Julia Faure is breaking the rules of the textile industry

Portrait

Julia Faure challenges the textile industry's standards

Elodie Walle - 16th of June 2023

Julia Faure, founder of Loom. Source: Les echos, Anouck Marty

Landmarks

• Born in 1988
• AgroParisTech agronomy engineer.
• Founded Loom in 2018 with Guillaume Declair, a company dedicated to sustainable clothing with a low environmental impact, a commitment to environmental responsibility and a particular focus on people's social rights.
• In 2020, she was one of the 47 people in Yann Arthus-Bertrand's photo of the century, symbolising the new generation that is making a difference.
• Publication in Le Monde on the 7th of July 2021: “We, textile brands demand greater regulation”, signed by 150 French textile companies. The petition calls for eco-contribution (introduced in 2009 to finance the end-of-life of products) to be adjusted in line with greenhouse gas emissions produced by companies, so as to provide an incentive.

An impressive TedX

In 2020, Julia Faure spoke at TedX (University of Tours, France). Her 10-minute intervention, which we encourage you to view, is at odds with the 'start-up' trend of the moment. We were struck and inspired at Green Déclic by this entrepreneur who is honest, humble and firm in her convictions 💚.

"We can no longer consider business growth as a success story. That is the mindset that got us into the current climate crisis."

Julia Faure is particularly striking because she highlights the extent to which companies are responsible for growing inequalities and climate change, and offers a practical alternative. She also highlights local success stories on a human scale, such as a local baker who is doing well and is not trying to "conquer the world"...

Background: the textile industry

Source: At the Old Fadama shantytown in Accra, Ghana's capital, cows and residents rummage through the rubbish dump. Photo: Muntaka Chasant

Julia Faure's TedX, and her endeavour through Loom, is all the more meaningful given that it occurs at a moment when the textile industry's environmental impact is becoming increasingly obvious, and its socio-economic policies are increasingly under scrutiny.

Between 2000 and 2014, global clothing production doubled. It's a success story in terms of economic growth... but it's also an environmental disaster.

The textile industry has harmful impacts on pollution, water and its recycling is very inefficient:

• The textile industry is estimated to be responsible for 8.1% of the total volume of greenhouse gases, as much as the entire volume of road transport on the planet.
• The textile industry is now estimated to be behind 17 to 20% of global water pollution.
• Out of the 239,000 tonnes of collected waste clothing, 33.5% is processed for recycling, with the remainder destined for reuse or disposal. The dominant recycling technology: mechanical recycling means that the items will be of lesser value than the original item. As a result, recycled textiles only represent around 1% of the flow of textile materials used in clothing production today.

Loom, going against the odds

Source: Loom

When Julia Faure founded Loom in 2018 with Guillaume Declair, she did so to firmly position herself against 'fast fashion'.

"Yes, buy better. But most importantly, purchase less."

Loom is a progressive company, and its commitment can be seen in its blog " fashion in reverse ". In its many articles, Loom challenges fast fashion standards and communicates, with a sense of humour and pedagogy, its path to achieving its mission.

Loom's commercial policy is a real unicorn in the fashion world: zero collections, zero promotional offers, zero sales. Not even a €9.99 price tag! In fact, the brand never promotes consumption.

"The most ecological garment is the one you already have".

This unusual marketing is based on sustainable production methods.

"We make clothes that are made to last. Essential items that will never become outdated and can be worn for a considerable period of time". Please read the last part of this article for a practical example.

Loom monitors its suppliers to ensure that there is no exploitation of children, underpaid women, factories in Asia, pesticides in the textiles used or animal abuse. The clothes are made in small factories in France or Portugal (where workers' conditions are checked).

Her commitment to the Impact France Movement

As a logical outcome of her commitment, Julia Faure has been appointed co-president of Impact France Movement in 2023. This entrepreneurial network places environmental and social issues at the very core of its business projects.

Forum: "Our environmental commitments put us at a disadvantage. Today, the more a company pollutes, the cheaper it is to produce and the more competitive it is." "We, the textile brands, are calling for the law to force clothing companies, including ours, to effectively pay for the environmental costs they generate. This is the only way to finally abolish the vice incentive. We are in favour of a fair, undistorted competition."

Final words

Julia Faure stands out as a striking personality who is challenging textile industry standards through the ethics of her brand. She is a strong and inspiring voice.

Her vision and actions are a wake-up call to rethink our approach to consumerism and economic growth, placing social rights and the environment at the forefront of our concerns. Her commitment through the Impact France movement and En mode climat are proof that other companies are taking action to make a difference. We hope we have inspired you, as we have inspired ourselves. We need a dose of positivism for a sustainable future! 💚

Setting limits in concrete ways

Example with the use of recycled cotton

Using recycled cotton presents an advantage. It avoids the need to grow new cotton crops, which saves water and energy.

However, its environmental impact remains similar, as it goes through the same industrial processes of spinning, dyeing, knitting/weaving and manufacturing. In fact, there is an extra step to transform the fabric back into cotton yarn.

According to the 2018 Climate Works report, if 40% of textile fibres were recycled on a global scale (which would already be considerable), this would only save 4.4% of water and 5.9% of carbon emissions compared to the current system. This does not amount to a major improvement.

Another key issue is that the mechanical process used to convert fabrics into fibres causes damage to the latter. Recycled fibres can never reach the same quality as the original fibres. Manufacturers often have to combine them with other materials (such as polyester or polyamide) to enhance their longevity.

Consequently, as a response to this problem, LOOM only uses recycled cotton for fabrics where longevity is not a priority, as in the case of the belt pouch.

To find out more

This article has been written using a wide range of references:

impactfrance.eco - enmodeclimat.fr - lemonde.fr - wikipedia.org - business.lesechos.fr - wikipedia.org - impactfrance.eco - wedressfair.fr - clear-fashion.com - theconversation.com