MUMBAI: As the latest and special initiative to commemorate ‘World Environment Day’ on June 5 - Reliance Industries Ltd.’s (RIL) R|Elan ‘Fashion for Earth’ in partnership with Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW), India’s premier fashion platform, presents the #EarthTee2.
Like its predecessor, the limited-edition #EarthTee2 are made using R|Elan GreenGold - the greenest fabric with the lowest carbon footprint in the world - manufactured by recycling 50,000 PET bottles collected at the recently concluded LFW - Summer Resort ’19 edition. The aim of unveiling #EarthTee2 is to create awareness among people to switch to fashion that not only enhances aesthetics but also helps conserve the environment and our planet.
As a testimony of encouragement to young innovative designers, the #EarthTee2 has been designed by Yavi, the winner of the Highest Voted Design at the R|Elan™ Elle Graduate 2019 contest. Various designers participated in the contest, where people voted for Yavi’s design and that has been used in #EearthTee2.
Whilst elaborating on the designing aspects, Yavi said “The collection derives inspiration from Mother Earth addressing the devastating impact of climate change, extinction of various species and an imbalance in nature. It urges consumers to act in their own capacity towards taking steps in saving the planet. The design of the #EarthTee2 collection showcases concentric cycles, signifying the economic and environmental benefits of recycling and repurposing materials. The colours used have been taken from nature which have a soothing impact on the senses.”
While launching the #EarthTee2, Mr Vipul Shah, COO – Petrochemicals Business, RIL said “The #EarthTee2 is an invitation to you to participate in our ‘Fashion For Earth’ movement. It is imperative that we all come together in spreading awareness about sustainable fabrics, fashion and living. We urge people to join in to conserve the environment and save our Mother Earth. In our business we are committed in embracing sustainable business development and focusing on promoting the concept of Circular Economy.”
Speaking of the initiative, Jaspreet Chandok, Vice President and Head of Fashion, IMG Reliance said, “Lakme Fashion Week is happy to collaborate with R|Elan™ to contribute towards a greener planet and hope this innovation will become a movement across events in the country. LFW has pushed the agenda towards sustainability for the past few years and we are glad that the conversation now seems to be developing strongly with brands and consumers now adopting this narrative.”
Lakme Fashion Week and R|Elan have also collaborated to celebrate a special digital media campaign for World Environment Day on 5th June 2019 through an initiative called #PlanetHeroes with #Earthee2. The campaign will acknowledge and amplify efforts of champions from diverse fields who have positively impacted the environment / found solutions to tackle environmental pollution through their inspiring initiatives and ideas. These include Afroz Shah (the man who has removed over 23 million kilos of plastic from the coastline through his beach cleaning campaign and the first Indian to win the Nobel prize of environment - the Champion of the Earth, awarded by the UN), Monisha Narke (the founder of RUR GreenLife), Saumya Kalluri (the founder of Dwij), Prateek Sadhu (committed to sourcing sustainable, local ingredients), Shriyans Bhandari and national athlete Ramesh Dhami who have collaborated on Greensole (an eco-friendly enterprise that reuses shoe soles). #PlanetHeroes will be styled in #EarthTee2 and will talk about their contributions to tackle environmental challenges.
The first edition of EarthTee was launched on last year’s World Environment Day in collaboration with renowned fashion designer Anita Dongre and R|Elan.
Reliance Industries, the owner of brand R|Elan, is one of the largest recycler of PET bottles in India, recycling 2.2 billion PET bottles a year. The R|Elan GreenGold, made from recycled PET, substantially reduces the emission of greenhouse gases, and cuts down on water usage as well. The fabric is made from pre-dyed fibres that doesn’t require much water. Whatever little water is required, 90% of it is recycled. RIL is the only company in the world that has built a complete circle – right from creation of PET Resin for bottles, and collection of discarded bottles to converting them to Recron GreenGold eco-friendly polyester fibre, which in turn is converted to R|Elan GreenGold fabric for the manufacture of high-fashion apparels.
