WE Fashion creates new collections from discarded clothes

First step to complete the circle

The collection will be comprised of sweaters
and vests and will be available in WE-shops in the Netherlands, Belgium,
France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. They will have a QR-code,
linked to a track & trace-system by Recycle Movement. This will inform the
consumer about the amount of recycled material used for his
purchase and how much energy and resources were spared making it.

The action of WE Fashion fits in the principle
of cradle-to-cradle, where all used resources are re-used so nothing is lost. “This
way we burden the environment less and we make sure quality fibres are not lost
to inferior products or – even worse – are burned”, says CEO of WE Fashion
Wouter Kolk.

Supporting Indian street children

The collections follow the same lines as last year’s project, where the company asked its Dutch customers to collect discarded clothes and in exchange, receive a 5% discount on their next
purchase.

The collected clothing then was sent to a Rainbow
house for street children in Indian Bangalore, where
Partnership Foundation provides the children with shelter, clothes, food, medical care, education and
a return to society.

WE Fashion will expand the collection campaign
to all European countries this year. The chain has a total of 250 shops in the
Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Austria and Switzerland.

Want to know more about sustainable retailing? On
25 April 2013 numerous innovations will be presented at the seminar “Sustainibility:
the power of upside down”, in the context of the RetailDetail Congress.