Napapijri’s pioneering Circular Series of fully recyclable jackets has been recognised with the prestigious Cradle to Cradle certification, an advanced standard for safe, circular and responsible materials and products.

“Developed and tested over the course of three years, Napapijri Circular Series is the first family of recyclable, mono-material products to receive Cradle to Cradle Certified Gold from the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute,” the company said in a statement.

“What makes Napapijri Circular Series unique is its fully circular and mono-material composition. Fillings and trims are made of Nylon 6 (Polyamide 6), while the fabric is made of ECONYL Regenerated Nylon, a high- performance yarn recycled from discarded fishing nets and other waste materials,” Napapijri adds.

The jackets are also linked to a take-back program that allows customers to return them to Napapijri after two years from purchase and to be transformed into new fabric through the ECONYL Regeneration System.

“And this is just the beginning,” the company says. “What started in FW19 as Napapijri’s first circular fashion project, Infinity Anorak, has now been acknowledged by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute as one of the most innovative efforts at closing both product and technical loops, and is now due to turn into a fully-fledged family of circular products in upcoming seasons.”

“Napapijri sits within VF’s family of brands as an incubator of new ideas, processes, and approaches to fashion-making,” says Anna Maria Rugarli, Sustainability & Responsibility Senior Director EMEA, VF International. “Its dedication to sustainable practices is reflected in the positive choices the brand has been making in the last few years - from developing an alternative to down and phasing out all animal fur, to pioneering a series of jackets designed, created and brought to market in keeping with the golden standards of circular economy.”

“This is an outstanding result for Napapijri and the fashion industry as a whole, as no previous brand has succeeded in developing a fully circular clothing system in such a short amount of time, and effectively engaging, reviewing and innovating across all tiers of the technical cycle.”

Over the last 14 months, Napapijri worked with independent Cradle to Cradle assessor EPEA Switzerland, and a global network of 47 suppliers distributed across four separate tiers, some of which overcame their competing status in order to collaborate on the innovative and educational aspects of the project, to achieve certification from the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. Together, they fully developed each component of the Circular Jackets in strict keeping with the Cradle to Cradle Certified product standard.

The project started with an in-depth assessment of the Circular Series’ design and sourcing processes, as well as an extensive mapping of the Series’ supply chain. All parties committed to knowledge-sharing sessions, the optimisation of chemistry as well as the joint development of product innovations to allow Napapijri to elevate the Circular Series to safer and better circularity standards.

“Achieving Cradle to Cradle certification for the Circular Series at the Gold level is a demonstration of how material choices and deep collaboration with supply chain partners can holistically drive systems- level circularity from product to business model,” says Christina Raab, VP Strategy & Development for the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute.

“Napapirji’s use of Cradle to Cradle Certified to fast-track the implementation of a fully circular clothing system pinpoints the way the Cradle to Cradle framework can be used as an innovation lever for future- proofing the fashion industry.”

According to the company, such unique, comprehensive, and innovative collaboration demonstrates Napapijri’s commitment to live by its future-positive mindset by choosing circularity as the guiding principle for the future development of products.

“Since 2012, we have been working to develop policies and technical solutions aimed at reducing the fashion industry’s environmental impact,” says Timo Schmidt-Eisenhart, Global President Napapijri. “Now, more than ever, we are aware of the pressing issues we are collectively asked to address. We have chosen to play our part by pioneering the future of

fashion with Circular Series, a range of products that embodies our efforts to combine design, sustainability and innovation to inspire a shift in the role our industry has to play in the preservation of the planet and its people through circularity.”

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