We do not compromise on full transparency and traceability
Founded in 2020 by two Dutch sustainability experts with 25+ and 10+ years of industry experience, Aware is a global startup that develops Digital Product Passports (DPP) for the fashion and textile industry, making greenwashing a thing of the past and restoring consumers’ trust in sustainability claims. It connects the end-to-end supply chain and secure material and data transactions. It enables brands, suppliers and consumers to make better and more conscious decisions. In an interview with Fibre2Fashion, Aware’s Co-founder Feico van der Veen discusses the evolution and challenges of the sustainable fashion industry, the importance of consumer education, and the role of collaborations in advancing sustainability.
How has the sustainable fashion industry evolved in recent years, and what trends or innovations have emerged as a result?
Traceability and recycling are huge trends. But what is real traceability and how to recycle garments if we do not know the composition? For years now, a ‘made in’ label is the closest we have gotten to understanding who and how our clothes are made. In the past, brands kept details about their supply chains confidential, either to protect trade secrets or not to disclose their business practices. Today, revealing one’s sustainability and ethics can give a brand an advantage. But a certification or rating does not necessarily guarantee that a brand is completely transparent. Aware can help rebuild trust in sustainability claims. This is where our tech comes in. We enable transparency by using blockchain and tracer technology instead of the widely used certification systems (which are hierarchical, private, open to fraud, and for the most part still manual], allowing fashion consumers to access detailed information about the product’s journey from start to finish, and helping them make more meaningful choices that align with their values. With Aware, cheating and greenwashing is a thing of the past. With Aware, traceability and recyclability come together.
What are some of the key challenges or barriers that sustainable fashion brands face in terms of scaling their operations and reaching a wider consumer base?
A key challenge is the ability to scale up. There are so many great pilot projects announced by the brands. But most of those projects are small. The fashion industry is big, fast, and extremely conservative. If you can deal with this and your price is still competitive, you are a winner. The textile industry faces serious challenges in proving sustainability. They feel the pressure of their internal SDG goals, increasing legislation and conscious consumers. At the same time, they fear reputation damage by tangled supply chains, misleading LCA data, and fraudulent transaction certificates.
How important is consumer education and awareness in driving the demand for sustainable fashion? What initiatives or strategies can be effective in promoting sustainable fashion choices among consumers?
Clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2015, while the life span of garments shrank. Some clothes are discarded after only 7 to 10 wears. But there is hope. According to a new survey of Bain & Company, the majority of consumers are willing to take sustainable action, but they struggle with how to distinguish sustainable clothes from unsustainable ones. Brands can accelerate and capitalise on this huge opportunity by increasing transparency to reduce the information gap. I believe that legislation will be the most important drive and force towards more sustainable fashion, like the French AGEC (Décret n° 2022-748). By 2030, a Digital Product Passport (DPP) will be mandatory for each piece of sustainable fashion. This kind of regulation will make a real change. With the Aware Virtual ID (DPP), brands will comply with this legislation and give true information and transparency to consumers for them to make a conscious choice. A win/win/win situation for the brand, the consumer, and the earth, as impact savings are really made.
The fashion industry is known for its fast-paced and trend-driven nature. How can sustainable fashion brands balance the need for innovation and keeping up with trends while maintaining their commitment to ethical and sustainable practices?
This is a challenge. I admit. Changes will take some time, and that is fine. The fashion industry is in a transition, that is irrevocable. But it will take another 15 years.
Collaboration and partnerships have been instrumental in driving sustainability efforts in various industries. How do you see collaborations between sustainable fashion brands, suppliers, and other stakeholders playing a role in advancing the overall sustainability of the fashion industry?
Announcing collaborations is good for marketing, but in reality, it is all about business. Advancing the sustainability of the fashion industry will only happen when the industry is forced to do so. If that means stakeholders have to collaborate, they will collaborate. Aware is a stand-alone technology. Working with Aware, brands can skip transaction certificates, and thus reducing fraud, costs, inefficiencies, audit fatigue, and environmental impact.
Please provide background and brief about Aware and also an overview of Aware’s mission and vision, and how the company is working towards achieving them?
After 25 years of experience in textile supply chain management in Asia, I can say that most sustainability claims are simply not true. I saw brands struggling to try to do good and to implement sustainability within a supply chain they cannot control. That is why I developed Aware. Our mission is ‘maximising traceability to minimise our collective impact’. Powering circularity with data and pulling data straight from the supply network and securing data and material exchange, allows us to provide the most reliable traceability data, so real impact savings are achieved. Our vision is to create an open network. We believe in an open and decentralised network, where we play a pivotal role in democratising the supply network and powering decisions to greater adoption of preferred materials, leading towards a circular economy.
Could you elaborate on the specific initiatives or practices that set Aware apart in terms of environmental responsibility?
Aware is the world’s first traceability solution uniting physical tracer and public blockchain technology. Aware connects the exchange of sustainable materials and data. The widely used transaction certificate systems are disputable, as there is no connection between the materials and the data. It’s not about just data, it’s about true data!
How does your solution ensure the ethical sourcing and production of textiles?
There is no other traceability solution available that ensures ethical sourcing and production of textiles more than Aware. Most solutions solely rely on digital tracking or on gathering info from certification bodies (which are vulnerable to fraud), or are updated at the end of the process, and therefore can be manipulated easily and are not transparent. We make primary data (we track sustainable products as it’s made, by the people who make them) public. And public blockchain is decentralised.
The fashion industry is notorious for its impact on workers’ rights and labour conditions. How does your solution address these concerns and ensure fair and safe working conditions throughout its supply chain?
Every producer along the supply chain needs to upload scope certifications on the Aware platform. One of those certifications is a social compliance certification, which also includes the worker’s conditions. These documents are verified by the Aware integrity team. The certificates are automatically added to the ‘digital twin’ the producer is creating, stored on the blockchain, and made visible to the consumer in the Aware Virtual ID of the sustainable product.
Your website highlights the importance of transparency. Can you provide examples of how Aware solutions provide transparency, such as supply chain visibility or disclosure of sustainability metrics?
Everything is visible. Literally everything. Visible for the brand and visible for the final consumer. We sometimes have brands who do want to use the Aware technology but do not want to release their producers from the angle of competition. In that case, we simply say: or you be 100 per cent transparent, or do not use Aware. We do not compromise on full transparency and traceability.
Could you elaborate on how technology is integrated into the company’s operations and what role it plays in advancing sustainability?
The Aware technology has to be integrated into every single player within a supply chain. From the fibre producer to the yarn producer to the fabric producer to the final product producer to the brand.
The Aware technology has two components:
1. Aware tracer: It is added to the sustainable raw material and is scanned by each producer when they receive the materials in their warehouse. Each scan moment creates a flow of evidence that the original sustainable materials have been used, and not have been swapped during production and/or transportation. Each scan date is added to the digital twin of the product.
2. Digital Twin: It is a digital representation of the physical sustainable material. Each producer creates a digital twin of the material they produced from the sustainable material. It has specification of a yarn, a fabric, or a final product. The unit of a digital twin is an Aware token (1 token = 1 kg). Each Aware token is inseparably connected to the digital twin and registered on a public blockchain. Each Aware token is sent from producer to producer (like the physical material) and connected to a product line of a purchase order by the final product producer. From that moment, any consumer can scan with a QR code all data stored on blockchain. As mentioned earlier, it is not about just data, it is about true data.
Are there any upcoming product launches or collaborations that you are particularly excited about? Can you give us a sneak peek into what we can expect in the future?
We will provide Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data, calculate the exact impact of a product, and make it visible in the Aware Virtual ID. This data will be powered by a well-known LCA provider. We will also introduce custom skins of the Aware Virtual ID, so each brand can have its own identity for its DPP. Ultimately, we work towards a technology where consumers can scan our Aware tracer use inside sustainable materials and receive Aware tokens in their own wallet of the product they purchase. This will also enable recyclers to know the exact composition of that product for recycling.
What is your long-term vision for the company? How do you see Aware evolving and contributing to the fashion industry’s sustainable transformation in the coming years?
Aware aims to be at the heart of a supply network, sharing primary data between all stakeholders, and democratising producers within the value chain.
