw materials. As a proud member of the Fair Wear Foundation, we consistently rank among the top-performing companies. Alongside our focus on circularity, we place great importance on fair working conditions for factory workers.

But we don’t stop there. We constantly seek ways to make our clothing even more sustainable. For instance, we launched a workwear line called T’riffic, beginning with a Fair Wear collection in which every garment is produced under ethical conditions. We focus on paying living wages instead of minimum wages and on limiting overtime.

Two years ago, we introduced T’riffic Circular, our second clothing line. These garments not only meet high labor standards but also consist of 100% recycled materials. That’s our ultimate goal: to produce clothing entirely from recycled textiles. To achieve this, we take back all garments—both from our two T’riffic lines and the custom designs we create for companies like Albert Heijn, Intratuin, Kruidvat, and CSU”

– The interview continues below the photos –

To give you an idea of the T’riffic clothing line, I have added some photos with items from the collection. The jeans are from the Fair Wear line and the rest is from the T’riffic Circular line. We make all the tops from 100% recycled materials. The garments are fairly basic, making them versatile enough to wear in different ways—casually with work shoes or dressed up with braces and formal footwear. Companies can easily personalize the tops by printing or embroidering their logos on them.

 

You’ve been at this for a long time. How can people know for sure that companies adhere to the standard?

“Of course it is important that it is not just a catchy story. It must also be provable and that is not so easy at the moment. Saxion University is now looking into whether the fabrics can be examined in a laboratory to see if they have been recycled. They’ve made a lot of progress and expect the technique to be ready this year.

We currently use Aware. With this system, you add a special powder to the fibers used to make textiles. We can add it to old textiles and waste which we use to in our clothing production, making the textiles traceable. This is very important because the yarn manufacturing, the weaving of the fabric, and the assembling of the clothing take place in different countries and for this reason, it is difficult to have an overview.

As soon as we receive our clothing, we scan the fabric with a special device to check whether the powder has been incorporated. By scanning the fabric at every step, we can track the entire process from start to finish. This way we can track our materials and it is also not possible to add other materials in. All this data is stored in a blockchain (a reliable and up-to-date register) and the manufacturing factories cannot change it.”

 

Do you expect a system like Aware to become popular in the future?

“In the future, producers of, among other things, circular workwear will have to show their working method. At least, if they want to meet the standard. So a system such as Aware is a very useful tool. At the moment, we are the only one in the Dutch company clothing market using this.

I hope in the future that fashion companies will also join. And that the government sets up a transparent system communicating with the consumer.”

 

That sounds fantastic! This makes it easier for both companies and consumers to purchase sustainable clothing. Is it possible to buy your clothes as a consumer?

“Certainly! Our clothing is available to everyone. Companies can contact one of our dealers. Consumers or self-employed people can also order some items via Proforto.”

I wrote this article in collaboration with Schijvens Corporate Fashion. Please read my (Dutch) disclaimer for more information.