Orta: ‘We Hear the World Breathing’
Celebrating its landmark 70th year anniversary, ORTA’s newest WE HEAR THE WORLD BREATHING collection, a continuation of its ORTANOW collection, is leading the way towards 100 percent regenerative eco-bold denim. The collection represents a continuum of ORTA’s design aesthetics and ethics that embrace art, technology and sustainability with an industry-leading regenerative denim model of “use longer, circulate and regenerate.”
ORTA sees that to be truly regenerative, you also need to address the behaviors of consumption. With the growing cultural demand for more vintage, artisanal denim styles and a silent luxe, the Turkish denim mill saw this as more than just a backlash to fast fashion—it was an opportunity to recreate ‘vintage’ for a regenerative future. “Future Luxe” and “Future Favorites” fabrics reinvent the archetypal denim weaves and styles—from sateen to chambrays to bold rigids and streaky—for discerning future collectors.
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Regenerative denim
Collaborating with global partners in regenerative cotton farming and clean, sustainable eco-dyes, ORTA is developing a regenerative denim platform that will be the new manufacturing standard for the future.
“At ORTA, we are looking at the next century of denim,” said Dr. Sedef Uncu Aki, who leads ORTA’s denim sales & marketing, PD, R&D, planning and operations. “Today, the right combination of imperatives to act, inspiration to innovate, and eco-imagination to support it all, will move industry forward.”
Tackling textile and dye waste is another focus for the company, which aims to lead the industry towards a whole new generation of waste-free, bio-designed denim. Its ‘Blueskyer Denim” is crafted with the ultimate next-gen solution for materials: Viscose made with CIRCULOSE® and BioBlack TX.
CIRCULOSE by Renewcell leverages the breakthrough technology that dissolves used cotton and other natural fibers into a new, biodegradable raw material that is renewed to a denim dream-textile, that itself can be biodegradable. BioBlack TX is an industry first: a 100 percent bio-based, certified and carbon negative black pigment that is a direct replacement for petroleum-based carbon black. Produced through a closed-loop, circular system of manufacturing that emits negligible amounts of CO2, ORTA uses BioBlack TX for fabric coating and, as an industry first application, in warp dyeing.
Supporting next-generation designers is at the heart of ORTA’s commitment to delivering the most sustainable luxurious fabrics.
In a collaboration with the prestigious Vakko Esmod Fashion Academy Istanbul, ORTA briefed and mentored students in workshops in sustainable denim production processes. The winning student designs envisioned an electrified denim future in themes of “Mushrooms in Nature,” “Technology and Nature” and “Japanese Culture.” Select winning designs will be featured in the ORTA collection campaign, envisioning the future-forward craftmanship of the collection that includes “Future Luxe” that reimagines vintage; future throw-back streetwear in “Future Favorites”; and “Sunset Denim” colored and unbleached with natural imperfections—each fabric designed with a new standard of eco-innovative fibers.
Today, ORTA is one of the leaders in climate tech textiles, exercising its carbon impact handprint for years. ORTA has been quietly reducing carbon output, along with water and textile waste for more than 10 years. This year, ORTA restarted its corporate carbon footprint analysis studies to set itself science-based goals. And this is just the beginning as it puts measures in place for accountability and transparency.
“Every practice and process we have in place will combine both digitalization, bluesky technologies and approaches to ensure that we are proactive and not reactive,” said Uncu Aki. “And that strengthens our Handprint mission to use less to create more—more value, more performance, more abundance of goodness. ORTA is committed to this regenerative movement. We not only listen…we partner with bluesky thinkers to lay the foundation for a new denim standard.”
About ORTA Bluesky fellowship program: A new residency program has been developed in collaboration between the Gate 27 international creative residency program and ORTA.
To learn more about ORTA, click here.
To see their participation in Rivet’s webinar “Blue Goes Green: Designing Denim’s Eco-Future,” click here.
