Business View Magazine May 2023

9 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 5 WRANGLER PARENT TAKES STEPS TO CUT EMISSIONS FROM SUPPLY CHAIN Source, supplychaindive.com , Natalie Schwartz, First published April 17, 2023 • Kontoor Brands Inc., parent company of Wrangler and Lee, launched a system intended to lower its climate impact during its operations and manufacturing. • The Global Design Standards system has three pillars. Together, they are meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, decrease water and chemical usage, and assess worker health. • Brands including Levi Strauss & Co. and Guess have been focusing on launching more eco-friendly denim, a fabric which has historically been one of the most environmentally taxing to make. Kontoor launched the system as a way to tackle the product development areas that produce a large share of its carbon emissions, Julia Burge, director of external communications, said in an email. “Our global design standards provide a ‘scorecard’ to help our teams choose the best options in materials, fabric and finishing to create lower impact products that still meet the standards of our brands,” Burge said. One of the standard’s three components is a list of preferred materials, which focuses on sustainable and recycled fabrics. To meet this standard, 70% of the fabric in a product must be sourced from the list. It includes U.S.-grown cotton, recycled cotton or synthetic fibers, and hemp that has been certified as sustainable by a third party. OPENING L INES