Sustainability is continuing to make its mark on the fashion industry. The latest update comes from the Better Cotton Initiative, whereby retailers and brand members are able to source ethically sourced and sustainably produced cotton materials. The initiative uses their revenue to run training programmes for the agricultural industry in order to ensure better practices worldwide.
In 2018, Better Cotton saw a record number of fashion brands sourcing materials from their sustainable offering. Over one million metric tonnes of Better Cotton was used, which was a 45 percent increase on the previous year.
Better Cotton currently represents 4 percent of all global cotton consumption, and the percentage is growing as new brands and retailers jump aboard the bandwagon. Founding members of the initiative include the H&M Group and Adidas, who have each released a statement praising the progress of the programme.
“BCI and adidas have worked closely from the beginning to reach this ambitious goal,” presented Senior Manager of Merchandising and Sustainability at Adidas, Ebru Gencoglu. “BCI has engaged actors throughout the supply chain to enable the right amount of supply in the right locations. This has helped our suppliers to source cotton as Better Cotton, which allowed us to ramp up sourcing in a short period of time.”
