In a short three-and-a-half years, the CanopyStyle campaign, which sees fashion designers, brands, and fabric manufacturers pledge to end the use of ancient and endangered forests in their supply chains, has become the fastest moving environmental initiative in the apparel industry. Here’s a look back on how that happened.
November 2012
International award winning environmental not-for-profit Canopy identifies a threat to the world’s ancient and endangered forests. The fact that ~70 million trees were disappearing each year into the global supply chain for fabrics – and that number was set to double by 2025. Key sourcing regions are Brazil, Canada and Indonesia.
November 2013
The CanopyStyle initiative launches publicly with early ignitors including EILEEN FISHER, lululemon, prAna and Patagonia– committing to end sourcing from ancient and endangered forests.
April 2014
CanopyStyle goes global when fashion retail giants H&M and Inditex/Zara sign on to the campaign.
Iconic British designer and long-time environmental advocate Stella McCartney signs on to CanopyStyle, lending high-fashion cache to the initiative.
May 2014
CanopyStyle Leaders for Forest Conservation is formed. Inditex/Zara, H&M and Canopy co-found CanopyStyle Leaders for Forest Conservation with Stella McCartney, M&S and EILEEN FISHER. This group meets monthly to drive forward strategies to eliminate ancient and endangered forests, kick-start circular economy fabrics and forward legislated protection in places like Indonesia’s Rainforests, Canada’s Boreal Forests and Vancouver Island’s last stands of 1,000 year old evergreen trees.
October 2014
Levis, ASOS and M&S join the CanopyStyle initiative with public policies to tackle elimination of ancient and endangered forests in their fabric supply chains.
December 2014
Just one year after launching CanopyStyle has reached 44 brands, designers and retailers with collective annual revenue of over $75 billion USD.
May 2015
Aditiya Birla the world’s largest viscose producer, signs on to CanopyStyle, heralding an upcoming shift in the global viscose supply chain. Lenzing, Aditya Birla’s key competitor also updates their wood sourcing policy to be more consistent with CanopyStyle.
June 2015
On the eve of CanopyStyle’s Brand Summit in Shanghai China, a third top 10 global viscose producer, Sateri, works into the evening with Canopy to launch their first wood sourcing policy to customers Canopy has brought together the next day.
November 2015
Innovative fabric recycling start ups Re:newcell and Evrnu sign on to CanopyStyle, linking manufacturers and brands with companies actively working on using recycled clothing and left over straw for viscose and rayon instead of endangered forests. C&A, Topshop and dozens of other brands and designers join the initiative.
March 2016
Six more rayon producers join CanopyStyle, bringing supply chain transformation to 75% of global viscose production now committed to ending sourcing in ancient and endangered forests.
May 2016
Canopy presents, alongside M&S, Zara and H&M, to 400 participants at China’s Viscose Producer Association annual general meeting – asking producers to begin CanopyStyle Audits against their wood sourcing policies.
June 2016
Canopy and Fashion4Development co-host an event at the UN in New York featuring a sustainable fashion show by CanopyStyle partner EILEEN FISHER, and the world premiere of a CanopyStyle video featuring Canopy’s Executive Director Nicole Rycroft and CanopyStyle brand ambassador Stella McCartney.
September 2016
Canopy’s Executive Director addresses the UN First Ladies Lunch in New York on the opening day of the United Nations. She calls on the fashionable and influential crowd to spread the word about CanopyStyle and the importance of the world’s forests.
October 2016
For the first time in campaign history, the CanopyStyle brand summit gathers 87 brands in New York City to discuss solutions for the world’s ancient and endangered forests. Canopy releases The Hot Button Issue, a ranking of global viscose producers on environmental sourcing criteria.
November 2016
The CanopyStyle initiative wins a BF+DA Positive Impact Award for Leadership in Creating a Better Supply Chain
February 2017
The largest American apparel conglomerate, VF Corp, becomes a signatory to CanopyStyle, cementing traction in the US. Among VF Corps dozens of brands working to eliminate endangered forests and forward protection are Timberland, The North Face, Vans, Smartwool, Jansport, and Majestic.
April 2017
The CanopyStyle 100 are announced – the first 100 fashion and apparel brands who have signed on to the fastest-pace environmental initiative in the apparel sector are celebrated.
Coming Next…
Canopy and our 100 partners will not rest until our vision for the world’s forests have been realized. From cutting edge scientific studies, updates on how the world’s largest fabric producers are sourcing, to progress from brands, the next few months will be full of breaking and substantive news on the issue of forests and fabric.
