From misleading labels to unsound environmental practices buried in a product’s fine print, greenwashing has posed significant challenges for the fashion industry.
While the problem can’t be fixed overnight, vertically integrated denim manufacturer Soorty believes Pakistan is one untapped resource that could help mitigate the issue.
“One thing that sets Pakistan apart from the competition, like Turkey, China or Bangladesh, is [our] model of vertical corporations that allows us to have a unique alignment between all the upstream players and the market,” Asad Soorty, director at Soorty Enterprises, said in a fireside chat with Sourcing Journal’s features editor Kate Nishimura. “Additionally, what you’ll see in Pakistan are companies that have spinning mills, like Soorty does, that aren’t designed for profit but for development and to run multiple fibers at the same time, so we can achieve faster, speed[ier] innovations.”
Expanding its capabilities further, the denim manufacturer is investing heavily in the farming space with its Soorty Organic Cotton Initiative. Launched two years ago in partnership with WWF-Pakistan, the Department of Agriculture Extension, Balochistan and with support and input from the Laudes Foundation—which provides partners with philanthropic capital, expertise and connections—the program aims to bring organic farming practices and a better way of life to farmers in Pakistan’s Balochistan region. Additionally, the program was launched to improve 7,000 acres of land, helping to produce more than 17,000 metric tons of seed cotton and 6,000 metric tons of cotton lint by 2025.
“The project wouldn’t have been possible without the support of all our partners,” said Soorty. “It’s been so exciting for us to work in such an underdeveloped area and see the livelihoods of these farmers change right in front of our eyes.”
While the Karachi-based mill continues looking for ways to make its practices more sustainable and place Pakistan on the map as a solution to greenwashing, challenges lie ahead, including finding innovative ways to increase the percentage of mechanically recycled cotton in its product and designing it into circularity.
“There is always a tension between what’s commercially valuable and what is sustainable in design,” said Soorty. “For example, if you need a heavy bleach wash that will require chemicals that may not be considered circular. Similarly, certain fibers are not sustainable, but without them, the fabric won’t perform the way it’s meant to.”
Despite the challenges, Soorty still prevails. “We started the journey [to end greenwashing] and we’re looking to go to the end.”
To watch the fireside chat, click the image above. For more information, go to https://www.instagram.com/soortyenterprises/.
