TEXTILES.ORG
According to a press release from Lenzing Group, a leader in sustainably produced wood-based specialty fibers, the company has announced findings from its Global Consumer Perception Survey on Sustainable Raw Materials in Fashion and Home Textiles. The survey, which was conducted in early 2020, assessed the perceptions and behaviors of Conscious Consumers towards sustainable clothing and home textile products, as well as their views towards sustainable raw materials and product features.
To understand consumer interest in sustainable materials and their current knowledge, a total of 9,000 respondents across nine countries aged between 18 and 64 were surveyed using online questionnaires. The key findings of the survey provided a glimpse into consumer habits towards pursuing a sustainable lifestyle, their knowledge of the raw materials used in clothing and home textile products, their perception towards brands and preferred product descriptions.
The findings also reflected the imminent need for closer collaboration within the clothing and home textile industries to provide consumers with more transparent information about the products they purchase, in order to enhance consumer trust and maximize business potential.
Three key findings are:
- Conscious Consumers actively engage in pursuing a sustainable lifestyle and are constantly educating themselves about raw materials.
- Products described as “Eco-friendly” or “Natural” with a “Biodegradable” or “Recyclable” afterlife appeal to consumers.
- Brands with greater transparency on raw materials and ingredients can gain consumer trust.
In addition, though sustainability has been a hot topic among brands, to enhance transparency, there is still room for the supply chain to evolve communications on raw materials, production process and product afterlife. Given consumers are already actively searching for sustainable products, it is important for the industry and brands to revolutionize how technical knowledge is translated into consumer language on websites, product tags and labels.
To drive change, Lenzing has been taking the lead with a three-pillar approach to increase industry collaboration and shift towards sustainability by ensuring a higher degree of transparency and enabling verification of raw material origin from production process to final garment. The three-pillar approach covers special fiber identification technology, a blockchain-based tracking system and proactive supply chain collaboration and planning. Such approach is also complemented by Lenzing’s bespoke e-branding platform for manufacturers and brands, providing one-stop support for fabric certification, including fabric testing, identification numbers and hangtags to offer reassurance that sustainability is in every step of the supply chain.