MILAN — Renzo Rosso and his son Andrea are serious about implementing the “Be Responsible. Be Brave.” sustainability strategy for OTB and in a joint interview said the group is recording significant progress.
“One must be brave today to embrace sustainability,” quipped Renzo Rosso, founder and chairman of the Italian fashion group, hinting at the efforts involved. “But it is a key pillar for us.”
Unveiling the 2025 OTB Sustainability Report, the entrepreneur said “the younger generations feel a duty toward the planet, to save it from pollution, from too much waste and chemicals, and want to feel more natural fibers in the clothes on their bodies as well as in their food.” Globally, the industry estimates that around 27 percent of all clothing produced each year is thrown away, so he believes it is important to learn to produce less and better.
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He credited his son Andrea Rosso, OTB sustainability ambassador, for always driving him to raise the bar in pursuing environmental targets. The group on Tuesday will reveal several milestones, such as 100 percent sourcing of electricity from renewable sources across its European operations and 81 percent globally, exceeding its 2025 target approved and validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. OTB has also reduced its direct emissions — Scope 1 and 2 — by 50 percent compared to 2019, along with a 3.4 percent decrease in total emissions, including Scope 1, Scope 2 market-based and Scope 3, compared to 2024.
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“We are working hard to find solutions to trace everything, from the fiber to the final product. And before communicating, we make sure there is a solid and real background. It’s part of our company’s culture. It’s a state of mind, and we ask our managers to attend dedicated courses at SDA Bocconi,” said Renzo, lamenting too much “greenwashing” and false claims in the industry. “Sustainability must be a cultural and strategic approach that guides every decision in building the future.”
Despite the uncertain macroeconomic scenario, “responsible choices must be taken every day, with ongoing investments and pursuing improvements, which technology can increasingly help us achieve, contributing to reduce waste and lead-time,” he said, citing 3D models for prototypes, for example.
Renzo proudly said that 29 percent of the materials used in the group’s brand collections are certified lower-impact, surpassing the target set by The Fashion Pact for member companies, which required 25 percent of materials to be sourced from lower-impact alternatives by 2025.
OTB owns the Diesel, Jil Sander, Maison Margiela, Marni and Viktor&Rolf brands, and manufacturing companies Staff International and Brave Kid. It also has a minority stake in the Los Angeles-based Amiri brand.
His son said the purchase of preferred cotton, including organic, regenerative and recycled, increased by 39 percent last year compared to 2024, reaching about 36 percent of total cotton purchases, while 43 percent of the leather used comes from Leather Working Group-certified tanneries, compared to 31 percent in 2024.
“Cotton absorbs 90 percent of water,” Andrea said. “Technology helps us.” However, he said regenerative cotton is not scalable yet.
Diesel, in particular, reached 42 percent lower-impact cotton across its total cotton procurement, and more than 85 percent of garments in the denim spring 2026 collection include preferred materials. Marni recorded a 35 percent share of lower-impact cotton, and 66 percent of the leather it purchases comes from LWG-certified tanneries. This figure stands at 55 percent for both Maison Margiela and Jil Sander.
Andrea said the biggest hurdle is to “shorten the distance between the style office and the supply chain but shortly it will be possible that designers will tell yarn-makers what they need, I hope that will be the final result. Creatives must be more technical and if the supply chain is more creative, that’s a win for the aesthetic.”
He said OTB is “committed to integrating environmental and animal welfare criteria into the development of the collections and the production processes. This is the result of a more consistent and conscious approach to the selection of materials, treatments and sourcing practices.”
At the same time, OTB has continued to invest in circular business models promoting increased durability, for example continuing the project launched in 2022 under the European SwitchMed programme, promoted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, aimed at reusing production waste to create recycled denim with a partner based in Tunisia.
During the year, the brand reintroduced the spring 2025 Diesel Rehab Denim collection, in partnership with supplier Tejidos Royo, made entirely from recycled cotton and elastane and produced using processes that significantly reduce water, chemical and energy consumption.
Regarding upcycling, Diesel and Marni developed dedicated projects to create garments and bags from unsold products and archived materials. Throughout 2025, Viktor&Rolf also continued its efforts to raise awareness of upcycling among younger generations through an annual educational program delivered at a school in Amsterdam.
Andrea said he had been interested in upcycling since he was 15 years old. In 2014, he founded fashion label Myar, repurposing vintage military clothing.
Asked about his own interest in sustainability, his father said “it was a natural process, being born in a farm, I grew up with these values, behavior and spirit.”
He said he was also very proud of the social commitment, achieved through the OTB Foundation, signing for example a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Education and Merit to raise awareness among young people about bullying and gender-based violence, supporting Médecins Sans Frontières’ Inflatable Hospitals project, and launching an initiative to facilitate access to cryopreservation programs for female employees across the group.
Since its establishment in 2006, the OTB Foundation has delivered more than 380 projects, contributing to improving the lives of more than 380,000 people worldwide.
OTB also just launched the fifth edition of the “Scuola dei Mestieri.” More than 50 young Made in Italy professionals have been trained in recent years, with more than 80 percent currently employed by OTB.
As part of its collaboration with the Aura Blockchain Consortium, since 2022 OTB has provided more than 3 million products from Jil Sander, Maison Margiela and Marni with a digital certificate of authenticity and it has recently presented a pilot digital product passport project that anticipates forthcoming European regulation.
The initiative was previewed by Renzo Rosso to King Charles III at Buckingham Palace during a private session with the Fashion Task Force of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, of which OTB is a member. The project combines blockchain registration and NFC technology to strengthen product transparency, authenticity and traceability, and is set to be progressively extended to all group brands.
Last year, the drafting of the Legality Protocol for Fashion Production Supply Chains was signed in Milan with the aim of creating a shared framework for transparency and legality across the Made in Italy supply chain. At OTB, 75 percent of suppliers are based in Italy, reflecting a strong connection with the territory and a commitment to enhancing local manufacturing excellence.
The C.A.S.H. program, or Credito Agevolato – Suppliers’ Help, which has been active since 2013, continued to represent a strategic lever for OTB’s Italian small and medium-sized partners, providing financial support to the most virtuous companies. Since the launch of the program, total payments have reached 700 million euros, with 90 percent of supplier credit being assigned.