ISKO, worldwide denim and circular “culture” leader.
40 years of leadership in the denim segment, and a mission that today has reached the final consumers too, raising their awareness in terms of what a virtuous approach to discarded garments can be
ISKO, under the umbrella Sanko Tekstil, and thanks to an authoritative professional network comprising creative services, trend researchers, textile engineers, laundry experts and designers, is a privileged fashion partner that offers a broad portfolio of products and services. A widespread presence across 30 countries has allowed ISKO to harness a valuable all-embracing perspective for effectively managing and anticipating global developments, which have become increasingly faster and unpredictable. Creating value, rather than just production, is ISKO’s tireless goal which, through circularity, recycling, energy and material saving, as well as technological innovation, has enabled ISKO to become a major responsible sustainability player.
Ctrl+Z is one of ISKO’s latest key innovations in this regard. Launched by ISKO in 2022, it was immediately acclaimed by the brand’s clientele and the market alike. This is basically advanced material science: by using post-industrial fibres made from a blend of recycled cotton, recycled polyester and regenerated cellulosic fibres, ISKO aims to turn Ctrl+Z into the standard of their offer, and is currently working to expand the range crafted solely with Ctrl+Z. ISKO’s entire SS25 collection will indeed be manufactured using exclusively the Ctrl+Z material science.
ISKO has proudly earned the bluesign® APPROVED label for some of its Ctrl+Z recycled denim fabrics, a credential granted only to bluesign® SYSTEM PARTNERS, which include manufacturers who meet the stringent bluesign® CRITERIA, such as the workplace safety guarantee at production sites, reduction of CO2 emissions and water consumption, as well as avoiding hazardous substances in the production processes. This label, issued by one of the most trusted independent bodies worldwide, is one of the hardest sustainability credentials to attain. As such, it speaks to ISKO products’ level of transparency, and to the sustainable and innovative approach Ctrl+Z pursues.
Since most textile waste consists of blended fabrics, when it comes to circularity, one of the most challenging tasks is to effectively manage different types of waste – of which an incredible amount is disposed of every year – and not just recover one type of material. Totally preserving quality, thus guaranteeing outstanding results both fashion- and aesthetics-wise, is another essential task, since the garments must be just as beautiful and functional as traditional ones.
ISKO is aware that simply introducing a new process is not enough, so it has developed different solutions for a wide range of fabrics, from cotton to polyester, down to polycotton, which has necessarily involved huge volumes. Hence the creation of large-scale circular textile hubs combining the latest and most sustainable recycling techniques within the ISKO ecosystem. These hubs – located in Europe, Asia and North America – represent a gateway for any brand grappling with recycling their waste to imbue it with new life for the fashion industry. This is RE&UP, the new company launched by ISKO to produce fabrics, a next-generation textile-to-textile recycling solution that combines mechanical and thermo-mechanical recycling techniques to reprocess post- and pre-consumer garments made from the most common textile types.
However, ISKO doesn’t stop there: it also provides its clients with garment collecting boxes to be placed in their stores for collecting clothes, thus enabling an all-around approach to recycling and circularity, raising awareness among consumers, and assist them in textile waste collection, which, thanks to RE&UP, will be transformed into a new resource for brand-new fabrics and garments. ISKO’s goal is to recycle 1 million tons of textile waste through the RE&UP platform. So Marco Lucietti, Director of Strategic Projects: “We firmly believe in the need to reduce the reliance on virgin raw materials by boosting the use of recycled ones, thus improving sourcing efficiency throughout the entire field-to-fabric production. Our cutting-edge programs effectively help in tackling over-sourcing, which is today the leading issue when it comes to waste hierarchy”.
