Seamless Sustainability • Saskia van Gendt
(Head of Sustainability, Rothy’s || CA USA)
“Changing consumer behavior is one of the most difficult areas of sustainability. At its core, the product still has to be an amazing product. You have to create a great consumer experience and a beautiful design that works well. I think a lot of people will look at Rothy’s as a beautiful shoe or bag, then later find out that it’s made from recycled materials with responsible manufacturing. The sustainability aspect becomes a discovery, but the product itself first has to be amazing. And that’s how we’ll bring new people into the environmental movement — by creating something that is so desirable and so good in its own right.
•
There’s a responsibility for the consumer to hold companies accountable, but we can’t put all of the burden on the customer to fully change their lifestyle. It’s also up to companies to reduce their carbon footprints and change the materials they’re using behind-the-scenes. If we are all pointed in the same direction like we’ve seen during COVID-19, then our influence can be massive and the potential for action is huge. This is my new ethos — collective action is important, but it’s also up to institutions to be as responsible as they can and make it seamless for the consumer.
•
COVID-19 is an exceptional time in the apparel industry. There is a lot more openness to collaborate — brands that would probably never talk to each other are trying to figure out how they can share patterns, materials, and production capacity to produce masks for essential workers. For me that’s a bright spot and indication of what post-COVID could look like — more collaboration, looking inward, and analysis of what we can do better. There’s so much overproduction to meet an unexpected demand. Now that retail has decreased and inventory is piling up, I’d love more brands to shift to on-demand production based on actual consumer needs. That’s something Rothy’s does, and we’re seeing those revolutionary changes happen now because they’re essentially being forced on companies. But ultimately, it will become good business practice coming out of all of this.”
