At Schijvens Corporate Fashion we have made great strides in the field of sustainability in recent years. In 2020, this resulted in winning the Circular Award from the Acceleration House of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment. As a frontrunner in the field of sustainability, we therefore consider it our task to inspire others with our story. This has led to the collaboration with DutchDubai. We hope to set a good example with our circular clothing and inspire other countries to become more sustainable. If we want to maintain a sustainable and healthy planet, we must do this together. With a circular T-shirt you save more than 2000 liters of water compared to a normal T-shirt. We thought this water saving was a great link to the innovation of the Dutch pavilion. That is why we sponsor this beautiful sustainable initiative at the Dubai Expo.
The collection
When designing the DutchDubai collection, our stylists have converted real work clothing into a contemporary image. The denim clothing gives a cool look and is finished with subtle accents. The logo colors can be found in the stitching and the denim outfits of the ladies are nicely finished with an orange and denim belt. Even the slogan of the Dutch pavilion is on the shoes. By using denim for the clothing, we have managed to create a minimalist look that fits well with the design of the pavilion.
Environmentally and socially sustainably produced
The collection we designed and produced for the employees of DutchDubai is completely circular. This means that the yarn used for the clothing is made of 50% recycled textiles (old clothing from our customers mixed with cutting waste) and 50% recycled PET polyester (pet bottles, fishing nets and old sportswear). No new raw materials are used in this process. The impact of using new raw materials is still to big. Once the clothing has been worn, it can be used as a new raw material for other circular clothing, which makes the collection fully circular.
In addition to being produced in a completely environmentally sustainable manner, the clothing is also produced in a socially sustainable manner. At Schijvens Corporate Fashion we have been working together with the Fair Wear Foundation since 2010. Fair Wear Foundation controls 100% of our factories. Here we achieved a score of 96 out of 100 points last year. This means that we fall into the Leader category, the highest attainable category within the Fair Wear Foundation. The clothing is made in Turkey at our own factory UFS. We work closely with our colleagues there and also pay a living wage here. This means that the employees are no longer paid the minimum wage, but receive a higher wage, which is certainly sufficient for the basic needs. This newly determined wage includes food, rent, health care, education, clothing, transport and savings.
Recycling
When the Expo end, the clothing will be returned to Schijvens. In Turkey, the clothing will be recycled and used as a raw material for new circular items. With this process we save more than 90% water, we save at least 36% energy and we also save at least 20% CO2 emissions.
