The leading denim supply chain, Kingpins Transformers, has become Transformers Foundation. The foundation is a non-profit entity focused on actively addressing and facilitating change in key areas of the denim supply chain: social responsibility, sustainable cotton, responsible chemical management, and consumer education, effective January 1, 2020.
Kingpins Transformers was launched in 2014 as a summit series spotlighting members of the denim community who are committed to creating, implementing, and sharing the changes that need to happen in the jeans industry to make it more environmentally viable, socially responsible and financially sound. Transformers’ successful events in Amsterdam and New York, and a spin-off event for students that debuted in 2019 at Ravensbourne University in London, steadily gathered momentum and attracted innovative and notable speakers from across the denim industry and beyond.
With one foot in the denim design community and the other in the manufacturing arena, Kingpins Transformers has been bridging the information gap between the two, introducing brands and retailers to responsible and innovative new resources and giving members of the supply chain a platform to introduce new technologies, machinery, and systems. Now, as Transformers Foundation, Transformers is moving beyond education into action, according to a report by Kingpins.
Collaboration and cooperation will be hallmarks of the Transformers Foundation. As a first step, the foundation will enlist supply chain industry leaders to join as founding members and create the roadmap for activities in 2020 and 2021. The Transformers Foundation will continue to host and broadcast its summits for industry professionals and students, and will expand its efforts into producing annual reports, white papers, consumer testing, industry honours for outstanding achievements, and more.
“Our industry cannot agree on facts or what is right and what is wrong. There is confusion and green-washing, misinformation and dishonest marketing along the supply chain all the way through to the consumers. Brands and retailers use resources when buying their products which are never replenished. Industry needs to understand and pay the true cost of a product, including environmental and social costs. And each day has new reminders that the clock is ticking and environmental change is needed immediately,” Transformers Foundation Founder, Andrew Olah said.
