At WTT, we assess each product’s compliance with our sustainability criteria and we don’t regard full collections or brands as sustainable unless all the products are actually environmentally sound.
Criteria
In our sustainability assessment of products we take into account the following aspects:
- Fabric and material
- Material purity
- Dyeing
- End of life considerations
- Circularity
- Processes
- Durability
- Care aspects and washing impact
- Packaging
- Overall brand’s approach to slow fashion
Outstanding Tag
All these elements are specially considered when we tag a brand’s selection as outstanding, which is a special recommendation by Walk the Talk based on the brand’s ethics, programs, circularity initiatives and the characteristics of the products.
Minimum Requirement
However, the minimum mandatory requirement for a product to be included in our selection is that the fabric or material in which the garment or accessory is produced is sustainable. Most of the climate impact of fashion comes from fibre and fabric production, which is why fabric criteria is the most important part of our assessment. By considering fabric and material many aspects are being taken into account such as water and energy needs, pesticides, CO2 emissions, soil erosion, biodegradability, utilization of waste and deadstock and the end of life of the product.
The materials and garments that we accept can be divided in three categories:
- Sustainable
- Deadstock and upcycled
- Recycled
Sustainable
Sometimes, the material in itself is sustainable because of its production process and its overall impact. When we consider a material to be sustainable we acknowledge the fact that no material is completely sustainable, but we assess sustainability in comparison to the traditional alternative. Fabrics in this category include organic cotton, linen, hemp, TENCEL™ Lyocell and Modal, LENZING™ ECOVERO™, among others. Some materials include jute, cork, sisal and innovative vegan leathers such as apple skin, reishi, malai, piñatex.
Deadstock and upcycled
Using pre-consumer and post-consumer waste contributes to reducing waste being sent to landfill or being incinerated and avoids the use of new materials and resources. Through creativity, production leftovers, deadstock, samples and discarded garments can become valuable pieces prolonging the life of the materials and reducing the impact of creating new fabrics.
Recycled
Fabrics and materials made of recycled waste are another great way to reduce the impact of the creation of new materials while at the same time it contributes to taking harmful waste out of landfills and oceans. Some recycled materials that are used in our selection are rPET, econyl®, seaqual™, recycled cotton, circulose, cupro, recycled wool and recycled cashmere.
Recycled natural materials are always the best option as they don’t release microplastics when washed. Although recycled petroleum-based fabrics do release microplastics when washed, it is better for the environment that those plastics are recycled into fabrics as plastic waste is this way being diverted from the oceans where it would degrade as microplastics but in higher quantities.
Below, you can find a summary of the materials we approve and their rating, and those we don’t.
| We are fans Let’s walk these!  | Yep, we really like | We accept | Nope. These don’t walk the talk |
| Organic hemp Organic linen Organic cotton Kapok Mechanically-processed bamboo Recycled cotton Deadstock materials Other recycled materials Leather alternatives: LeQara Piñatex® Apple skin Vegea’s grape leather Mylo™ Desserto Nuo Muskin™ Zoa™ Malai Bananatex® Reishi™ Cork | Hemp Linen Tencel™ Lyocell Tencel™ Modal LENZING™ Ecovero™ Seacell™ Recycled wool Recycled cashmere Recycled leather Peace silk | Recycled nylon Recycled polyester Biodegradable nylon Cupro | Cotton Leather Wool Cashmere Fur Silk Polyester(1) Viscose Modal Rayon Nylon PU leather Elastane(2) Bamboo rayon |
1. If polyester is used, percentage in the final product must represent less than 25%.
2. If elastane is needed for construction, percentage can go up to 25%.
