TRUST – TRANSPARENCY – TRACEABILITY

Trust, transparency and traceability are the cornerstones of all sustainable and responsible practice. Without them we wouldn’t have any accountability nor long term change.

Trust

At Cone Denim, we’ve always operated on trust. One of America’s oldest and most loved denim mills, we’ve long sought to make the denim industry more sustainable. That’s why, over the past 128 years, we’ve worked with a trusted team of suppliers, manufacturers and buyers to deliver unparalleled denim products.

Transparency

Since 1891, our commitment to sustainable practice has defined who we are. And transparency is a key part of this. To date, we have:

  • Recycled 1.1m lbs of waste
  • Reduced our CO2 emissions by 35k tons each year
  • Reduced our water usage by 441m litres per year
  • And reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 26%.

Traceability

And, now, thanks to our partnership with scientific traceability company, Oritain,  we’re adding traceability to our list. We are now the first denim mill, globally, to use unique method applied through forensic science to detect trace elements in product’s intrinsic properties to verify origin.

That’s a denim fabric where the cotton used to make that denim can be traced all the way back to the country it came from. All using forensic science and technology.

The fashion industry is undergoing rapid change, with many companies all throughout the supply chain working to operate more responsibly and more sustainably. But it all starts with the raw material. If you can’t be sure exactly where your raw material comes from then how can you be sure how responsible and sustainable your supply chain is?

Buyers of our denim fabric can now rest assured that the cotton used in their denim fabric comes from countries that are ethical, socially and environmentally responsible, and that the denim fabric produced is of the highest quality they come to expect from us.

Sustainability and innovation have long been part of the fabric here at Cone Denim. Now it’s quite literally woven into our denim fabric, too.

The Denim

Cone Denim has a rich history of denim production.

Founded by two brothers in 1891 in New York City, Cone Denim has been a leading denim innovator for more than 128 years.

With unparalleled expertise and advanced denim capabilities, Cone Denim has been servicing and inspiring the denim industry since their humble beginnings. From performance fabrics and superior S Gene(R) technology to vintage re-creations of their Cone Deeptone Denim™, they offer unique collections of performance, stretch, selvage, and natural indigo denims crafted out of their very own Cone 3D R&D incubator.

But, underpinning a rich history of industry firsts has been a lifelong commitment to sustainable practices in the operation and development of new denims. And the latest instalment in this history is its partnership with scientific traceability company Oritain.

Now Cone Denim are the first denim mill, globally, to offer scientifically traceable denim fabric. Helping to ensure the cotton in their fabrics is ethically sourced and from countries that are socially and environmentally responsible.

To find out more about Cone Denim, their journey, and their commitment to innovation and sustainably, head to their website at conedenim.com

Oritain

Oritain  is a scientific traceability company, using a combination of forensic science and statistical models to verify the origin of products and raw materials.

In today’s global, fragmented world, supply chains are increasingly complicated. And with every layer of complexity comes increasing risks of product adulteration and/or counterfeit – often with other materials that are sourced illegally or that are socially and environmentally unethical.

By using forensic science, Oritain is able to test these products and verify exactly where they come from. Helping brands and consumers buy with confidence knowing they are supporting responsible, ethical practice.

Founded out of the University of Otago, by Professor Russell Frew, in 2008, Oritain works across the fashion, food and pharmaceutical industries.

The Science

Mother Nature gives all things a unique code that tells us where they come from. This natural code is created from the elements in a product’s environment. Some environments are nutrient rich, some are poor; some are high in elements, some are low.

These differences are what Oritain measure, using the results to create an ‘Origin Fingerprint’ for Cone Denim fabric. Once the genuine Origin Fingerprint is established, Oritain can then test other products against it to see if they match.

In this latest partnership with Cone Denim, Oritain has created an Origin Fingerprint for the country of origin of the cotton used in Cone Denim fabric, ensuring cotton is not sourced from areas at risk of illegal practices.

Head to oritain.com for more information on how it works, who they work with and how it helps industries operate more sustainably.

Download the press release

Download

Share this page