Nike app prompts designers to create more sustainable products
Nike has launched an iphone app that encourages sportswear designers to consider the impact their material choices have on the environment as part of its ongoing sustainability efforts.
The “Making” tool, developed in partnership with the London College of Fashion, ranks the materials used in apparel based on how much water they use and the amount of waste and pollution they give during the manufacturing process. Each material is then further assessed based on whether it uses recycled or organic content.
The app has been developed using insights from the Nike Materials Sustainability Index (MSI) which the company has compiled data from seven years of research.
Lee Holman, vice-president of apparel design at Nike, says: “We’ve created the Making app to empower any designer around the world to make better materials choices in the initial stages of the innovation process to ultimately create products that are better for consumers and better for the planet.”
The initiative aims to demonstrate how closely the business has linked its sustainability efforts with design over the past decade.Nike says it “sees a future” where sustainability data in the apparel industry is more freely available so that designers can create greener products at a faster rate.
Online videos, created to showcase the brand’s wider sustainability initiatives, are supporting the app’s launch.
Elsewhere, Nike is working with is collaborating with designers, academics, manufactures and NGOs from around the world to create more sustainable materials.
