Style Q&A: Canadian brand Norden turns plastic waste into wearable treasures
Credit to Author: Aleesha Harris| Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2019 19:00:11 +0000
Plastic is a problem.
The environmental issue of what to do with plastics — such as bottles, containers and wrapping — once it’s discarded has become a hot topic. The plastic waste statistics in Canada alone are staggering. According to a news release from the Prime Minister’s Office in June, only 10 per cent of the plastic used in Canada gets recycled — and Canadians throw away more than three million tonnes of plastic waste each year.
Montreal-based brand Norden is looking to ease that flow of plastics into the landfill, even just a bit, by turning it into components used for its outerwear pieces. We caught up with Mayer Vafi, the brand’s co-founder and creative director, to learn more.
Q. For those who aren’t familiar, what is Norden?
A. A technically innovative brand where the garments are made from recycled plastic waste.
Q. What makes it unique?
A. Other than the fact that the lining, insulation and shell fabrics are made from recycled plastic waste — the traceability and transparency. Every yarn has a digital serial number embedded in it that allows us to know the exact number of bottles in each garment. We avoid all false environmental claims. We also created a closed-loop system for our products with our end-of life program that takes back Norden jackets after two years — or more, we let the customer decide when they are ready for a new one.
We also want to reduce the waste created by other brands and encourage customers to make the transition to a eco-responsible brand with our Buy Back program, which offers discount in exchange of a jacket from another brand. After cleaning and repairing those jackets, we give them to Welcome Hall Mission. Our philosophy is to reuse what already exist to give it a second life and always try to push the limit to offer more options to the customers. We have so many ideas we are working on!
Q. Who is your target customer?
A. Our target customer is a man or woman between ages 20-30, vegetarian, student or young professional starting a career, lives in an urban area and enjoys outdoor activities. He/she has an active lifestyle and try to make conscious choices for the planet as much as possible. Our target customer won’t sacrifice style or warmth for sustainable products. They also have a limited budget, which is why the price point of our products is super important for us. We keep this customer in mind while creating our products but we also think of everybody. We want to make sustainable fashion accessible in terms of price and style to everybody.
Q. What more can you share about the recycled materials used in the designs?
A. All our fabrics are weaved using yarn that comes from REPREVE (repreve.com). We weave all our fabric that are traceable, ethical and sustainable. We use 45 percent less energy, we use 20 percent less water and emit 30 percent less greenhouse gas in the process when using recycled yarn rather than virgin polyester. We use between 25 and 99 bottles per garment. So far, we have prevented over one million bottles from ending in the landfill.
Q. Where are the pieces designed/made?
A. All product design is done in Montreal Quebec. The transformation process from plastic bottles to yarn is made in North Carolina. We manufacture in China with REPREVE-affiliated manufactures, I personally visit the manufactures to make sure they meet our high standards and we only work with partners that are Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) and Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) certified.
Q. Is there a design that’s proving most popular? If so, which one and why?
A. In men’s, our Matias Parka is doing really well and in ladies our Anja Parka. These are timeless designs offered core colours. They are both certified to keep warm up to -40C.
Q. What is the price range of Norden?
A. All our products range from $285 to $485 with the exception of Gunner parka at $525.
Q. Lastly, where can people check them out?
A. Customers can shop online at nordenproject.com or in store at HBC, SIMONS, SAIL, ATMOSPHERE, SPORTSEXPERT, NEON STORES and other key retailers listed on our website: https://nordenproject.com/pages/find-us