Transformers Summit Debates Cost of Sustainable Denim

AMSTERDAM — As the denim industry continues to clean up its act, the Transformers summit held at the recent fall 2018 edition of specialist denim fair Kingpins Amsterdam centered on the cost of sustainable denim. “Don’t ask how, ask why,” said one of the participating speakers, sustainable denim expert and former WWD reporter Paulina Szmydke, whose book “The Cost of Clean Denim” is due out at the end of the year. “When I asked why the industry was not moving faster toward a sustainable business model, the most popular answer was: ‘Because it costs more.’ When I asked how much more, it turns out in some cases it was literally a matter of cents,” she added, explaining that sustainable choices paid for themselves in the long run. Committed brands in the long run are expected to outperform their non-sustainable counterparts, according to Szmydke, with the possibility of seeing returns within a period of three to 10 years. “Fashion is about change. The industrial revolution started with textile, so denim could be the forerunner of the green revolution,” she said, emphasizing that the responsibility lies not only with chief executive officers, but also with designers and the media. Sanjeev Bahl, president of Saitex, a Vietnam-based denim producer and industrial laundry,

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