Dockers Wellthread
The team at Levi’s is known for throwing a curveball at their production team. With their Waste<Less and Water<Less capsule collections, which integrate recycled plastic bottles into the fabric of denim and reduce the water used in the wash process, respectively, they’ve shown that there’s plenty the fashion industry can do to reduce its impact on the environment. The brand’s latest effort in sustainability and green fashion is the Dockers Wellthread line (Levi’s owns Dockers). Developed as part of the First Movers Fellowship at the Aspen Institute, the collection utilizes reduced water and energy in the production process and offers clothes that are modern and sleek as opposed to the usual crunch associated with the combination of environmentalism and fashion.
A look from the Dockers Wellthread collection
“How you make a garment is just as important as the garment itself,” said Michael Kobori, vice president of social and environmental sustainability at Levi’s. “We believe that we can use our iconic brands to drive positive sustainable change and profitable results. With that comes the responsibility to continually innovate for each new generation of consumers.”
The Wellthread Line, which will make its debut on dockers.com, includes just a small collection of eight items, but the brand mentions that a man’s wardrobe is really just an array of variations on basics. The team at Levi’s studied archival items from Levi’s, Dockers and more to see just where guys wear down their clothes the most. In turn, they reinforced seams, made pockets more resilient and even made buttonholes stronger. The designers also took recycling and reusing into the production process. Dyes used in the Wellthread collection are salt-free and designed to be used in cold water (as opposed to hot, which uses energy and water). Wellthread garments also use long-staple yarn, which isn’t just more durable, but more easily recycled.
“The collection is built on the premise that once you become informed of the challenges of environmental responsibility and social value, you have to act to create change,” said Paul Dillinger, senior director for Dockers global design. “We see where we can adjust our social processes and also yield some great men’s wear.”
A look from the Dockers Wellthread collection
And even the consumer can get involved, because Dockers suggests line-drying for the collection and has even given shoppers ways to make it easier by adding locker loops to all the khaki styles and overlapped shoulder seams on t-shirts so they don’t stretch out when guys hang dry them. The collection will include blazers, shirting and the anchor item: the khaki, as well as t-shirts.
In addition to the environment, the Dockers team is also piloting a new approach with factories. In light of the recent information on Indian and Malaysian factories, the company will be supporting programs that improve the lives of factory workers across the globe. Dockers Wellthread khakis are made at one of the five factories designated as Improving Workers’ Well-Being pilot sites, a distinction that Dockers hopes will spread to more factories around the world.
Images courtesy Levi’s
