Canopy Signs On First Chinese Partners

Jennifer Bringle
·2 min read

Environmental nonprofit Canopy welcomed the first Chinese members of its CanopyStyle and Pack4Good initiatives this month. Ellassay Group—which produces six fashion brands, including Ed Hardy—joined sports apparel maker Engine Bird and sock company Happywool in pledging to work with Canopy to protect ancient and endangered forests.

“We are so pleased to welcome these forward-thinking Chinese fashion companies to the CanopyStyle family in this Lunar Year of the Wood Dragon,” said Nicole Rycroft, founder and executive director, Canopy. “The Wood Dragon represents vitality and creativity, success, energy and drive—all key attributes needed to help save forests, species, and our climate. We applaud their leadership as we welcome in the new year.”

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Through the CanopyStyle program, apparel makers work with the nonprofit to find sources of cellulose for fabrics such as viscose, rayon, lyocell and modal that don’t threaten vital forest ecosystems. Canopy has more than 550 brand partners for the initiative, including Stella McCartney, LVMH, Ralph Lauren and Uniqlo.

Canopy’s Pack4Good initiative aims to reduce deforestation due to production of packing materials by partnering with fashion brands to rethink the way they source packaging. Through this partnership, these companies incorporate sustainable packaging alternatives including recycled paper and pulp and agricultural waste, as well as FSC-certified paper products. The program also encourages companies to rethink their packaging to reduce the amount of paper and paper products used. More than 400 companies have signed on to the Pack4Good initiative, thus far.

According to Canopy, manmade cellulosic fiber (MMCF)-based fabrics and paper packaging accounts for more than 3.4 billion trees being logged each year. In December, Canopy released its annual Hot Button Report, which ranked the sustainability credentials of major players in MMCF production. Indian manufacturer Aditya Birla Group’s Birla Cellulose—which is the world’s 2nd-largest sustainably produced MMCF brand—ranked No. 1 on the list.

Last spring, Canopy received $60 million in funding to advance programs such as CanopyStyle and Pack4Good via The Audacious Project, a funding collaborative housed at TED, the nonprofit that runs TED Talks.

The addition of these Chinese brands to Canopy’s stable of partners comes at a time when China’s government is working to bring more sustainability to the MMCF supply chain. According to Canopy, the government is pushing to accelerate the adoption of circular feedstocks for viscose textile production, with strong regulatory, supply and market access incentives.

Alan Xia, founder and chairman of Ellassay Group, said the collaboration with Canopy not only fits these overall goals of China’s government, but also the company’s own commitment to a more sustainable operation.

“This new collaboration is perfectly aligned with one of our pillars of protecting biodiversity and reducing our impact on nature,” he said. “We recognized that there is still a long way to go and aim to continue to be a precursor among leading fashion groups in China with regard to their sustainability journey.”