Billionaire clothing dynasty heiress launches Everybody & Everyone to make fashion sustainable
It was around the time that Chou had her kids, she says, that she recognized the importance of making a brand name that was both inclusive and environmentally sustainable.
of the fashion business on the environment. The textiles market primarily uses non-renewable
resources– on the order of 98 million loads per year. That includes the oil to make synthetic fibers, fertilizers to grow cotton and harmful chemicals to color, deal with and produce the textiles used to make clothes. The greenhouse gas footprint from fabrics production was roughly 1.2 billion lots of CO2 equivalent in 2015– more than all worldwide flights and maritime shipments integrated(and a lot of those global flights and maritime shipments were hauling clothing). The litany of catastrophes that can be attributed to the clothing industry encompasses pollution, as
Veronica Chou’s household has actually made its fortune at the forefront of the fast fashion industry through investments in companies like Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger. Now, the heiress toan approximated $2.1 billion fortune is releasing her own business, Everybody & Everyone, to prove that the fashion market can be both ecologically sustainable and rewarding. There’s no argument about the negative impacts
Because that discovery, Chou dove into the world of sustainable manufacturing head-first. Through her household’s investment cars she has worked with companies like Modern Meadow, which uses bio-engineering to make leather goods in a lab. Chou has also led financial investments in Thousand Fell, a soon-to-launch producer of totally recyclable shoes; Dirty Labs, which is establishing more sustainable laundry cleaning items; and Carbon Engineering, which is developing a direct air capture technology for co2.
Digital printing is utilized in location of screens to avoid tons of water waste, the company said, and numerous of the company’s fabrics are not dyed at all. rather, the company relies on an upcycling process by separating recycled fibers mechanically by color.
well. About 20 %of industrial water contamination worldwide can be traced to the dyeing and treatment of textiles– and microplastics from polyester, acrylic and nylon are polluting the world’s oceans. The rise of fast style has actually encouraged customers to speed up waste. Roughly one garbage truck complete of clothing is landfilled around the world every second, according to a 2017 report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. That indicates customers are getting rid of around $400 billion worth of valuable products every year as low rates and more “seasons” produce an illusion of disposability.
Some clothing are likewise made with fabrics that have actually recycled silver in them– so that the clothing can be used several times without smelling or the requirement for a wash.
Everyone & & Everyone uses the lessons that Chou has actually discovered sustainability to a new fashion brand that she hopes can serve as a model for how to weave sustainability into every element of the market.
The new brand, which sells ladies’s clothes for every single size from 00 to 24 and at costs ranging from $18 to $288 (most fall in the $50 to $150 variety, provided a quick scroll through the company’s new website) partners with business like Naadam and Ecoalf for sustainable cashmere and recycled fabrics made from plastic.
Image courtesy of World Resources Institute
“It was six years ago I began discovering about sustainability and 5 years ago that I stated that I needed to have a sustainable brand name,” states Chou.
And her dad, Silas Chou, made millions as an investor in Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger. As an executive at Iconix Brand Group China, Veronica Chou played a role in the acceleration of the industry– bringing American brand names to Chinese customers. Chou likewise served as the co-founder of the Beijing-based private equity fund China Consumer Capital and as a director of Karl Lagerfeld Greater China.
“For our brand, recycled is a big story for us,” states Chou. “Our t-shirts, our socks, our product packaging, our mailers, our labels, our sticker labels are all made from recycled products that can be recycled again.”
The company’s attention to its environmental effect also encompasses its supply chain. “Most of our fabrics are knit close to where our garments are produced. That is certainly minimizing our carbon footprint,” says Chou. “I put a focus on having factories in America … our jeans is produced in America and in the future we’re taking a look at athletics and tee shirts to be manufactured in America.”
For Chou, an understanding of the ecological toll that the household business was taking on the planet began 6 years back– a few years prior to Iconix Brand Group got the China subsidiary she had actually co-founded with her father in a deal supposedly worth $56 million.
“I started developing Everybody & & Everyone from the ground-up, very first by getting the finest group in location then by finding the right suppliers, partners and makers who were currently making strides in the sustainability space,” Chou stated in a statement. “I desired this brand to be for every single lady, so body positivity, sustainability and inclusivity were going to be the backbone of whatever we did. We then constructed the brand names sustainable & & technical pillars, which consist of activation, recycled, coloring & & printing, naturals done better, bio-based fibers and end use to ensure our products would lessen negative effects. We are sustainable to the labels stitched into each garment.”
Everyone & & Everyone has likewise partnered with the organization One Tree Planted to plant a tree for each purchase that’s made with the company. In addition, the business has actually determined its carbon footprint from all of its pre-launch activities and has actually bought and retired offsets to stabilize its emissions, Chou says.
As the fashion industry has broadened, so has the wealth of the Chou family. South Ocean Knitters, the knitwear manufacturer begun by Chou’s grandfather, was accountable for one of the very first foreign investments into mainland China in 1974. It is now among the largest suppliers of knitwear worldwide, and, together with the Hong Kong maker Li & & Fung, lags the Cobalt Fashion Holding conglomerate.
Veronica Chou’s family has made household fortune at the forefront of the fast fashion business through investments in companies like Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger. And her dad, Silas Chou, made millions as a financier in Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger. As an executive at Iconix Brand Group China, Veronica Chou played a role in the acceleration of the market– bringing American brands to Chinese customers. Because that discovery, Chou dove into the world of sustainable production head-first.”For our brand name, recycled is a huge story for us,” states Chou.