Danny Reinke is a fashion brand,  which combines craftmanship and local production in our hometown Berlin. We came across them during Berlin Fashion Week. We are glad, that we had the chance to ask about his approach, success factors and challenges of local production.

What is Danny Reinke all about?

Danny Reinke’s Prêt-à-Couture collection is a rhythm of contrasts. A mixing of luxe textiles that emphasize the playfulness of spirit and style, while thoughtful tailoring is resonant with the careful construction that marks the German intellect and soul of the brand. Signature design elements in bodysuits highlight youthful femininity, while opulent tulle dresses present a strong yet accordant contrast with embroidery which is a hallmark of the brand. 

The garments themselves are all lovingly handmade from the highest quality materials in our Berlin atelier, ensuring a responsible method of production that is critical to the message of sustainability that is so important to the brand. 

Why did you decide to produce locally? 

Sustainability is part of our design philosophy and it is very important for the fashion industry. However, sustainability has many facets from the raw materials to the local production of garments. This was very important for us from the beginning. We saw this process as part of our value. Amongst other things, we want every tailor, seamstress or pattern-maker to be paid accordingly for their work and to have good benefits in the atelier. That is why we decided to go this route, so what we can inspect every garment and monitor all production sites ourselves.

Does local production play a role in your success?

Success is secondary for us, primarily our vision is to promote and preserve German craftsmanship. Fashion made in Germany is far too small in the economically strong Germany.

What skills are necessary for local production? How did you acquire the knowledge?

I had a dual course of studies in fashion design and ladies’ tailoring at the FahModa Academy for Fashion and Design in Hanover. In 2012, I also attended the Kraków School of Art and Fashion Design. I am a trained dressmaker / tailor and therefore have a very good knowledge of the production of clothing. Because of my training I consider all options for a garment. The prototyping and pattern development takes place entirely in our studio in Berlin.

What challenges have you encountered in implementing local production?

Coming from an artisan handcraft background myself, quality is very important to me, so balancing all the components is always a bit of a challenge.

Do consumers from the region value your products?

All our customers are grateful for the transparent handling of our clothing. Many customers have had their clothes made to measure in our atelier. This means that we have a personal connection to every customer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

dannyreinke.com

photo copyright by Danny Reinke

We have already looked at sourcing raw materials for the garment industry from a city’s waste. Cities consume 75% of the world’s natural resources (Ellen McArthur Foundation, 2021). Besides the materials used, the way clothes are made also has a big impact on the environment. A pair of fast fashion jeans has travelled up to 50,000 km across several contingents by the time it is bought and used in our country. This is not a sustainable production method. How can the fashion production be made sustainable and local?

In Germany, only about 10% of the textile production is left. Many manufacturers have relocated production and the associated environmental and social problems abroad, mostly to Asia. The textile industry is one of the oldest and, in terms of number of employees and turnover, one of the most important branches of the manufacturing industry. It manufactures textile products from fibres, such as spun yarns, woven fabrics, felts, nonwovens, stitch-bonded fabrics and knitted goods, which are further processed by the clothing industry, among others.  It is upstream of the clothing industry. In Central Europe, there are almost no companies left in which all production stages from raw material to end product are carried out. The companies in the textile and clothing industry have a strong division of labour and are internationalised. Almost no clothing is produced in Germany any more, although some of the largest clothing producers are located in Germany (Wikipedia).

Sustainable, local garment production requires local, sustainable textile production (incl. recycling/reprocessing). The stages of textile production are drivers of environmentally harmful emissions. Yarn preparation (28%) and dyeing and finishing (36%) in particular play a central role and must be taken into account in the area of sustainable production. A T-shirt made from organically grown cotton can consume a lot of chemicals in the finishing stage, which are not very healthy for humans or the environment.

Local garment production has not completely disappeared. Pioneers like MarcCain show how production in Germany can succeed with technology.

Numerous creative people are also lovingly handcrafting small collections that can be counted as slow fashion.  

Berlin is home to charming labels that are committed to sustainability and produce locally. Among them are designers who work with upcycling methods. For example: Buki Akomolafe (bukiakomolafe.com), BRACHMANN (brachmannofficial.com), Danny Reinke (www.dannyreinke.com), Kollateralschaden (www.kollateralschaden.com), Natascha von Hirschhausen (nataschavonhirschhausen.com), The Tribe (www. thetribe.berlin), Trippen (de.trippen.com), MYKITA (www.mykita.co), Working Titel (www.workingtitlestudios.com), After March (www.helloaftermarch.com), Bis es mir vom Leibe fällt (bisesmirvomleibefaellt.com), Benu (www.benu-berlin.com), Erie Berlin (www.erieberlin.com) (Projekt Zukunft).

These are nice examples. Digitalisation and automation could make this kind of fashion available to even more people.

How can we succeed in designing and producing new collections in a future city, with and around the customer? We imagine digital, collaborative design interfaces and micro-factories that produce on-demand, i.e. only what is “needed”. This prevents tons of stock from not being sold. This production would be flexible and decentralised. The more the customer is involved in the design, the higher his emotional attachment to the clothing will be. And he will value it more and wear it longer. Overall, micro-factories have only a small production capacity. This model only works if there is also less consumption, which is also good for the environment.

Local fashion production would be very transparent and visible to every customer. We have already reported on pioneers like unmade that make this possible. In Germany, consumption fell by 6.1% in 2020 due to the Corona pandemic. The most in 70 years (IW). We are adaptable.

In the next post, we will take a deep dive into labels and their production methods.

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photo by Berkay Erguler unsplash

We are interessted in circular textile production processes and using „waste“ as ressources for something new. In urban spaces, like our home town Berlin, we see are lot of interessting sourcing opportunities for the production of clothes and shoes. Cities are main driver of consumption. They produce enormous amounts of waste and pollution (circular.berlin). What if, we use that waste and transform it into something good. To source and produce locally seems to be a good starting point to create a possitive impact. Sustainable production comes with the usage of natural materials or recycling of materials. By recycling plastic waste and other waste, resources can be conserved.  Let’s do a thought experiment and think about waste streams in urban spaces, which could be a sourcing opportunity for textile production. Think about plastic bottles, alt paper, coffee grounds, organ gene shells, dogs hair or used textiles.

PLASTIC

In 2019, 6.28 million tonnes of plastic waste were generated in Germany, mostly due to private housholds. By law, the recycling rate for plastic packaging should be 63% in 2022. Germany is the biggest exporteur of plastic waste in Europe. We could start to think about taking responsibility and try to make something good with that. Of course, the best way would be, to engage in zero waste initiatives and adapt our byuing behaviour. We will always consume something. For exemple unifi (REPREVE Polyester & Nylon) is using post-consumer plastic waste for the production of recycled nylon and polyester, which could be used in textile production.

ALT-PAPER

14.8 million tones alt paper were collected in Germany in 2019. The waste paper return rate lies by 78%, which is quite good. But the generale consumption of paper is rising in the last years. The per capita consumption of paper, cardboard and carton is higher in Germany than in any other G20 country. The rapidly increasing quantities of packaging in online trade in particular contribute to the high consumption. Paper has a fairly high energy consumption during production. The best way is to reduce our paper usage. When it comes to textile production, we could recycle alt-paper into cellulosic based fiber yarns, like Ioncell from Helsinki is doing.

USED CLOTHING

According to the Association for Textile Recycling, the amount of old textiles collected in Germany is about 750,000 tonnes. 50 per cent of the collected textiles can be reused. These textiles are usually exported.  Another four per cent are further processed into cleaning rags or other recycled products (e.g. sound insulation mats). On the other hand, according to the Federal Association of Consumer Organisations, 1.6 million tonnes of textiles are consumed each year. This corresponds to a per capita consumption of 20 kg.  This means that the Germans have the highest consumption of textiles worldwide. There are different companies working at transorming post-comsumer textile waste into new ones. Evrnu for exemples uses post-consumer cotton garments to produce cellulosic based NuCycl fibres. And Ioncell could do so either. Aquafil (Econyl) uses post-consumer textile waste, to produce nylon 6 fibres. Kleiderly from Berlin transforms old textiles in f.eg. plastic hangers.

COFFEE GROUNDS AND ORANGE SHELLS

In Berlin there are lots of coffee houses which serve fresh brew coffee and also fresh made organe juice. It is possible to use the coffee ground for the production of S.Café (Singtex) nylon or the organge shells could be used to produce a vegan leather or silk alterative.

DOGS HAIR

It is possible to use combed-out undercoat of dogs as wool alternativ in textile production. In Germany, 80 tonnes of dog wool, a high-quality raw material, are thrown away every year. Berlin has many dogs. Modusintarsia creates Chiengora, a dog hair based wool fibre.

CONCLUSION

Germany produces so much waste plastic, paper, used textiles. Before thinking to re-use that waste, we have to think about our consumption habits. First and foremost, our consumption should be mindful. Less consumption, less waste. That should have the greatest effects and is inevitable.

When we look at the type of waste streams in Berlin, we clearly see, that there are enourmous potential to use these waste streams from plastic, alt-paper, used clothes, biobased waste like coffee grounds or organge shells and dog hair as sourcing chance for textile production in urban spaces. In the further areas of berlin corn, hemp, flax sheep wool could be natural sourcing alternatives to. Of course, we would need the appropriate factories in the city. Berlin has the know how and a vital chemical industry as well as recyling facilities to do so.

Sources:

https://textile-network.de/de/Fashion/Von-wegen-Orangenhaut

https://www.evrnu.com/nucycl

 

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https://unifi.com/

https://www.aquafil.com/de/

https://www.aquafil.com/de/sustainability/econyl-garn/

https://www.evrnu.com/nucycl

https://www.remap-berlin.de/blog/zero-waste-blog/97

https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/daten/ressourcen-abfall/verwertung-entsorgung-ausgewaehlter-abfallarten/altpapier

https://www.nabu.de/umwelt-und-ressourcen/abfall-und-recycling/22033.html

https://www.boell.de/sites/default/files/2019-11/Plastikatlas_2019_3._Auflage.pdf

https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2021/03/PD21_N016_51.html;jsessionid=9C96987F2D86E734055E7F35FFA35CE2.internet741

https://www.bettina-hoffmann.info/de/blog/2019/10/kleine_anfrage_papierverbrauch.php

www.circular.berlin

photo by Jonas Tebbe/unsplash