In the last eight months, Kings of Indigo (KOI) filed for bankruptcy and found new ownership, but the Amsterdam-based brand is not missing a step on its sustainability mission.
KOI outlined the collaborative actions it is taking to make good on its pledge of “Doing It Right” in the company’s 2022 CSR report.
In 2022, KOI reported that it used 99.2 percent more sustainable materials in its collection and just 0.8 percent virgin synthetic materials.
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Cotton—either organic or recycled—was the most used fiber with 82 percent, followed by natural fibers like hemp and linen (6 percent) and man-made cellulosic fibers by Lenzing (5 percent).
Cotton-rich jeans accounted for more than 60 percent of KOI’s product range in 2022. The brand said its working to further reduce denim’s impact on chemicals and water use by working with suppliers to implement innovative technologies.
KOI uses laser and ozone washing for lighter shades and worn effects. A Turkish supplier uses F-stones, a polymer-based stone that is 700 times more durable than pumice stones, as a substitute for conventional stonewashing. The brand has also replaced harmful bleach chemicals with organic bleach.
The brand relies on simpler ways to reduce its impact as well. Non-dyed ecru denim accounted for 5 percent of its 2022 assortment. Raw denim, which goes through zero wash processes, made up one percent. It also offers rinse denim, or dark blue jeans that are washes one time with only water. The softer than raw denim jeans accounted for 13 percent of collection.
Denim has a large role in the brand’s mission for making products with physical and emotional durability.
In 2023, KOI will set a minimum durability requirement for all its products and fine-tune its communication strategy to promote “emotional attachment” to jeans. It will do this with storytelling that highlights the “cost per wear” benefits of investing in durable pieces and through information about low-impact home laundry and repair.
Durability plays into the brand’s circular goals. To celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2022, KOI launched two styles of rinse denim jeans made with 100 percent pre-consumer recycled cotton, organic cotton back patches and removable metal buttons.
Beyond products, the brand is taking steps to promote a circular economy. In 2023, it will begin to offer consumers at least two repair option and begin to reduce overstock by making smarter use of data. Goals for 2024 include launching a reuse program, establishing a system to have its own garments recycled and re-introduce Reuse the Blues, a 2019 concept collection made from recycled materials.
KOI also mapped out changes in its supply chain.
In 2023, KOI will move most of its production out of Tunisia—its biggest tier 1 production country in 2022—to suppliers in Turkey, which already accounts for a quarter of its tier 1 production and half of its raw materials. Turkey’s share will grow to 70 percent.
The report does not disclose why KOI is leaving Tunisia except to highlight the benefits of keeping its production local.
“It is part of our strategy to source not only the ready-made garments as locally as possible, but also other processing steps and materials in the same area,” the brand stated. “In 2022, 12 percent of our production is sourced completely from Turkey. This way we avoid unnecessary impact from transport.”
KOI said it is also looking closer at Bulgaria and Greece, which each accounted for 10.5 percent of its tier 1 production countries in 2022.
A roster of new suppliers means KOI will need to do the due diligence to ensure a “studier social compliance system.”
The brand said it will create a top three list of social compliance initiatives to join in 2023. By 2024, the company has goals to become a member of one of the initiatives, have a clear understanding of the social principles at all its fabric suppliers and factories past tier 1 and have insight into the wages (and wage gap) at its suppliers.
