Burberry Is Launching Trench Coats Made From Recycled Fishing Nets

In ‘Get Your Greens’, an ongoing series in line with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, British Vogue explores how the industry is advancing towards a greener future.

Seeking ways to reboot your classic Burberry trench coat? Now, you can take it in nylon developed from castor oil and a polyester yarn made from recycled plastic bottles. In celebration of Earth Day 2020, Burberry has launched the ReBurberry Edit – a collection of 26 styles made using the “latest innovations in sustainable material science”.

The British brand has focused on reinventing pieces from its spring/summer 2020 showcase, including the classic Burberry trench, a series of car coats, plus Cannon belt packs and backpacks. The outerwear has been reimagined in a series of fresh prints, and the selection of accessories will feature additional details and appliqué. But it’s the sustainable switch-ups that really impress. 

Materials including bio-based acetate have been used to create sunglasses, while Econyl (a recycled nylon made from regenerated fishing nets, fabric scraps and industrial plastic) has been used to make trench coats, parkas and accessories. The featured parkas and capes have also been made at facilities that pride themselves on reductive energy and water techniques, the recycling of textiles and chemical management. Other outerwear exemplars have been made using a nylon developed from castor oil, and a polyester yarn made from recycled plastic bottles.

Transparency is another aim of the collection. A global roll-out of pistachio-coloured “sustainable labelling” across ready-to-wear lines will provide insight on each product’s credentials – including the garment’s organic content or recycled natural fibres, and its delivery against carbon emission standards at the facilities where it was produced – as well as highlighting positive social initiatives. According to the brand, two thirds of its products “now make a positive social or environmental contribution,” and it aims to expand these attributes to all products by 2022.

Burberry’s latest initiatives are part of its “Responsibility Agenda” – a five-year plan that focuses on sustainable products, renewable energy and the support of its communities. By 2022, the company aims to be completely carbon neutral and to obtain 100 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy sources. As Pam Batty, vice president of corporate responsibility at Burberry remarked in a statement: “We strongly believe that driving positive change through all of our products at every stage of the value chain is crucial to building a more sustainable future for our whole industry.”