MATERIALS & INNOVATION
TOMMY FOR TOMORROW
At Tommy Hilfiger, we take sustainability and the future of our planet seriously. We’d like to give you more information about why the product you just purchased (or are thinking of adding to your wardrobe) carries the sustainable product tag. You can easily identify a more sustainable TOMMY HILFIGER product by the green stripe on the hangtag when shopping in store.
Today, clothes are predominantly made with raw materials, and whether these are sourced from plants, animals or petrochemicals, they all come from our planet, that we all have a responsibility to care for. As an organization, we strive to take a holistic approach when it comes to sustainability and the elements we use – we think about the entire lifecycle and footprint, from raw materials to end-of-life.
At Tommy Hilfiger, we are conscious of how we make and sell our clothes. By 2025, we have committed to:
- Use 100% more sustainable cotton
- Phase out the use of virgin oil-based polyester for alternatives with lower environmental impact
- Sustainably source 100% of our leather, wool and man-made cellulosics
- Obtain 40% of our nylon from recycled sources
And once we reach our 2025 target, we’re not stopping there. We are committed to this continuous journey, so we can drive change and make more sustainable products. Our 2030 ambition is that our synthetic materials will be from recycled sources and our natural materials will come from regenerative systems, meaning they contribute to systems that renew or replenish themselves.
On this page, we will share with you an overview of sustainable materials and processes that we use in our products.
You can easily identify a more sustainable TOMMY HILFIGER product by the green stripe on the hangtag when shopping in store.
WHAT MAKES A MORE SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT?
To lower a product’s environmental impact, it’s important to look at the entire life cycle of a product and consider everything from design and production processes to purchase and wear. We are leveraging industry tools and guidance to further quantify and mitigate environmental impact across our value chain. Some of our initial work includes:
- Driving our products’ progress towards our public targets on more sustainable materials and circular business principles
- Using clearly defined criteria to determine when to make a claim about a product
- Calculating our greenhouse gas footprint on an annual basis to understand the impact of our value chain and identify key improvement areas to achieve our Forward Fashion carbon emissions reduction targets
- Working with our production partners via the Sustainable Apparel Coalitions (SAC) Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) to measure and reduce facility-level supply chain impacts
HOW CAN YOU MAKE A MORE SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT CHOICE?
This is a big and complex question, and we want to help you understand how we define “more sustainable products.” Since each product and style is unique, we categorize sustainable materials (recycled cotton and innovative materials or the result of innovative processes) using three different composition thresholds. To ensure our product claims are credible and transparent, our hangtags will state one of the three threshold claims below:
At Least 0%
We use 95% when a product and/or material uses a minimum of 95% more sustainable materials.
At Least 0%
We use 50% when a product and/or material uses a minimum of 50% (but less than 95%) more sustainable materials.
At Least 0%
We use 20% when a product and/or material uses a minimum of 20% (but less than 50%) more sustainable materials. We don’t make claims if less than 20% of the material is sustainable (see below).
*All thresholds exclude trims (e.g., zips & buttons)
Why make a claim about only 20% material?
We understand this may sound like a low number, however, we’d like to encourage evolving technologies to innovate further. Learn more below:
Innovative materials:
These are classified as small-scale disruptive technologies, such as material made from textile waste. These innovative materials or processes are emerging and exciting, but they need support in the form of investment and initial trials. By allowing a 20% threshold, we encourage the uptake of new fibers, whilst also helping to develop, scale and grow their level of readiness for more mainstream adoption.
Recycled Cotton:
Due to the nature of shredding fibers, some shortening of staple (fiber) length is unavoidable. Mechanically recycled cotton is a way of shredding down textiles to be reengineered into fibers again. This process can affect the overall quality and durability of the materials and therefore, the garment. This is why we use lower percentages to retain the products’ quality. Using mechanically recycled cotton may not be the perfect solution, but it’s a step in the right direction and Tommy Hilfiger wants to support this change to drive further progress in recycled fibers.
Tommy Hilfiger continued to significantly increase use of more sustainable materials, with over 67% of materials sustainably sourced globally in 2021.
Tommy Hilfiger requires that all sustainable materials have robust third-party certifications and documentation to support each claim. For innovative materials, we have thorough documentation to ensure all communications are accurate and valid.
WHEN IS A MATERIAL CONSIDERED MORE SUSTAINABLE?
Our materials strategy focuses on sourcing all materials — natural and synthetic based — with environmental and social considerations first. We use an annual global material mapping exercise to inform our strategy, track progress toward our goals and prioritize activities with the greatest impact. When designing our products, we prioritize the use of “more sustainable fibers” which have a lower environmental impact than conventional materials. PVH Corp., parent company of Tommy Hilfiger, uses Textile Exchange’s Preferred Fiber & Materials Matrix methodology, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Material Sustainability Index data, Fashion for Good’s technical insight and third party verified data to inform our global framework.
To learn more about the sustainable materials and progress on adoption, you can read about them in our CR Report here.
WHEN IS AN INNOVATION CONSIDERED MORE SUSTAINABLE?
Today, we see a constant flow of new materials and processes emerging with exciting solutions. At Tommy Hilfiger, we strive to invest in innovative technologies to make our products more sustainable. These new technologies need to be supported as they develop and scale their solutions. That means we might not have enough material to make a whole collection yet, or we are still actively working to improve the development of certain fibers so they meet the quality standards we expect. However, these innovations are crucial to create a more sustainable fashion industry, so we like to highlight when we test, pilot and transition them for use to support their growth.
Key sustainable product innovation focus areas:
- Innovative materials upcycled from waste (e.g., Infinna™ and CIRCULOSE®)
- Alternatives to virgin fossil fuel-based materials like PU (e.g., VEGEA and Desserto)
WHEN IS A PRODUCTION PROCESS CONSIDERED MORE SUSTAINABLE?
Like our sustainable materials, a sustainable production process takes environmental and social factors into account. Below are some examples of more sustainable processes we use:
- Water-based polyurethane (PU) combined with more sustainable backing
- Dyestuffs, pigments, and colorants that use less water, energy, or chemicals, with less environmental impact than conventional alternatives
- Leather that is derived from a Leather Working Group medal-rated tannery
Glossary
Learn more about the sustainable materials and processes we use below.
