HOW BARBOUR BECAME ONE OF THE FIRST SUSTAINABLE FASHION BRANDS

The debate about sustainability in the fashion industry has become increasingly important recently. Between huge production volumes, greenwashing, tons of factory waste and a fast fashion industry that shows no signs of decelerating, the fight for decarbonisation of the fashion industry is moving at a snail’s pace. However, it often takes little to contribute to this fight - the most sustainable clothes, in fact, are those already in our closet. One of the keys to a sustainable wardrobe, is the care of one's clothes which, together with their quality, guarantees their durability over time. A concept that sounds new, but which actually has centuries of history behind it. And one of the first brands to put it into practice was none other than Barbour, where it was introduced as early as 1921, by Malcom Barbour, a member of the second generation of the founding family.

At the basis of the brand's philosophy are the values of functionality and practicality: the company began life as importers of waxed cloth, which was used to make weatherproof clothing to provide protection against the icy Scottish rains. Malcom Barbour's farsighted idea was to set up a repair service for his garments that his customers could use at any time. Customers could send their jackets to Barbour to be re-waxed or do it themselves with the Beacon Oilskin Dressing supplied by the company, so extending the life of the jacket and ensuring it could continue to be worn for many generations. Today, one hundred years later, the idea of re-waxing has become one of the foundations of the brand's commitment to sustainability, with 60,000 jackets being re-waxed every year: extending the life of a jacket is one of the most effective ways. to minimize its environmental impact. So much so that if a Barbour jacket is re-waxed at least once a year on a regular basis, it can last for decades.Furthermore, in 2019, Barbour presented Wax for Life, a name that sums up its repair and re-waxing service, along with upcycling programs such as Barbour Re-Loved, where the company reuses the materials of all those jackets too damaged to be repaired and converts them into new raw materials. To take its commitment even further, the re-waxing service has become site-specific with Wax for Life stations open in European and American department stores such as Selfridges, Nordstrom, Orvis or Hirmer and which will soon expand into many other locations around the world.