Australian brand madre natura debuted at Australian Fashion Week 2024, teaming up with clean-tech start-up Greener to reinforce the message that glamour need not come at the world’s expense.
As an ethical label with a focus on making garments that do less harm to the planet, madre natura is determined to reduce the 500 million kilograms of clothing that Australians throw into landfill each year. The partnership with fellow B Corp Greener is designed to ‘flip the script’ on fast fashion and envision a brighter future for the fashion industry.
According to Greener, Aussies use more textiles than anywhere other than the US. Our 144,000 SME fashion retailers create a significant environmental impact, emitting more than 11 millions tonnes of CO2 a year. The situation is accentuated by the the cost-of-living crisis, with SME retailers forced to pass on higher costs to customers, and 43 per cent of them not making a profit last year. This issue, combined complicated carbon measurement tools, sees SME retailers lagging behind when it comes to reducing emissions and waste.
“At Madre Natura, sustainability is embedded into our DNA and we want to help others in the industry do the same,” Jackie Galleghan, the Founder, Creative Director and Head of Sustainability at Madre Natura, said. “That’s why partnering with Greener, whose platform is all about making it easy for businesses to take action. It just made so much sense.
“We didn’t want to just talk about sustainability, we want to prove we are doing something about it; and demonstrate that it’s possible to take meaningful action to reduce waste and emissions without choosing between planet and profits,” Galleghan added.
Launched in late 2023, Greener for Business helps businesses turn climate action into a competitive advantage with simple action plans, access to government rebates and exclusive member offers that make it easy to save money and reduce emissions at the same time.
“There’s nothing more fashionable than doing the right thing for the planet, and the only thing the fashion industry should be throwing out this season is the outdated notion that being more sustainable is too hard or too expensive,” Tom Ferrier, Founder of Greener, said.
“One trend that we’re excited to be helping set is the ability for SMEs to save money and emissions with ease. And it’s all thanks to the organisations who are joining this high-profile coalition, and bringing market leading offers for their sustainable solutions, to help accelerate the net zero transition in Australia,” Ferrier added.
Greener has already helped SMEs save over $783,000 and taken the equivalent of 3500 cars off the road in emissions by adopting more sustainable in just a few months of coming to market.
