16.2.2022
Nothing new since 2003, but what does it mean?
Since its foundation in 2003, Globe Hope's approach has always been to save existing materials from disposal and utilize them resource-efficiently, either as an upcycled product or a sub-component of another product. But what does it mean in practice?
From discarded material to sustainable design product
Our catchy slogan might be a bit exaggerated, but it effectively captures the essence of everything we do. Around 95% of the total amount of materials in our products is recycled. The remaining 5% includes new materials we use, such as zippers, metal parts for bags, reflective fabric, and other parts that for quality reasons we have to buy new for the time being. The slogan describes our business well in that we don't just use recycled materials in only some of our products, but in everything we do.
"The design of each product and collection starts with available recycled materials and the opportunities they offer. Materials also have a significant impact on production volumes. If we run out of materials, we run out of product availability," tells Karoliina Halsti-Ndiaye, Production Controller at Globe Hope.
Where did the idea of using textile waste come from?
Back in the 90s, Seija Lukkala, the founder of Globe Hope, was running another clothing company. The company produced high-quality women's jackets in Finland. At the time, quality and domesticity were valued and even taken for granted when making a purchasing decision. Consumers were willing to pay a reasonable price for a jacket that took time and professional skills to produce.
At the turn of the millennium, however, fast fashion began to spread to Finland, as it did to the rest of Europe, and Finnish consumers began to question the price of the clothing. The fast-fashion chains' offerings were compared to domestic products only in terms of price, and quality and sustainability were no longer valued in the same way. Consumers bought new clothes cheaply and frequently, which also led to a radical increase in the amount of non-recyclable textile waste.
"The increasing consumption and the amount of textile waste gave me world-weariness and made me wonder what I could do about it. That's when I got the idea to keep textile waste in circulation as an upcycled product. I wanted to make high-quality design products that would not only be an investment for textile waste but would also offer a responsible alternative to products that waste new resources every time they are made," Seija recalls.
This is when Globe Hope was born, and in 2003 the first concept collection of the brand was presented at the Vateva fair in Helsinki. The first launched product was a purse made of the Nokia rubber boot.
Where do materials come from and how do we use them?
Although our warehouse in Nummela is quite large, unfortunately, we cannot save all the textile waste in the world - not even in Finland. At the moment, we use materials that are available in quantities sufficient for at least a small production series. These materials can be textile waste from companies, such as workwear or advertising banners. In our consumer items, we use defective, so-called "2-rate" batches of materials or surplus pieces and deadstock.
We sometimes save larger batches of material from destruction. For example, all of our "peatwool" beanies and accessories are made from the deadstock of a Finnish textile company called Kultaturve. The peat yarns were threatened with incineration after the company stopped operating, so we salvaged a large batch of yarns for our warehouse. From that batch, we will be weaving our popular vegan beanies for a long time to come.
One of Globe Hope's best-known materials is the seat belt. Originally, we made our seat belt bags only from used seatbelts from car dismantlers. As demand has grown, we have also established a relationship with a European seat belt manufacturer from whom we occasionally buy a batch of 2 quality seat belts. These seat belts never served their original purpose due to manufacturing defects, but they make excellent bags and accessories. This co-operation allows for slightly higher production volumes, but also that source of the material is quite limited. As a result, our seatbelt bags are quite exclusive and limited.
Not all textile waste can be used as such in an upcycled product. For example, some of the textile waste may be worn out or dirty and it may not be smart to reuse it as a fabric. In this case, the material can be utilized as a subcomponent in another product. The fabric can be torn into smaller shreds or fibers and used as filling, cushioning, or even a filtering material. The padding made from corporate textile waste is used, for example, in our yoga collection items.
Are recycled materials always sustainable and do we know their origin?
Globe Hope's core idea is that any material that has already been produced should be upcycled or recycled for as long as possible. No matter what the material is, or where it was originally produced, we want to give it another chance instead of throwing it away.
Our clothing collection is made from 100% recycled yarn, consisting of cotton cutting waste and recycled plastic bottles. This material, like the entire garment production process, is GRS certified and traceable. This way we can be sure that the cotton and the plastic bottles are truly recycled.
The materials we use in our bags are mainly from Finnish suppliers. Exceptions are the military leftovers, and the surplus belts, which come from Europe. We can verify the origin and composition of some of the materials, but the country of manufacture of some of the fabrics we can no longer tell at this stage in the cycle. Still, we will give the material a chance to shine in a design product for years to come.
Read more about our recycled materials and production
Read how companies can responsibly recycle their textile waste