A new investigative report from Greenpeace, called ‘Dirty Laundry’ features the problem of toxic water pollution resulting from the release of hazardous chemicals by the textile industry in China. Greenpeace accused the Chinese conglomerate supplying Nike, Adidas, Lacoste and other leading brands in discharging hormone-disrupting chemicals and other toxins into the country’s major water systems. Questions about corporate responsibility for the firms they do business with were raised up.
clothing & footwear
What happens when two iconic brands come together? Their collaborations usually result in quite predictable products such as extravagant cars (auto + luxury), sneakers (footwear + apparel), bikes (commuter transport means + apparel) and hip bottles (soft drinks + fashion) to name but a few. Following the trend of teaming up for creating something new, SKYY Vodka and Diesel partnered to develop a new product, which is (quite surprisingly) neither jeans nor a cocktail—it is… a new swimsuit capsule collection to be unveiled this week at the beginning of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim (July 14–18, Miami).
By saying ‘Go Forth’ in its new global marketing campaign, Levi’s really means it. The jeanswear brand is starting to expand some of its initiatives launched previously on the U.S. market on an international scale now. Levi’s, which opened the doors of its first print workshop—the first in the series of such venues—in San Francisco a year ago as part of ‘Ready to Work’ campaign, is inviting creative talents to another themed workshop, now in Berlin.
Levi’s has been always committed to celebrating pioneer spirit and empowering youth to create a better world (the recent activities of the brand are revolving around water conservation and creativity) and with its groundbreaking technologies including the Water<Less one, has become an icon of progress, improvement and driving positive change. Last year, Levi’s launched its ‘Ready to Work’ campaign in the U.S. as part of its ‘Go Forth’ platform revealed in 2009, and now the brand announces the launch of its first-ever global creative platform under the same title with the ‘Now is our time’ tagline—the new marketing effort is designed to reach consumers in 24 countries via a plethora of media including TV, cinema, print, digital and outdoor in the coming months.
Nike, Hurley and Converse teamed up to open the third of a series of new retail concepts at The Malibu Village in Malibu, California. Located at the corner of Cross Creek Road and Pacific Coast Highway, the 4,000 square foot the new store called Salvation focuses on new Nike’s concept of the innovative and fresh consumer experiences.
Nowadays, jeans are a symbol of moving forward, youth, rebellion and pioneer spirit, but originally they were made for working. Diesel, which can ‘be stupid’ as well as smart and industrious, has put this fact behind the new collection called Our Glory, the line of jeans “master-crafted by an elite team with a perverse passion & clinically insane inclination for denim.”
On June 23, Nike re-opened its major 1948 store in Shoreditch. In the summer of 2008, Nike launched 1948 in an abandoned East London railway arch. Part retail space, part creative playground, 1948 ‘was about the constantly shifting space between art and athleticism,’ as explained in on the store’s web site. The space has undergone an extensive re-design in preparation for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.
On June 29, PUMA Volvo Ocean Racing powered by Berg Propulsion introduced Laird Hamilton, big wave surfer and father of modern stand-up paddleboarding, as the honorary 12th crew member of the PUMA Ocean Racing team. PUMA and Hamilton unite to search for the world’s biggest, ride-able waves and to launch a line of innovative stand-up paddleboards. In addition, PUMA revealed a new youth ocean preservation campaign and presented a mascot, educator and honorary 13th crew member, Marmo.