Very partners with Jeanologia to drive sustainable denim production

The Very Group has announced its latest partnership with denim technology specialist Jeanologia to improve sustainability in the manufacture of its own-brand denim.

Under the partnership, all V by Very denim suppliers have signed up to Jeanologia's environmental impact measuring platform. This assesses water and energy consumption and scores the chemical impact of its denim as low, medium or high.

Very and Jeanologia will work with suppliers to provide education, support and advice on improving scores by implementing more sustainable denim washing, ageing and finishing processes in factories.

The brand will use Jeanologia’s platform to ensure that 100% of its own-brand denim production is low impact by 2025, up from 60% currently.

Emma Alexander, Fashion Director at The Very Group, said: “As a retailer with a global footprint, we realise how important it is to reduce our environmental impact.

“By 2025, we want at least three quarters of the raw materials used in our own-brand ranges to be sustainable. Working with Jeanologia is an important step towards that goal. We still have a long way to go, but we’re proud of the progress we have made so far.”

According to WWF, it takes more than 20,000 litres of water to produce one kilogram of cotton, which roughly equals one T-shirt and a pair of jeans. In addition, cotton cultivation uses chemicals equating to 4% of all world pesticides.

The partnership supports The Very Group's plans to improve the sustainability of its V by Very collection, with 90% of the cotton used now coming through the Better Cotton Initiative.

Very is also a member of the Circular Fashion Partnership and also recently signed up to WRAP’s Textile 2030 initiative, which supports progress towards a more circular textiles economy.