Projects with Impact

 

Read our 2022 Impact Report

Welcome to Projects with Impact, a space to keep up to date with current projects at Outland Denim. When you wear your Outland Denim, wear with pride knowing that you have invested in the projects you see here.

We believe that fashion, a powerhouse $3 trillion/year industry known for its creativity and innovation, is the key to solving some of the biggest social and environmental issues we face today. But we know that we can’t do it alone. This is why we are investing in collaborative, innovative research and initiatives, geared towards creating change for the benefit of people and planet. No smoke. No mirrors. No greenwashing. Only genuine impact. 

 

Supporting Cotton Farming Communities

When it comes to the people who make our clothes, workers at the very beginning of the supply chain, like those working in cotton farms, are generally at greatest risk of exploitation. This is because the deeper you travel in the supply chain, the harder it is to trace where raw materials have originated from, and therefore conditions workers experience. 

This is why Outland Denim has invested in intensive supply chain research, to proudly produce for you 100% traceable denim. It is also why we, in partnership with Precision Solutions Group (PSG), Bossa Denim, and Nudie Jeans, established the Supply Network Intelligence System. A system specially designed to support cotton farming communities in Turkey.

The program actively seeks out instances of deliberate exploitation, slavery, and unsafe working conditions and puts methods in place to resolve them. So far the program has reached over 3 million people, and provided education on topics including, obtaining visas, human rights, Covid-19, first aid, children’s education & health support.

This program is all about collaboration for the benefit of the whole fashion community, and we invite other brands and manufacturers to join us in driving this program, and furthering its impact.


Tackling Textile Waste

It's time to tackle the issue of Textile Waste. It's an issue that affects not just our planet, but our communities too, and it will continue to, for generations to come if we do not take action now.

It's estimated that 800,000 tonnes of textiles are sent to landfills each year in Australia alone. Slowing our consumption may help, but we fear it won't be a fast enough solution. This is why we are investing heavily into research and development of waste and circularity technology, working to remove textiles from landfill and revolutionize the way we dispose of clothing. Not just for the use of us as a brand, but for the use of the whole fashion industry.

Now, you know we are all for transparency, but to be transparent with you, we can only share limited details with you at this stage (or else our legal team will be after us). BUT what we can share with you, is that our team has proven, in a lab, that we can take textile waste and eradicate it. The next step is to develop this technology further and test in a commercial pilot stage.

And of course share more details with you. Because trust us, we are on the edge of our seats waiting to!

 

24/7 Transparency

With fashion being one of the top 5 most exploitative industries, transparency has never been more important for apparel manufacturers than right now.

The fashion industry relies on audits, factory visits and certification programs to evaluate the practices of their suppliers. But while these programs are valuable and necessary, they provide information on only one snapshot in time, and therefore are only one piece of the overall accountability puzzle. And with travel restrictions currently in place, we must think outside the box for new solutions to assure due diligence. This is where 24/7 Transparency by Floor and Field comes in.

Floor and Field’s world first 24/7 Transparency technology meets the highest level of compliance with anti-slavery laws, as well as providing environmental, safety, and efficiency benefits. This technology was installed in the Outland Denim production facilities early 2020 and provides us with instant insight into areas to improve safety measures and detailed data on the environmental footprint of key pieces of machinery. 

Even with frequent trips to our facilities pre-covid, this technology has provided more consistent monitoring and a higher level of transparency. The data can not be manipulated at any stage avoiding any form of ‘greenwashing’ heightening our accountability and transparency far beyond what is possible from traditional audit processing. The program also ensures that our staff’s privacy is paramount and that the program does not use controversial methods such as facial recognition.

 

NEW PROJECTS TO BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY -  click here and be the first to hear.