Procter & Gamble strikes a partnership with global and national designers in a bid to jazz up the Fabric Care category that includes Tide, Downy, Gain and Bounce. The company states that the move is aimed at “exploring the future of fabrics and the science behind the beauty and care of clothes.” As part of the initiative, P&G partners with British fashion designer Giles Deacon, fabric and textiles show and trends observer Première Vision, and the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
“P&G Fabric Care shares a passion with the fashion and fabrics industry for the importance and role of clothing in people’s lives,” says P&G Fabric Care North America Vice President Alex Keith. “This new fashion-focused initiative will help us continue to bring to market innovative and accessible at-home laundering products that unlock the care-at-home aspect of fashion.”
With his broad and in-depth expertise, Mr. Deacon, who is appointed as the company’s first ever Global Fashion Consultant, will be engaged in consulting the Fabric Care team on developing sophisticated fiber care technologies. Previously, he worked for Bottega Veneta and Gucci, and also collaborated with British fashion company Mulberry and the High Street fashion chain New Look to name a few.
Through its collaboration with Première Vision, the company is planning to get a deeper insight into the technology advances in fibers and fabrics. In the statement, P&G shares that it will integrate the textile innovations and fashion insights into the development of new types of fabrics and materials, all to “enable consumers to confidently care for a vast range of clothing—from unexpected hybrids and mixed materials to air-light textiles.”
While these two collaborations have general goals, the partnership with Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) will focus on a particular product, Tide Pods. As part of the partnership between the CFDA, the company launches the U.S. “Washable Fashion Initiative” aimed to raise awareness across the fashion industry about the benefits of integrating machine-washable fabrics into their creations. The project, which comes as the first joint effort between the CFDA and a fabric care brand, will highlight both current and future possibilities in fabric care. The Tide Pods “detergent+stain remover+brightener” products come as the latest fabrics care innovation of the brand.
Procter & Gamble conducted a study, which revealed that 84.9% of the surveyed CFDA members would use machine washable fabrics more if they knew that the consumers would have an access to products that preserve the quality of the fabrics.