ast Retailing Group (FRGroup) announced recently that it had developed a new jean-washing process that could reduce the use of water by up to 99 percent, with an average of more than 90 percent.
The technology was developed by FR Jeans Innovation Center, an institution owned by the FRGroup to conduct research and develop jean materials. The center was established by FRGroup in Los Angeles, California in November 2016. It develops jeans by using technology and innovative materials, but still maintains its tradition.
The jeans are made of 100 percent denim cotton fabric made by Kaihara, the leading maker of jeans in the world based on the classic style of jeans.
It has been applied on the 2018 autumn/winter collection of the UNIQLO men’s regular fit jeans and J BRAND sustainable capsule collection.
In 2019, there will be a total of 10 millions pairs of jeans of the two brands that will be made through the process. Those 10 million pairs are almost one-third of the total production of FRGroup. In2020, the new technology will be applied on all jeans to be made and sold by the FRGroup. The newest innovation integrates sophisticated washing equipment, which uses nano bubble and ozone, and expertise of all jeans designers to reduce the use of water in the process of washing compared to the conventional method, but still maintains the quality and design.
By integrating the technique, UNIQLO managed to reduce the use of water in the process of washing men’s regular fit jeans up to 99 percent, with an average of more than 90 percent.
In 2020, the group plans to produce 40 million jeans with the new washing process, and hopes to reduce the use of water by up to 3.7 billion liters, which is equivalent to the water volume of 1,500 international standard 50-by-25-meter swimming pools. In addition, the pumice stones usually used for washing have been replaced with artificial stones that can be used semi-permanently and help reduce air pollution. Workers’ burden will be lighter with the use of laser to replace the traditional process of ironing by hand.
Masaaki Matsubara, director of the jeans innovation center, said the production of jeans did not only focus on design and comfort. “It should be also environmentally friendly and protect the rights of workers involved in production. That way, jean production creates a brighter future. We’ll use our technical capabilities and economic scale o to contribute to realizing sustainability. Further details on the new washing technology will be released early in 2019,” he said.
Fast Retailing Co., Ltd is a leading global retailing company based in Tokyo. UNIQLO is the biggest brand among FRGroup’s six brands, GU, J Brand, Theory, Comptoir des Cotonniers, and Princesse tam.tam, with total global sales of around 2.13 trillion yen in 2018 (as of Aug.31 2018).
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