Opening blockchain-QR platform to MetaWear private label clients in 2022
Ecofashion Corp (EFC) is a lifestyle company comprised of four sustainable textile verticals. Founder and CEO Marci Zaroff discusses with Fibre2fashion about its four sustainable textile verticals, Ecofashion’s association with the Indian textile industry and how the brand plans to scale its business and benefit people and the planet.
As a lifestyle company, what exactly does Ecofashion Corp (EFC) do?
Ecofashion Corp (EFC) is a "Greenhouse of Brands" that gives both other businesses and consumers what they seek in the way of style, quality, fit, colour, comfort, and price, while also making a difference to human and environmental wellness, farmer and worker welfare, and future generations. At the forefront of an eco-lifestyle, sustainable design, and turnkey production, EFC leverages the power of fashion and textiles to drive the expansion of organic and regenerative agriculture, circularity, technology, and fibre/material innovation.
How can people be a part of the change towards saving planet earth through fashion?
As businesses, it's not about staying ahead, it's about not being left behind. Today's brands and retailers must embed social and/or environmental accountability into their design and production strategies. That’s why I founded MetaWear—to help companies get where they want to go. As we make continued progress as an industry, we can accelerate choices across every channel of distribution—from class to mass—for today's consumer to vote with their dollars. Consumers need to read labels and learn about the products, brands and companies they are buying and supporting. It's all hands-on deck now, and we all need to play our part at co-creating a greener, cleaner and better world. Sustainability is not about sacrifice or deprivation; it's value-add. I wrote my book, ECOrenaissance, as a "Lifestyle Guide for Co-Creating a stylish, sexy and sustainable world."
Since EFC was founded in 2019 as a Special Purpose Corporation, how has its revenue increased? Has the company reached break-even point?
While 30 years in the making, our first full year of business was 2020 during Covid, and although there was a lot of instability, we had a good first year due to growing demand for sustainable apparel and home fashion, as well as health and wellness. We actually would have it a break-even this year, but we just officially launched Yes And, and invested in a fabulous collection—organic "Love" sweaters, velour hoodies and joggers, tie-dye dresses, and so much more. We just unveiled our new website and are forging strategic partnerships with other brands, influencers, celebrities and NGO's. We have grown nearly 300 per cent in 2021, and we're just getting started. All of the ecofashion engines are revving.
Please share some light on each of your four sustainable textile verticals.
The engine of our company is called MetaWear—the "Intel inside" of sustainable apparel and home fashion. With a turnkey source-to-story manufacturing platform in India, an office, and full team on the ground, we develop and manage full-package, customised private label production for other brands and retailers. We also have three of our own house brands—two which live exclusively on QVC: Farm to Home (certified organic bedding and bath) and Seed to Style (size-inclusive, affordable, sustainable apparel). Yes, and, we recently launched our digitally native direct-to-consumer, farm-to-finished fashion lifestyle brand Yes And. Our brands are vertically-integrated, leveraging the power of MetaWear and our cotton farm project in India called RESET—currently growing three types of cotton: certified organic, regenerative-in-transition-to-organic, and biodynamic organic.
How is EFC planning to scale each of its brands? And how will it benefit people and the planet?
Given that MetaWear is a solution provider for other brands and retailers to achieve their own sustainability commitments, MetaWear's plug-and-play model makes it "easy" to navigate the complexities of sustainable supply chains and storydoing. We are (e)co-creating with countless small, medium and mass-market brands and retailers to reduce their carbon footprints and impacts across water, energy, and chemical use, while also addressing fair pay, safe working conditions and no child labour. At Yes And, we are forging numerous exciting collaborations to drive awareness and accessibility at the intersection of modern style and substance. And with our QVC brands, we are continuing to introduce new collections to meet mainstream consumers where they are to empower them on a sustainability journey. Our business model is built on the 5 P’s—people, planet, profit, passion and purpose, so by connecting agriculture to popular culture, we are actively addressing social, climate and environmental justice.
You had coined the term ‘ecofashion’ way back in 1995. What was the reason behind it? And how did the term evolve from there on?
When I trademarked "ecofashion," people thought I was insane. The mindset then was that ecology and fashion were two dichotomous worlds, and people into fashion were not into environmental awareness or social justice, and those who lived a more conscious lifestyle, were not into fashion. But I wanted both and those worlds were not mutually exclusive. My vision was always to bridge the tree hugger and the fashionista, and to style the world of change, while changing the world of style. I had spent a decade in the organic/natural food and clean beauty spaces and discovered that fibre and textiles were a missing link in the wellness equation. I've always believed that we had to break the stigmas that were holding ecofashion back: that organic/eco-friendly clothing had to be crunchy, frumpy, boxy, beige and boring; that is was overpriced; and that you would never know if/how it was truly sustainable. My focus has always been on the "Yes,"—quality, fit, colour and price, as well as authenticity and transparency, so the "And" of certified organic, ethically-made, low-impact dyed, fair trade, biodegradeable, circular, etc. could be the icing on the cake. With an unwavering commitment to driving fashion forward, I’ve gone from being the ‘crazy one’ to being propelled to the forefront with everyone in the fashion and textile industries now joining the sustainability party. I believe ecofashion is the future of fashion.
You are an internationally recognised eco-lifestyle expert, educator, innovator, author, and serial ecopreneur. How do you manage so many things simultaneously?
Everything I do is Interconnected, further fuelling my life work to revolutionise the fashion and textile industries through inspiration, education, collaboration, and innovation. One of my favourite quotes (from Kahlil Gibran) is “Work is love made visible”. So when you love your work, it' not work; it's love. I feel very blessed and as an ecopreneur, I often feel like a kid in a candy store: I get to do what I love, make a living, and change the world. Over my 30-year career, I have learned to build great teams of people around me, and to delegate and pivot whenever, wherever necessary to keep all things moving forward, while making progress towards the collective vision of a better world. The 5 C's I speak to in my book are fundamental to everything I do: creativity, consciousness, community, connection and collaboration. I am very strategic, love to learn, and welcome challenges—as they provide a catalyst to get smarter, stronger, better, and clearer every step of the way.
Where are all your products made? From where do you source raw material for these products?
We have an entire production platform in India and given that MetaWear was initially born as a US manufacturer, we are also working towards coming full circle to launch a domestic "smart factory of the future" in 2022/3. In India, we source fibres directly from tribal organic and regenerative cotton farms, such as RESET, and other sources such as Lenzing's Tencell Lyocell and Unifi's Repreve RPET. In 2022, we will be introducing our proprietary and innovative banana and hemp fibre blends as well. All of our fabrics and products for our in-house and MetaWear partner brands are custom-developed from raw material to finished product and are fully traceable in every step of our carefully vetted vertically-integrated supply chains.
EFC has recently launched a blockchain traceability platform. How is it going to promote sustainability in fashion industry?
With our new blockchain technology platform through to a QR-code on our apparel labels, Yes And and Seed to Style are now equipped to take consumers on an inspiring and transparent sustainability journey. By scanning the QR code on our organic knitwear, one can experience the product's life path, including farmer and worker photos, videos, and a virtual map of every touch point in that garment's supply chain. This traceability is not only engaging for the end consumer, but it further validates the very questions with which the "Fashion Revolution" movement has advocated: "Who made my clothes? What's in them? How and where are they being made?" By digitising our supply chains, we can share the what, when, how, why and where of our products—ultimately elevating those who grow and sew them while highlighting our sustainability practices.
You have also been a key figure in the development of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and first Fair-Trade Textile Certification with Fair-Trade USA. Please share the story.
Most people are aware of the NOP organic food standard, and since I started my career in food, I learned early on that the NOP accepted allowances were all food specific and couldn't be translated into fibre. With a fashion and lifestyle brand at the time called "Under the Canopy," I focused on organic fibres and ethical manufacturing, so I joined a small group of people in the 90's to develop the first US organic textile standard to mirror the food standard. We then discovered that several other countries were on the same page, but our standards differed despite textiles crossing borders every day—ultimately causing confusion. Our Organic Fiber Council of the Organic Trade Association joined forces with similar groups in Japan, the UK, and Germany, and together, our 4 non-profit trade organisations created the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)—which has now grown to over 12,000 GOTS certified facilities worldwide. In the early 2000's, I also joined my dear friend Paul Rice, and his team at Fair Trade USA, also to connect food and fibre by helping Fair Trade USA craft the first Fair Trade Textile Certification in the world, with a focus on social compliance and fair pay with living wages for farmers and workers. We spent over 7 years working on this certification, and currently, there are Fair Trade Certified factories all over the world empowering millions of people to be a part of a movement to protect farmers, workers and our planet. I founded Under the Canopy in 1995; we launched the first GOTS Certified product (sheets) in the US in 2006 on the shelves of Target, and the first Fair Trade Certified product (robes) in the US at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Today, there are hundreds of certified brands, and thousands of GOTS and/or Fair-Trade Certified products, available worldwide.
Having spent the past three decades working with a close-knit team of Indian farmers, mills and collaborators, how do you see sustainability in the Indian textile industry?
Intuitively, Indian culture is very receptive to sustainability. For thousands of years, farming and textile-making has been an integral part of society, and further, the people pride themselves on a mind, body, and spirit connection. With nearly 6 million cotton farmers and tens of millions of people working in the cotton industry, India is the largest grower of cotton in the world, and it's one of the most important crops; India also has the most GOTS certified facilities and organic cotton in the world. A third of our global textiles are made from cotton, so Indian farmers are highly receptive to transitioning to regenerative, organic, and even biodynamic cotton farming practices. And with a robust manufacturing infrastructure in India, vertical integration allows for streamlined production with a lower carbon footprint, and cradle to cradle innovation on renewable energy, material health and reuse, water stewardship, and social justice. From farm to home and closet, I have built nearly three decades of win-win relationships in India, where we share core values and a common vision to wear the change we all wish to see in the world.
What are you planning to do in the next phase with this technology?
In 2022, we will be introducing human and environmental Impact data, such as carbon and water and other metrics, then consolidating data to unveil collective benefits and insights. We also will be opening the blockchain-QR platform to MetaWear private label clients in 2022, so our partners will have the option to tell their supply chain stories as well—from farm to retail.
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