ECOALF

Summary

Ecoalf is a sustainable and ethical fashion brand that aims to reduce the negative impacts of the fashion industry and the excess use of the planet’s natural resources. It was founded in 2013 by Javier Goyeneche. The brand was the first fashion brand in Spain to be awarded the become B CorpTM.

By integrating breakthrough technology ECOALF creates clothing and accessories made entirely from recycled materials. The business has 350 points of sale and 70 branded retail stores located in Madrid, Madrid, Berlin, Barcelona, Málaga.

Mission

ECOALF’s mission is to create the first generation of recycled products with the same quality and design as the best non-recycled.

History

The concept of the brand came after the birth Javier Goyenech first son, Alfredo (the company is named after him) when he was reflecting upon what kind of world we were leaving to the next generation due to the excessive use of the world’s natural resources. ECOALF was born in 2009 as an idea and it was launched in 2013.

The company has grown steadily and now produces a full lifestyle collection of outerwear, swimwear, casual apparel, shoes and accessories for men, women and children. Mr. Goyeneche has strategically expanded ECOALF’s distribution to include many of the world’s most prestigious department stores and specialty retailers. In 2013, he oversaw the opening of an integrated ECOALF concept store, showroom and office in Madrid. Most recently ECOALF has collaborated with companies such as Apple, Swatch, Coolhunting, Coca-Cola and Will.i.am, and Barneys New York. ECOALF has opened its second Flagship store in Berlin, a multidisciplinary space of 264 square meters that offers a sustainable lifestyle experience.

Javier Goyeneche

ECOALF Ethos

ECOALF’s ethos is focused in 6 key concepts: sustainability, transparency, innovation, sustainable design, coherence and transparency.

Sustainability

Suffice the current necessities without compromising those of future generations. ECOALF aims to be a  project for the future of our society, with the social, economic and environmental fundamentals in the company’s blood.

Innovation

ECOALF focuses in revolutionary technology through the constant investment in R+D and collaborative investigation to reach the best quality in new materials, fabrics and processes using recycled materials.

ECOALF preference is to use the recycled materials because their negative environmental impact is much lower. Using wasted resources as a raw material allows reducing the consumption of natural resources. ECOALF turns residue to a great quality raw material – and in this way, the wasted material is reduced. In the majority of processes, ECOALF uses mechanical recycling – the most sustainable form of recycling. In terms of energy consumption and CO2 emissions, the production of a recycled material thread has a much lower impact compared with conventional thread.

ECOALF also focuses on Low-impact materials. The impact of a fibre, takes into account that its source is a small object in a larger picture. Currently, six parameters are used to determine the sustainability of a material:

1_Energy consumption/CO2 emissions.
2_Use of water.
3_Use of the ground.
4_Use of chemical products.
5_Relationship with biodiversity.
6_Production of solid residues.

ECOALF does not use natural fur in its collections; it stopped doing so in 2016. The main reason was not being able to guarantee the use of chrome in the furs, as well as the origin of the animals and the non-abuse of them.

Sustainable design

The honesty of a timeless design and the transformation of ideas into actions are the ethos of ECOALF and give energy and power to always search for new perspectives and ways to propose ideas in a sustainable and innovative way.

Coherence

ECOALF thrives to walk the talk of what they say they do,  by abiding to a strong coherence in their action plan.

Transparency

Transparency guarantees this coherence and gives credibility as a brand to third parties, but most importantly to clients. Transparency is a strong value of ECOALF.

ECOALF Foundation

The ECOALF Foundation is a non-profit organization whose main objective is to promote the recovery of waste in order to recycle it and avoid its harmful impact on the environment, through the development and application of new scientific and technological knowledge. ECOALF removes waste from the sea and transforms it into new materials to create a selection of wearable goods, including footwear and clothes. The project aims to remove the marine waste from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea to create new 100% recycled materials entirely manufactured in Spain.

In 2015, ECOALF, through its own Foundation as well as the support from the HAP Foundation, embarked on its most ambitious project: Upcycling the Oceans, a worldwide adventure that will help remove marine debris from the bottom of the oceans thanks to the support of certain fishermen. The revolutionary project aims to be replicated all over the world and its main objective is to recover trash that is destroying the sea, and transform it into top quality yarn to produce garments.

This pioneering initiative has three objectives: to remove litter that damages marine ecosystems from our seas; giving a second life to recovered waste with a circular economy view, and raising awareness about the global issue that marine litter presents.

This project is complex and faces great challenges, mostly concerned with the low and inconsistent quality of the debris recovered by the fishermen. It is often broken and weak as a result of its sunlight, salt and water exposure. Investment in R&D is crucial to the attainment of quality in line with Ecoalf’s standards.

ECOALF and B Corp

ECOALF is the first fashion brand in Spain to become B CorpTM, and it has been renowned for its commitment to the people and the planet.  B Corps inspire all businesses to compete not only to be the best in the world, but to be the best for the world. There are 2,441 Certified B Corporations in the world with 1 unifying goal – to redefine success in business.

Resources

https://ecoalf.com/en/https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/beazley-designs-of-the-year/fashion-20xx/ecoalf#
https://www.credit-suisse.com/microsites/conferences/aic/en/speakers/speakers/javier-goyeneche.html