The fashion industry still has a long way to circulating: some brands are already taking concrete steps, while others lag behind. According to the upcoming UPV legislation, fifty percent of the textiles coming onto the market must be recycled or prepared for reuse. This goal is considered too ambitious by many.
In the response to this challenge, the Denim Deal 1.0 was launched in 2020: a unique cooperation that should mobilize the denim sector to use post-consumer recycled cotton (POCR), i.e. cotton made of already worn jeans, structurally in new jeans. The original goal of producing three million jeans with at least 20 percent POCR within three years was far exceeded. With over twelve million parts produced, the pilot project was a great success.
The results formed the basis for the expansion to the Denim Deal 2.0, an international sequel in which dozens of brands, supplier: inside and recyclers: inside. With the new goal, a billion jeans with POCR by 2030, and international hubs in Germany and France, among others, the Denim Deal 2.0 is based on acceleration through collective innovation. The initiative not only supports objectives, but also offers practical help: from knowledge exchange, webinars and training to matchmaking and contacting with relevant partners in the supply chain. The Denim Deal 2.0 acts as a catalyst for a system change within the denim industry: away from linear production processes, towards a circulatory model in which old jeans form the raw material for new ones.
Vingino as the new participant: ‘Want to be a pioneer’
One of the participants: Inside the Denim Deal 2.0 is the children’s fashion brand Vingino, for Denim the basis of the collections. In an interview with fashionunited, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) manager Hubert-Jan Bach tells about Vingino’s participation in the Denim Deal 2.0 and the various sustainability initiatives of the label.
Although Vingino was not there in the first Denim Deal, the company felt committed to participating this time. “Our focus on sustainability was not yet strong enough in 2020,” explains Bach openly. In the meantime this has changed. “Due to legal requirements, announcements: interior demand and our own claim it became clear: We have to tackle CSR structurally. That is why after fifteen years in shopping at Vingino, I made the change to build a separate CSR department within the company.” The connection to Denim Deal 2.0 therefore felt like a logical step: “Denim is our DNA. We want to be a pioneer in the Denim world and this includes participation in such an initiative.”
Hook about the thing: from the waste mountain to the yarn
Although more and more brands are willing to use recycled yarns, the circular textile chain is encountered in practice, Bach said. He sees the crucial bottleneck in the lack of processing companies that can actually process carried clothing into new spider threads. “We have an enormous mountain of old dresses worldwide,” explains Bach. “This clothing is now collected, but there are simply too few capacities to process them completely. There are too few companies, the so-called recycling and spinning companies that can make useful raw materials from this old clothing.”
According to Bach, there is a weak point in the system. “As long as this intermediate step is missing, a really circular model remains out of reach.” In his opinion, some of the solution are financial incentives to promote initiatives such as the Denim Deal 2.0. “At the moment we are still subsidizing the old economy. What we need is targeted support for the new economy, for companies that recycle, regenerate fibers and spider yarns from post-consumer material. When it grows infrastructure, scaling and thus a functioning business model arises.”
From recycling to circular thinking
For Vingino, participation in the Denim Deal meant a further focus on the focus: from the use of production remains (pre-consumers) to reuse supported clothing (post-consumer). “It requires more organization, but you immediately feel the effect,” explains Bach. The first nos-denims with 20 percent POCR have already been launched. “There is no loss of quality and we only have to increase the purchase price slightly, so that the consumer does not notice any price change. This means that the product remains affordable on the inside and is more sustainable at the same time.”
A surprising lesson was in communication: “We had initially developed a hanging label with the simple inscription ’20 percent PCR ‘. Then we realized: Who understands that?
Bach sees the Denim Deal not only as a cooperation, but also as an education initiative. He continues to train us, but he also demands us. Thanks to the Denim Deal, our Denim designers have dealt with sustainable possibilities more intensely on the inside. In the meantime, we not only use POCR in our NOS line, but also expand it to our future collections from spring/summer 2026 season. ”
Wider sustainability strategy: from ‘Green Teams’ to digital product passes
The Denim Deal is part of a more comprehensive sustainability strategy that Vingino has implemented in recent years. “We are working on the goal of obtaining 40 percent of our materials from recycled materials and/or organic cotton by 2030. That is why I see recycling than the future, since less or no new raw materials have to be used.” In order to achieve this, Vingino relies on internal sensitization through the establishment of a “green team”: employees: inside from all departments, anchoring sustainability in their work.
Vingino also researches the upcycling options of children’s clothing. For this purpose, the company works with the remake Society, a specialist in the upcycling of clothing from Rotterdam. The goal is to produce new, cool upcycling products from old stocks, also called “Deadstock”.
Compliance and traceability of the supply chain also play a major role. Vingino has been a member of Amfori/BSCI for ten years, a company initiative to improve working conditions, and starts in 2025 with digital product passes (DPP) in cooperation with the Textracer software company. “We want to show consumers: inside where their product comes from and what effects it has on water consumption and CO2 emissions.” Together with Textracer, Vingino hopes to launch his first product category with a DPP from January 2026.
Appeal to the industry: ‘From the box to the spark’
In conclusion, Bach still has a clear message: “It is actually surprising that relatively few German brands still participate in the Denim Deal, although it is feasible. You get support to know and have a real effect. If we all perform this change in mentality from linear too circular, then the right time is now to get in.”
Through all the administrative effort, including the CSRD reporting, sustainability often acts like a box that needs to be set, Bach finds more about the “spark”: the concrete goal and inspiration. Bach hopes to be able to convey this change to other denim brands: The way of thinking has to change, “from a checkered to spark”.