Articles by Simone Preuss
Simone Preuss is a freelance journalist specialising in apparel production, sustainability and social responsibility. She has been working with FashionUnited since 2012, gaining valuable insights into an ever-changing industry.
Asket to launch final product
How many garments should an essential wardrobe contain? Opinions differ. Some may manage for quite a while with just three t-shirts, two pairs of trousers, a shirt/blouse and a sweater while others may last just two days with it. Swedish slow fashion brand Asket has been thinking about this question for quite some time; in fact, since it was...
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Sustainability at Miomojo focuses on innovation and responsibility
While large clothing and accessory brands often struggle with their sustainability efforts, as their size makes them inflexible or their business model is based on overproduction, smaller and younger labels have it a bit easier as a sustainable direction was part of their programme from the outset. One such company is the Italian bag label...
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A foot in the door: Birkenstock opens three more stores in Mumbai
German footwear brand Birkenstock appears to have taken a shine to Mumbai, home of Bollywood, and India in general. In April last year, it opened its first Indian flagship store on Mumbai's iconic Linking Road, a popular location for international and domestic brands alike. Puma, Levi’s, Benetton, Vero Moda, Raymond, Anita Dongre and others rub...
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Cotton and biodiversity: New report demonstrates key role of smallholder farmers
When it comes to cotton, many think of large companies responsible for its cultivation. However, according to Solidaridad figures from 2023, 70 percent of the world's cotton is produced by smallholder farmers. These are family farms of between one and ten hectares. Four key factors are responsible for agriculture contributing significantly to...
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German Supply Chain Law comes into force on 1st January 2023
The “Act on Corporate Due Diligence in Supply Chains” was passed by the German Bundestag in June 2021 and will come into force in a few short days - on 1st January 2023. It will initially cover large companies with 3,000 or more employees, and from 2024 also companies with 1,000 or more employees. What does this mean for companies? From Sunday,...
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Rens offers world's first sneakers made from coffee grounds
In search of cool, sustainable brands, FashionUnited stumbled upon Rens, a Finnish athleisure brand that makes the world's first sneaker from coffee grounds and recycled plastic. The Helsinki-based brand even won the 2021 Reddot Award for Outstanding Product Design for its innovation. Rens' coffee sneakers debuted in the summer of 2019 and soon...
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The Industry We Want panel brings stakeholders across supply chain together
A recent event by The Industry We Want (TIWW), an initiative launched by Fair Wear in January together with the Ethical Trading Initiative, was well attended, showing that the initiative’s goal - bringing industry stakeholders together to work on better labour conditions in the garment industry - is shared by many. The event, which was jointly...
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Fashion for Good project with Bestseller and Kering demonstrates tracing of viscose
Global sustainability initiative Fashion for Good reported the successful completion of its Viscose Traceability Pilot in time for World Rainforest Day on 22nd June 2021. The pilot is a consortium project with partners Bestseller and Kering and supported by Zalando to trace sustainable viscose in garments using innovator TextileGenesis’...
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28 Sustainability efforts of the fashion industry in May 2021
Continuing from April, there were sustainable efforts galore in May too. Now, even rivaling brands like Adidas and Allbirds shake hands when it comes to circular innovations that are best tackled together. Brands and retailers continue offering consumers more sustainable choices and it is heartening to see that young designers have more choices...
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Zalando gifts employees one week of vacation
Online fashion retailer Zalando has come up with a special gift for its employees for the holiday season: “zacation”, or one collective week off, as a thank you for the hard work during the pandemic. “Covid-19. When we said goodbye to the office in March, we thought: See you in four weeks. Now, a year and a bit later we see that a pandemic is...
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