Billionaire clothing dynasty heiress launches Everybody & Everyone to make fashion sustainable
For Chou, an understanding of the ecological toll that the family company was handling the world started six years earlier– a few years before Iconix Brand Group acquired the China subsidiary she had co-founded with her daddy in a deal apparently worth $56 million.
And her daddy, Silas Chou, made millions as an investor in Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger. As an executive at Iconix Brand Group China, Veronica Chou contributed in the velocity of the industry– bringing American brand names to Chinese customers. Chou also functioned as the co-founder of the Beijing-based private equity fund China Consumer Capital and as a director of Karl Lagerfeld Greater China.
of the fashion industry on the environment. The textiles industry primarily uses non-renewable
resources– on the order of 98 million loads annually. That includes the oil to make synthetic fibers, fertilizers to grow cotton and hazardous chemicals to color, deal with and produce the textiles utilized to make clothing. The greenhouse gas footprint from fabrics production was roughly 1.2 billion heaps of CO2 equivalent in 2015– more than all global flights and maritime deliveries integrated(and a lot of those international flights and maritime deliveries were carrying clothing). The litany of disasters that can be attributed to the clothes industry reaches pollution, as
As the fashion industry has expanded, so has the wealth of the Chou household. South Ocean Knitters, the knitwear producer started by Chou’s grandfather, was accountable for one of the very first foreign financial investments into mainland China in 1974. It is now among the largest suppliers of knitwear on the planet, and, together with the Hong Kong producer Li & & Fung, lags the Cobalt Fashion Holding conglomerate.
well. About 20 %of commercial water contamination globally can be traced to the dyeing and treatment of textiles– and microplastics from polyester, acrylic and nylon are contaminating the world’s oceans. Meanwhile, the rise of fast style has actually encouraged customers to speed up waste. Approximately one trash truck filled with clothing is landfilled all over the world every 2nd, according to a 2017 report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. That implies customers are getting rid of around $400 billion worth of valuable goods every year as low prices and more “seasons” develop an illusion of disposability.
Image courtesy of World Resources Institute
Everybody & & Everyone has actually also partnered with the company One Tree Planted to plant a tree for each purchase that’s made with the business. In addition, the business has computed its carbon footprint from all of its pre-launch activities and has actually purchased and retired offsets to stabilize its emissions, Chou says.
“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,” says Chou.
Digital printing is used in place of screens to prevent lots of water waste, the company stated, and several of the company’s fabrics are not colored at all. instead, the business counts on an upcycling process by separating recycled fibers mechanically by color.
Veronica Chou’s family has made its fortune at the leading edge of the fast style company through investments in business like Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger. Now, the heiress toan approximated $2.1 billion fortune is introducing her own company, Everybody & Everyone, to prove that the fashion business can be both environmentally sustainable and lucrative. There’s no argument about the unfavorable effects
It was around the time that Chou had her kids, she says, that she understood the significance of making a brand that was both ecologically sustainable and inclusive.
“For our brand name, recycled is a big story for us,” says Chou. “Our tee shirts, our socks, our packaging, our mailers, our labels, our sticker labels are all made from recycled materials that can be recycled again.”
The brand-new brand, which offers women’s clothing for every size from 00 to 24 and at costs varying from $18 to $288 (most fall in the $50 to $150 range, provided a quick scroll through the company’s new website) partners with companies like Naadam and Ecoalf for sustainable cashmere and recycled fabrics made from plastic.
Everyone & & Everyone uses the lessons that Chou has actually learnt more about sustainability to a new fashion brand that she hopes can act as a model for how to weave sustainability into every aspect of the industry.
Some clothes are likewise made with materials that have actually recycled silver in them– so that the clothes can be worn multiple times without smelling or the need for a wash.
Because that discovery, Chou dove into the world of sustainable manufacturing head-first. Through her family’s financial investment vehicles she has worked with companies like Modern Meadow, which uses bio-engineering to make leather products in a laboratory. Chou has likewise led financial investments in Thousand Fell, a soon-to-launch producer of totally recyclable shoes; Dirty Labs, which is developing more sustainable laundry cleaning products; and Carbon Engineering, which is developing a direct air capture technology for co2.
“I began constructing Everybody & & Everyone from the ground-up, very first by getting the finest group in place then by discovering the right vendors, partners and manufacturers who were currently making strides in the sustainability area,” Chou said in a declaration. “I desired this brand to be for every single lady, so body inclusivity, sustainability and positivity were going to be the foundation of whatever we did. We then constructed the brand names sustainable & & technical pillars, which include activation, recycled, coloring & & printing, naturals done much better, bio-based fibers and end use to ensure our items would minimize unfavorable effects. We are sustainable down to the labels stitched into each garment.”
The company’s attention to its environmental effect also extends to its supply chain. “Most of our fabrics are knit close to where our garments are manufactured. That is certainly lowering our carbon footprint,” says Chou. “I put an emphasis on having factories in America … our jeans is made in America and in the future we’re taking a look at t-shirts and athletics to be manufactured in America.”
Veronica Chou’s family has made its fortune at the forefront of the fast fashion business through investments in companies like Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger. And her father, 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. Since that revelation, Chou dove into the world of sustainable production head-first.”For our brand name, recycled is a huge story for us,” states Chou.