Private label apparel producer outlines sustainable practices on new product
General Sportwear, a New York-based producer of branded apparel that also has 93 years of history in private label apparel, launched a new version of its legacy brand Devil-Dog Dungarees under a new set of sustainable guidelines.
The company demonstrated its new sustainable practice with the launch of the denim jeans, saying they are being produced under three rules: use sustainable materials, manufacture with eco-friendly production methods, and demonstrate transparent sourcing.
General Sportwear uses the acronym SET (sustainable, eco-friendly, transparent) for its new project to produce more sustainable efforts.
“Devil-Dog used sustainable materials, such as Repreve in the pocketing and in select fabrics, from the very start,” said Sean Connelly, vice president of merchandising and sales, General Sportwear. “The new ‘SET’ development allows us to take it one step further, deconstructing a garment, and allowing us to look at every element and replace it with a more sustainable option.” For example, generic cotton was replaced with a combination of recycled material and polyester was replaced with Repreve; patches and labels were removed with versions that required fewer steps, according to the company.
More eco-friendly technology is being employed in the manufacturing process, as well, beginning with new indigo dyes, developed by the company, to reduce the amount of water needed during wash techniques.
Transparent sourcing is the final guideline. “All of our Devil-Dog denim production runs solely through our two WRAP Platinum Certified wholly owned production facilities in Central America,” said David Rosenstock, executive vice president and owner of General Sportwear. “We know where every garment is at all times in the process and can trace and certify all raw materials back to our highly vetted suppliers.”
The company is setting the new rules in place for the development of its denim product but hopes the guidelines can inspire other companies to be more sustainable and inspire other ways of working internally, too.