ArmedAngels

Source: ArmedAngels

CottonEuropeLinenTextilesWool

5 MINUTE READ

Nate Tyler

WHAT WE SAY:

German fashion brand ArmedAngels acknowledges that "there are no sustainable products", viewing sustainability as a journey rather than a destination. While its collection is not entirely plastic-free, the brand offers home repair guides, trade-in schemes, and is actively embedding traceability throughout its supply chain, creating a system of the future. For that we applaud it.

KEY FACTS:

Founded in 2007, ArmedAngels is a Cologne-based fashion label transforming the fashion industry through circular, responsible, and transparent supply chain practices.
The brand mostly works with natural fibres, using organic Cotton, recycled cotton, non-mulesed organic Wool, recycled wool, alpaca wool, Lenzing-branded fibres, and recycled polyester.
ArmedAngels told PlasticFree that 95% of its fibres are derived "from the natural world". The brand follows GOTS and GRS guidelines for both dyes and fibre sourcing.
Its line of DetoxDenim jeans is made with recycled and organic cotton. The bleaching process is free from chlorine and potassium permanganate, opting instead for laser or ozone treatments. It works with GOTS-certified sourcing partners that use far less water in the production process than conventional denim.
The brand offers online care and repair guides to instruct customers how to maintain items made from different materials and mend broken zippers, crotch holes, fallen buttons, or restitch a belt loop. Each repair job includes a list of equipment and an accompanying video to detail the process.
ArmedAngels runs a trade-in programme for pre-worn or damaged garments, available to its German customers. Repairable items are restored and resold, while damaged garments are sent for recycling. Customers are rewarded with a EUR 5 (USD 5.36) coupon for each donated item.
ArmedAngels has pioneered a t-shirt with what it calls circularity.ID, a scannable NFC traceability tag sewn in to provide information about each t-shirt's material composition, sourcing, and producers. The tag offers instructions for sorting, recycling, and resale if the garment is donated to ArmedAngels.
The company has piloted a 'fibre-to-retail' traceability programme with TextileGenesis, featuring digital tokens called Fibercoins, which are linked to textile assets. Each physical transaction in its supply chain is awarded a Fibercoin, recording every stage of the material, from grower to raw yarn to dyed material.

The circularity.ID technology provides supply chain details for its Circular Tee collection / Source: ArmedAngels

The DetoxDenim collection is free from hazardous chemicals / Source: ArmedAngels

DIVE DEEPER:

The fashion industry is one of the biggest culprits of the make-take-waste linear economy. The world is projected to discard over 134 million tonnes of textiles per year by 2030. Less than 1% of existing clothes are made into new items, demonstrating the sheer wastefulness of the sector.
Fashion is responsible for a plethora of environmental crises. It is responsible for 20% of global wastewater, 35% of microplastic pollution in our oceans, around 8% of global GHG emissions, biodiversity losses and declining soil health due to mono-cropping, and the release of hazardous chemicals into ecosystems through the use of toxic fertilisers, pesticides, and dyes.
To address these inefficiencies, players in the fashion industry are being urged to evaluate their practices across the entire supply chain. As outlined in its 2023 Responsible Business Conduct Supply Chain document, ArmedAngels works with its suppliers to implement ethical and safe practices that are fair to both people and the planet.
ArmedAngels sources its natural fibres from India, Argentina, France, and Turkey – both animal fibres such as wool and plant fibres like Linen and cotton. Its wool is certified by Responsible Wool Standard (which means no mulesing) and it opts for organic cotton, which uses just 10% of the water needed for conventional cotton.
The company has partnered with The Sourcery, a direct-to-grower programme that allows farmers to connect directly with the fashion houses they’re supplying. This both increases wages for small, rural farmers and makes the supply chain more transparent.
ArmedAngels is involved in a number certification schemes and programmes such as Fairwear Foundation (FWF), GOTS, and GRS. It also follows OECD and UN guidelines on responsible business practices.
The brand’s use of materials ranks in the Textile Exchange Material Benchmark's top 10 list, and the brand has been rated Great by Good On You.

"We extend the life of our spinning waste and give used textiles a new purpose. They go back into the cycle and are used as a resource for new products."

ArmedAngels

Key Design Considerations:

Prioritise progress over perfection

ArmedAngels does a lot of things well in terms of reducing pollution – air, water, waste, chemical – and implementing programmes to encourage customers to get the most use out its clothes. What can you start doing right now to reduce waste? It doesn’t have to be perfect right away, but getting started is the first step.

Audit your supply chain

By focusing on growers, cultivation methods, traceability, and transparency, ArmedAngels is doing a lot of good work to reduce its overall impact on the environment. Materials are certainly part of the equation, but consider your whole supply chain to make systemic progress.