Romain Narcy from Rematters, Ereks Blue Matters and the Denim Deal

There are countless sustainability initiatives, but who in the fashion industry really drives the change, whether his efforts are visible to the public or not? We interview Changemaker: Inside, consultant: Inside, Expert: Inside for sustainable fashion and activist: inside. What can we learn from your work?

In the second part, Fashionunited spoke to the denim expert Romain Narcy, who became an entrepreneur and sustainability lawyer and has two decades of industry experience. He is a co-founder and CEO of Rematters, a consulting firm with a focus on circulatory supply chains and textile recycling. Narcy is also a partner and head of strategy and innovation at Ereks-Blue Matters and a key figure in the International Denim Deal Initiative.

1. Can you imagine and give an overview of your professional background and your expertise?

I am Romain Narcy, Frenchman with a background to business administration. Internships and a community service at Sodexo led me to Turkey at the end of the 1990s, where I met my future – now current – woman. In 2004 I came to Ereks Blue Matters, the denim production company of my father-in-law. There I got to know every aspect of clothing production and helped expand the customer base. Ereks takes care of the process from design to the finished garment and mainly exports to the EU and the USA and serves brands such as Fabienne Chapot, Kings of Indigo, Ralph Lauren and Anine Bing.

My focus was postponed in 2009 when a customer, Stéphane Popescu – at that time at Bonobo Jeans – asked me whether I would understand the environmental impact of jeans. I didn’t. As soon as I became aware of the environmental impacts, I could no longer continue as usual. Ereks led his question to the path of more sustainable production, which we have been pursuing for over fifteen years.

Around the same time, 2012, I joined the Dutch Denim Alliance – the forerunner of the Denim Deal. This was our first attempt with post-consumer recycling cotton in the production of jeans.

The Covid 19 pandemic felt like a signal from the planet: ‘You head directly to the wall-why don’t you change the course?’ Since the fashion industry produces 100 billion clothing every year and the forecasts reached 250 billion by 2030, I did not decide to return to production – not even for the ‘sustainable’ Art. 2023 I founded rematters together with Hakan Uçar, a chemical engineer who works in the textile industry. Rematters is a consulting and engineering office that helps build circulatory systems for fashion and textiles by linking ideas with industry and scaling innovations and solutions- because we believe that scaling is crucial for the effect.

2. Can you tell us something about your current projects, progress and most important success?

We are currently a team of five that works internationally in countries such as Switzerland, Benin, Ghana, Turkey and France. Rematters advises large fashion and home textile companies in terms of circular economy and supports them with data, research and the latest technologies. One of our partners, the US company Colourizd, has developed a yarn coloring technology that only consumes one liter of water per kilo compared to the usual 150 liters when coloring wool, and no waste water. Exactly the Changemaker: insidethat we as Changemaker: inside like to support.
The latest work also includes collecting primary data for ecological scale for the advisory company Sphera on behalf of textile Exchange to recycled cotton in Bangladesh, Turkey and Pakistan; Projects for the decarbonization of the supply chain and to textile -based insulation materials. We are also very proud of the feasibility and economy studies that we have carried out for Tell-Tex Switzerland to help you complete your investment in a recycling hub for post-consumer textiles with a capacity of twenty thousand tons per year.

I have been active in Denim Deal in Dutch since 2020, initially as a signer and later as a member of the steering committee. In 2024 I founded the Denim Deal International Foundation together with Nicolas to scale the initiative worldwide. Our mission is to scale the circular economy in the global denim supply chain by building an integrative ecosystem and working with brands, manufacturing, recyclers: inside and innovator: working inside around the world, not just from the West. Today the Denim Deal has almost 50 members from ten countries, including universities, NGOs, factories, brands and technology providers. What makes this initiative so effective is that we not only talk about cooperation, but also implement it. An important result: a clear increase in jeans, which are produced with at least 20 percent post-consumer recycling cotton.

3. What does the future of fashion look like? What opportunities and challenges are there?

Managers in the fashion industry must be aware that a wave of regulations quickly gets to us. As part of the EU Green Deal, the textile industry is directly in the spotlight, with the extended manufacturer’s responsibility (EPR), the ecodesign regulation for sustainable products (ESPR), carbon taxes and so on. Some measures have been postponed, but they are on the way. Many companies still underestimate the effects that this will have on their company, their supply chains and ultimately their business models.

In my opinion, the fashion industry cannot grow and at the same time reduce emissions if it continues to produce more. Even with the efforts to decarbonize the supply chain, around 70 percent of the emissions of retail are still from production. The solution not only exists in more environmentally friendly factories, but in rethinking the entire model. Growth has to be redefined, with circulatory strategies such as ResaleRental and product-as-a-service focus.

With Rematters and also via the Denim Deal, we support companies in their transition to the circular economy. The pilot projects we offer can understand brands what has to change from a regulatory perspective, which really means circulatory design and how they can adapt production accordingly. Denim is a great test material: it is iconic, complex and has a high effect.

4. Where does the fashion industry stand today? Are there significant changes and are the brands really aware of what a circular future requires?

Circular economy will not take place isolated; It requires active cooperation. However, many brands still focus on short -term result before interest, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA) and quarterly results, with some even reducing their sustainability teams. Fortunately, others, like our customer Ralph Lauren, enable real transformation with a long -term vision and support for decarbonization.

We are not yet at a turning point. The urgency must be emphasized again and again. But I see the glass half full. We are aware of the problem, now we have to fight for solutions.

5. What specific steps should managers in the fashion industry take to accelerate meaningful changes?

First, rethink your business model. Circular economy is not just recycling – It is Reduce, reuse,, Repair,, Regenerate. Without systemic change Let’s empty only a bathtub with a spoon while the tap is still running. Support innovations. Invest in founders: interior centers. Join initiatives such as the Apparel Impact Institute or the Good Fashion Fund.

Secondly, I repeat what manufacturers said on stage during the Innovation Forum Sustainable Apparel and Textiles Conference in Amsterdam (April 2025): ‘The era of disposable delivery chains-‘ I give up the order, produce them ‘is over.’ A manufacturer is not just someone who produces 5,000 pants, for example – it is a community of people in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Turkey with deep specialist knowledge. With long -term transparency you can invest in decarbonization and innovation. Cooperation, co-creation and shared responsibility are the only way forward, especially in a time of global uncertainty.

Returning production is increasingly being discussed, but this will not work with outdated systems. If we want to bring production back to Europe, we have to renew the way we manufacture clothes – from Cut, sew, refineeverything. Disruption is the only way forward.

In the third part of this Changemaker: Interior interview series we speak to Saqib Sothail, Lead for Responsible Business Projects at Artistic Milliners, a vertically integrated denim manufacturer based in Pakistan.

If you have a recommendation for a strong candidate for this series of interviews, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].