THE MENSWEAR BRANDS SAVING THE WORLD

1017 ALYX 9SM

Raised in California, creative director, Matthew Williams spent most of his twenties in New York working as a costume designer for the likes of Lady Gaga and Kanye West, before co-founding an art collective with Virgil Abloh and Heron Preston. Now he lives in Ferrara near Bologna, in order to be close to the Italian craftsmen and women creating his designs. In an interview for Sardin podcast, Williams admits that sustainability wasn’t always first on his agenda but he’s now constantly course-correcting and committing to being open and honest. He continues “my approach is that change happens in increments…but we’re aiming to be better every day.” Take this collection of essentials for example made of 100% upcycled yarn created from textile waste and reclaimed plastic bottles in an almost entirely water-less and chemical free process. 1017 ALYX 9SM are certainly practising what they preach.

NUDIE JEANS

The early American pioneers of denim championed the fabrics functionality, indeed, Levi’s that are over 100 years old have been discovered almost intact in Californian goldmines, you can’t really ask for better durability than that. But for something as universal and hardworking as your favourite jeans a bit of wear and tear is regrettably inevitable. That’s where Nudie comes in. This brand has longevity at it’s core, when your well-worn jeans finally break, you can repair them for free. Founded in 2001, these guys were way ahead of the curve, and from the start co-founders Maria Erixon, Joakim Levin and Palle Stenberg were focused on sustainability. They are on track to be carbon neutral for 2020 and are also working on a locally adjusted implementation strategy for their entire supply chain to ensure a living wage for everyone involved with Nudie jeans. Not just that all their cotton is traceable and organically grown and by repairing and reusing denim they have saved 44,000 kg of clothes from being thrown away and saved 386,000,000 litres of water in 2018 alone.

NUDIE JEANS REPAIR EVENT IN STORE

Keep an eye on our social channels (@btmenswear) for details of a repair event in store on Friday, 25th and Saturday, 26th October. See you there!

CDLP

Christian Larson and Andreas Palm left behind their jobs in the film industry, with one simple quest, to create modern underwear options for men with environmental responsiveness that both look good and feel great. Fast-forward a few months and this pair of stylish Swedes did just that combining eco-friendly fabrics and traditional handcrafted luxury. Their core underwear is produced in lyocell: a sustainable fibre derived from the wood pulp of the eucalyptus plant. Lyocell doesn’t require a lot of water in production, is biodegradable and eucalyptus regrows quickly, therefore, the environmental impact from using these fibres is minimal. This Stockholm based underwear label have also ventured into another sustainable fabric for their swimwear made from econyl created from regenerated nylon from salvaged fishnets and ocean plastic waste.

With over 600 products, make sure you check our sustainable edit online…

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