The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
The direct-to-consumer brand known for its eco-conscious ethos and wool sneakers is venturing into the booming market for sportswear, expanding into the new category amid signs it is preparing to go public.
Allbirds already offers a range of apparel, but its new range of leggings, shorts and tank tops is its first foray into activewear. While most sports gear is made from oil-based synthetic fibres like polyester, Allbirds’ new collection is made entirely from natural materials. The company will label each product with its carbon footprint and offset those emissions.
The consumer-friendly focus on sustainability is seen as a value driver for the direct-to-consumer brand, whose valuation hit $1.7 billion at the start of the year.
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Allbirds Takes Steps Toward IPO
The footwear start-up, which has a $1.7 billion valuation, is hiring an employee to prep financial documents and filings required at public companies.
The sector’s planet-warming emissions inched lower in 2022 thanks to revised data, but they’re still on track to grow by more than 40 percent by 2030, according to a new report.
Textile-to-textile recycling technologies could be a climate game changer for fashion’s environmental footprint. But like renewable energy, they need state support for market efforts to scale, argues Nicole Rycroft.
More than a year after the ultra-fast-fashion company said it would tackle issues of unlawful overtime, 75-hour weeks remain common in its supply chain, Swiss watchdog Public Eye found.
A study published this week found traces of cotton from Xinjiang in nearly a fifth of the products it examined, highlighting the challenges brands face in policing their supply chains even as requirements to do so spread to raw materials from diamonds to leather and palm oil.