Circular Fashion: Tommy Hilfiger X Ellen Macarthur Foundation Debut Denim Line With Detachable Buttons, 100% Organic Fabric

Leading designer lifestyle brand Tommy Hilfiger recently joined forces with the non-profit Ellen Macarthur Foundation that works with companies to promote a circular economy, to unveil its first circular design denim collection that is based on components like traceability and recyclability.

Owned by PVH Corp, whose portfolio includes brands like Calvin Klein, Van Heusen, Arrow, and many more, Amsterdam-based Tommy Hilfiger unveiled the EMF Jeans Redesign collection developed with circular design principles in an effort to fulfill the company’s vision to create fully circular products.

In tandem with the company’s 2019 pledge to the U.K.-based Ellen MacArthur Foundation Jeans Redesign project, the collection is based on two components – durability and recyclability.

The collection consists of seven garments that include jeans and denim jackets with a focus on material health and traceability. For instance, the clothes use detachable buttons; the metal rivets are replaced with bar tacks; metal zippers, as well as the leather patch, have been removed; and only 100% organic fabric is utilized.

Additionally, to increase the shelf-life of the pieces, each has instructions on how to wash and care, and after you’re done using it, there is advice on how to repair, donate or recycle the garment.

In a press release seen by Green Queen, CEO of Tommy Hilfiger Global, Martijn Hagman, said that sustainability has become a driving force for the brand and its business. “As a leading fashion brand, we have a responsibility to drive the transition to a circular economy and we are proud to work alongside the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to achieve this. This shift requires a full rethink of the fashion value chain, and these pieces are a testament to the skill, expertise and dedication of both teams as we continue to push the boundaries in both design and manufacturing. This is just one step on our path to creating fully circular products.”

As a leading fashion brand, we have a responsibility to drive the transition to a circular economy and we are proud to work alongside the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to achieve this. This shift requires a full rethink of the fashion value chain, and these pieces are a testament to the skill, expertise and dedication of both teams as we continue to push the boundaries in both design and manufacturing

Martijn Hagman, CEO of Tommy Hilfiger Global

Francois Souchet, Make Fashion Circular Lead of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, said; “As a denim industry leader, and one of the first brands to sign up to Jeans Redesign, Tommy Hilfiger is demonstrating how we can all work together to redesign fashion’s future. The launch of this collection is an exciting step towards a circular economy for fashion where the clothes we love never become waste.”

In keeping with its sustainability efforts, Tommy Hilfiger has trained over 80% of its designers on circular design principles and has unveiled ‘Tommy for Life’, its first circular business model, under which, customers and partners give back their items to the company, who will then clean, repair and resell the items, cutting down on new production.

Apart from this, the fashion brand claims to have produced more than two million pieces of lower impact denim, using a process that requires less water and energy compared to conventional ones and, on a large-scale basis, makes use of 100% recycled cotton.

With support from PVH, the company is also a part of the Make it Possible, a Forward Fashion strategy that lists 15 priorities that can help slash negative impacts, increase positive impacts to 100% and improve over 1 million lives across its value chain.

Apart from this partnership, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and more than 30 collaborating companies are behind the creation of a new tool, Circulytics, which is a digital measuring device that provides companies with a comprehensive report of circularity across its entire operations with over 500 businesses already signed up, including 121 companies with annual revenue of over US$1 billion. 

The new denim range is available online at tommy.com and in select Tommy Hilfiger and Tommy Jeans stores.

Lead image courtesy of Tommy Hilfiger.