Adidas moves forward sustainability in fashion

Adidas, one of the global leaders in the sporting industry, has partnered with Fashion For Good – a global platform acting as a convener for change, to scale up sustainable innovation in the apparel industry.

The partnership intends to illustrate the benefits of cross-industry collaboration to integrate disruptive innovations in the fashion supply chain.

Katrin Ley, Managing Director at Fashion for Good, said: “Together with Adidas and our other partners, we are accelerating the transition to a circular apparel industry and reimagining the way fashion is designed, made, worn and reused”.

James Carnes, Vice President of Strategy Creation at Adidas, commented: “We want to be a driver for sustainable innovation, both within the industry and towards consumers”.

He added: “At Adidas, we have an Open Source approach where we believe in solving problems through collaboration with others. In this line of thinking, our partnership with Fashion for Good reinforces our commitment to sustainability and to building a network that impacts the world of consumers — together”.

Fashion for Good-co-founded by C&A Foundation, has set up the Fashion for Good-Plug and Play Accelerator programme which gives promising start-up innovators the necessary funding and expertise they need in order to grow.

The new collaboration is set to make use of Adidas’s long and extensive experience in sustainability, setting new circular models for the fashion industry.

Adidas has incorporated environmental concerns into its product manufacturing and supply chain since 1989.

 In 1999, its factory in Scheinfeld, Germany was the first in the industry to receive an environmental management system certification, marking an important step in the company’s race to reduce the environmental footprint throughout its entire operations.

In 2001, it published its first Sustainability Report, which has been released on an annual basis ever since.

To make sure its supply chain is becoming more sustainable, Adidas has been conducting environmental audits for its suppliers based on an environmental audit protocol which includes chemicals management.

In the wake of its partnership with Parley for the Oceans, the sportswear company launched the very first footwear made from ocean plastic in 2015 aimed at raising awareness about oceans pollution.

You can learn more about Fashion for Good’s work here.