The Eileen Fisher Foundation Launches HEY FASHION!, An Initiative Dedicated to Tackling Fashion’s Waste Crisis

NEW YORK CITY — July 7, 2022 — The Eileen Fisher Foundation (EFF) announces the launch of HEY FASHION!, a digital platform curated by Pentatonic that refines the complex topic of textile waste into tangible actions to initiate change, containing comprehensive content backed by key industry insights and rigorous research.

HEY FASHION! exposes textile waste issues while conveying the financial, environmental and social opportunities that textile circularity can offer. EFF’s larger mission is to prove to the fashion industry the benefits of confronting the climate crisis, urging other brands, foundations, innovators, waste collectors and consumers to get involved in moving circularity forward.

The platform provides key tools, advice and information to assist the transition to circularity. Key takeaways educate industry entities on how to drive tangible action, avoid greenwashing, and mitigate risk; influencing improved decisions toward net-zero ambitions. Such content prepares companies to be successful leaders in sustainable fashion during a time of new legislation and rising consumer pressure.

HEY FASHION! aims to kick start a global conversation on how to contribute to a carbon neutral future by scaling textile recycling infrastructure, promoting underutilized technologies to prevent textiles from going to landfills and making profound behavioral changes regarding consumption.

“As the leader of an apparel company, I feel an urgency to address the challenges the industry faces regarding textile waste, overconsumption and circular design,” stated Eileen Fisher, founder of EFF and her own namesake brand. “By inviting Pentatonic to research the current state of circularity, my intention is to facilitate meaningful collective action that moves the industry forward.”

A large barrier to the fashion industry engaging in a circular system is translating the overwhelming amount of research into feasible actions. Pentatonic’s circular consulting team and textile experts provide a clear 8-step action plan:

  • Scale Sorting;
  • Invest in Recycling;
  • Make Less, Buy Less;
  • Work Together;
  • Design to Last, Design to Recycle;
  • Define and Standardize;
  • Leave Fossils in the Ground; and
  • People, Planet, Profit.

“HEY FASHION! is brought to you by individuals who have been implementing solutions in the last decade; it is built in collaboration with many dozens of contributors who build the technologies, solutions and infrastructure for net-zero fashion every day,” stated Johann Boedecker, founder and CEO of Pentatonic. “Our content, while backed by rigorous research, will seek to nevertheless be engaging, intelligible and most of all practicable.”

HEY FASHION!’s full-scale educational tools will deliver continual, evolved content to all stakeholders including designers, manufacturers, brands and retailers, investors, regulators and citizens. The platform will include spaces for discussion, connection and ultimately, action.

The research to date will be available for free in a variety of formats on heyfashion.org and multiple social media platforms. HEY FASHION! is in early conversations with additional donors and foundations to expand scope and scale to reach a wider audience.

Posted: July 7, 2022

Source: Eileen Fisher Foundation

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