US retailer JCPenney joins sustainability programme The Jeans Redesign

American retailer JCPenney has joined The Jeans Redesign to reduce its environmental impact and offer sustainable products to its customers. As part of this project, JCPenney is focusing design and manufacturing efforts on durability standards, eco-friendly packaging, increasing organic and recycled fibres content and eco-friendly wash programmes.

Joining 94 participants including major fashion brands, retailers, garment manufacturers and fabric mills, JCPenney can hear the latest design and manufacturing insights to help drive a more sustainable future for jeans and all fashion products.

Previously, retailers have shared how they have sourced organic content, included recycled content in fabric, removed metal rivets, excluded toxic substances and promoted safe processes in making jeans.

“With this initiative and part of our ongoing sustainability commitment, we are steadily building long-term sustainability into our products, processes, and practices to offer our customers the best products with less environmental impact and in the most ethical, safe and sustainable ways available,” Briana Seferian, senior designer, specialty women’s apparel and circularity lead for the product sustainability working group, JCPenney, said in a statement.

The Jeans Redesign was launched in July 2019 by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) to fundamentally tackle the issue of significant waste and pollution in the fashion industry starting with one of the most iconic products: jeans. Offering a set of guidelines to make products in accordance with the principles of a circular economy, The Jeans Redesign aims to ensure durability, material health, recyclability and traceability.

“The Jeans Redesign supports organisations to build the confidence to explore and learn about how to use circular economy principles to put products on the market. The Jeans Redesign demonstrates it is possible to create garments fit for a circular economy,” said Laura Balmond, Make Fashion Circular lead, at EMF.