The Ecodesign Regulation
The EU's Ecodesign Regulation marks a major shift towards circular products. As Digital Product Passports begin rolling out, here's why they matter for fashion, transparency and the future of sustainable design.
The Ecodesign Regulation is an EU framework designed to improve the sustainability and circularity of products throughout their lifecycle.
This week marked an important milestone. The Digital Product Passport infrastructure went live, with textiles identified as one of the EU's priority sectors.
Fashion is no longer later. It’s happening.
We built for this
It’s always been a priority for me to build something that was sustainable.
Our fabrics are made from 100% GOTS certified organic cotton. Our factories are powered by renewable energy.
Our dyeing process alone, is worth reading about, all garments are dyed in a closed loop system where water comes out clean enough to drink.
Using low-waste digital printing technology and water-based inks that conform to GOTS and Soil Association organic criteria is crucial to circularity. Our inks contain no animal-derived products and are not tested on animals.
And we print on demand, reducing overproduction.
Organic cotton garments awaiting production. Building sustainability begins long before the first print is applied.
Why DPP?
Looking at textiles, most people don't know much beyond what's printed on the care label.
There is no dye information, which is traditionally toxic and uses and wastes a lot of water.
No manufacturing information, where was it made, does the product contain restricted chemicals?
Yes, these can be found in clothing.
There is no recycling or repair information.
And nothing about how much carbon was produced when making it.
Up till now all that has been required are garment care labels. Wash cold, no tumble dry, fire warnings.
It’s the beginning of the end for greenwashing. “Made sustainably” is no longer going to cut it.
People, Product, Profit
This is how it should be.
We’re nowhere near, sadly. But these regulations walk us toward a circular future where ending fashion waste is an outcome.
It’s not just textiles, steel, batteries and iron are in the priority groups. If you’ve been reading this blog from the start, you’ll know Ive been bitching about low quality products built to last a year for as long as I’ve been building.
We are a long way from the kind of future I would love to see, where every product has been designed for its entire life cycle. This is where it starts.
What happens next?
Testing.
Phased rollout.
At the time of writing, the DPP regulations have only impacted very large producers.
Large producers are now prohibited from destroying their unsold textiles and footwear.
Early days
As with all new regulations, there will probably be challenges along the way.
Like what to do with the 30% of clothing that doesn’t get sold.
You can see the changes already, a large fashion retailer here in the UK has been advertising the same green dress for the past two months. Now it’s all about re-wear, reuse, recycle.
When I started Mongrel Logic, I wasn't trying to follow regulation. I was trying to build a better way of making products. Seeing circularity become part of legislation feels like confirmation that the industry is finally moving in the right direction.
We're still at the beginning. But for the first time in a long time, it feels like fashion is being asked to think beyond the point of sale.
Dance Tenet
The game has officially started. A quick update on The Canis, comics, cards, and why Tenet dancing is somehow the least strange thing happening around here.
There is a small chance that I have lost touch with reality. That’s not a bad thing; I am building another one.
The Canis is an original world expressed through streetwear, comics and playable artifacts.
It’s On
Raptor 1 and Raptor Wakes as dusty recovered artifacts.
There is much to be revealed, but the game has officially started.
Hours of web building, alt text, and thousands of moments in between figuring out language and images, and I can’t stop thinking about the cards and the points system behind them.
I cannot wait to get started on the comics and the cards. I’m a systems person. This really is my bag. I have wanted to make my own comic for as long as I can remember.
The Cards
The first part of The Canis streetwear game is live; the cards are an additional layer. They will be playable. More on that when my brain produces it. Signal Lost.
The Comics
Trying to take this on by myself might be the most insane thing I have done yet. Most comics are made by several people. I still have a business to run, designs to create, story to write and characters to develop.
Thankfully, half The Canis writes itself, the hard part is getting it out of my head.
Please send help. We accept magical caterpillars, beans and dolls.
The world is evolving.
I think moon eaters are coming. I know Logic is growing something else. Tenet will most likely hijack my brain at some point.
And Ultraviolet is somewhere in another universe, getting more annoyed by the minute.
Can a Streetwear ARG Change Clothing Recycling?
Can storytelling change clothing recycling? This article explores why I'm building The Canis, a streetwear ARG designed to make sustainable fashion more engaging.
We all know fashion has a waste problem.
Some of you might not know how big it is.
Less than 15% of clothing is recycled globally each year; yet we produce 92 million tons of textile waste in the same period.
Most of that ends up burned or in landfill.
Can storytelling change behaviour?
People are not going to stop producing fashion. It’s a part of who we are. How we make it, what we make it out of, and what we do with it after, is all going to change.
Historically, we’ve never had to worry about what happened to it after we were done. Can how we feel about what we’ve bought change that?
A photo representing the circular fashion process, organic cotton fibres clean enough to break down and reuse.
Why organic cotton isn’t enough.
If it was only that easy. Changing how people behave is hard.
Cotton is one of the most toxic fabrics on the planet, synthetics and micro plastics are another big topic. We’ve seen incredible and ridiculous innovations in textiles, but these are more often clickbait than sustainable.
GOTS certified organic cotton is grown free from harmful chemicals making it easier to recycle.
But organic cotton alone is not the main reason why most people buy.
Building a streetwear ARG.
The world I am building has game play elements. Comics, games and a series are in the pipeline, but the overarching question is how can we change behaviour?
A small incentive is a start. But is it enough to make you go through the steps of returning a t-shirt?
We all have clothing we value; we tend to keep those items. Often regardless of condition. What we do with the stuff we don’t want, or is damaged, is barely a thought.
The Canis is the experiment.
Do we not recycle because that’s the way it’s always been and ‘all it will take’ is a few regulations?
How long will these regulations take to become globally enforceable?
Or can we do something about it in the meantime?
I’m not saying I have the solution. But maybe, when you’re done with your tee or it’s looking a little haggard, you’ll hear Tenet’s voice saying, “The Canis takes it back” and scan the QR code.