bonprix launches undyed products and enters into further partnerships for even greater sustainability

The international fashion company is continuing to drive forward its ambitions in the area of sustainability: in its current spring/summer collection, bonprix is presenting ‘undyed’ styles for the first time – products that do not require any dyeing. At the same time, the company is expanding its strategic partnerships in the areas of organic cotton and circularity (circular economy).

With these measures, bonprix is taking further important steps as part of its ‘positive choice’ sustainability strategy, with which the company has set new standards for the environment and climate in 2021: by 2030, the fashion company aims to offer exclusively sustainable products, make its supply chain transparent from fibre production onwards and achieve climate neutrality.

The Spring/Summer 2022 collection

The current collection combines trendy styles with environmentally friendly designs. The connection to nature is reflected not only in light fabrics with batik effects and floral patterns, but also in the materials used. In line with its ‘positive choice’ philosophy, the company continues to focus on cotton from sustainable sources (organic cotton and Cotton made in Africa) in order to conserve local water resources during cultivation. In addition, sustainable viscose, TENCEL™ Lyocell, recycled polyester and recycled polyamide are used, the production of which causes significantly less CO2 emissions than conventional materials. ²

Highlight: undyed fashion

New to the collection and a highlight are ‘undyed’ styles – completely undyed products made from organic cotton, such as natural-coloured sweatshirts, nightwear, underwear and socks. Not dyeing the cotton protects valuable water resources by using significantly fewer chemicals and reducing water consumption enormously.

Particularly sustainable: Cradle-to-Cradle Certified® Silver

In 2021, bonprix presented Cradle-to-Cradle Certified® Silver items for the first time. The demanding label takes social and ecological aspects into account from the raw material to the end of the life cycle and thus certifies completely biodegradable, reusable and recyclable products. The current sustainable spring/summer collection also includes Cradle to Cradle Certified® styles. Highlights here are a summery wrap dress and undyed nightwear.

‘The new undyed bonprix styles not only create a natural, fresh look, but – more importantly – they enable us to protect valuable water resources,’ says Stefanie Sumfleth, Head of Corporate Responsibility & Technical Product at bonprix. ‘Important next steps for us now include developing bonprix's own circular design principles, which will enable us to make our products more recyclable from the outset.’

New strategic partnerships to implement ‘positive choice’

For years, bonprix has relied on expert partnerships with international sustainability initiatives to contribute to an increasingly sustainable fashion industry while offering its customers transparency about the production conditions of their garments along the entire supply chain.

OCA (Organic Cotton Accelerator): promoting organic cotton

Cotton is the fibre used by bonprix for the majority of its products, accounting for approximately 50 per cent. Already 99 per cent of the cotton fibres processed by the company come from sustainable sources such as Cotton made in Africa, organically grown or recycled cotton. By 2025, at least 25 per cent of cotton fibres are to be certified and traceable from field to product – for example, through an organic cotton standard.

To achieve this goal and actively promote the cultivation of organic cotton, bonprix joined the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA) in April 2022. OCA is a multi-stakeholder organisation that aims to create a transparent, responsible and resilient supply chain for organic cotton and to support the people who grow it.

circular.fashion: partnership for circular design principles

In addition to its goal of using more and more sustainable fibres for its product range, bonprix is primarily working on making its products particularly durable and recyclable. The key to this is to design them from the outset with a holistic approach so that they are optimised for a circular economy. To this end, the company has been developing its own circular design principles since last year and has now entered into a forward-looking partnership with circular.fashion.

circular.fashion stands for sustainable change in the textile industry and offers software and system solutions for a circular economy in the fashion and textile sector. circular.fashion has developed comprehensive Circular Design Criteria, i.e. guidelines and requirements for recyclable products, which are now being combined with bonprix's existing circular design principles and incorporated into an interactive tool. In this way, bonprix is ensuring that quantifiable and externally consolidated design criteria are created, which will be used in future for cycle-optimised production planning.

Rien Jansen, Managing Director of Purchasing, Marketing and Retail at bonprix Handelsgesellschaft and responsible for the corporate responsibility strategy, is extremely satisfied with the developments over the past few months: ‘The future of fashion is circularity. To achieve this, we need biodegradable fibres such as organic cotton, as well as smartly designed products that can be technically recycled. That's why we are setting out on this journey together with our suppliers and partners in the industry.’