According to a study by McKinsey, the fashion industry produces around 100 billion garments each year — enough for every person on Earth to buy more than one new garment per month. And for every five garments produced, three of them will end up in a landfill or an incinerator only twelve months later. The fashion industry must pivot, or else we all will bear the full consequences of ignoring this environmental impact when shopping.
Arc’teryx is making this pivot on its own, and the brand is releasing a customer-facing platform to educate and ensure full transparency in its sustainable efforts.
Enter ReBird, an all-in-one hub housing Arc’teryx’s latest initiatives in upcycling, resale, care, and repair. Arc’teryx is even offering a three-step guide to elaborate on how ReBird will transform waste. To start, they’re focusing on building materials saved from waste; upcycling both pre-consumer waste and excess raw materials, as well as upcycling post-consumer materials worn beyond repair into limited edition ReBird Products.
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Next is making sure they keep good gear in circulation, as Arc’teryx will continue to bolster trade-in programs in Canada and the U.S. to incentivize recycling worn beyond repair garments. Opportunities like offering discounts and credit to new Arc’teryx gear are examples of such incentives. Their used gear program — established in 2019 — will continue to grow and transform too, so more consumers may benefit from the marketplace in the future.
And third, Arc’teryx will continue cultivating a culture that cares to make products last. Everything from how the gear is made to forming future partnerships will reflect Arc’s intent of making garments that will hold up for years to come.
ReBird Products
Arc’teryx will be dropping limited-edition, custom offerings through the ReBird initiative. They describe them as “unicorns,” with each release coming regionally and in small batches. ReBird products guarantee the same high-end quality and durability just like any other Arc’teryx piece.
We’ll be the first to tell you ReBird products are incredibly awesome. How do we know? Well, we got a look at a few of the initial ReBird releases. Check them out!
ReBird Pouch & Tote
Arc’teryx is creating this unique pouch and tote ReBird release from upcycled materials originally collected at their Arc’ONE facility in New Westminster, BC. This facility is their headquarters for collecting gear and materials deemed well beyond repair. What’s cool is that Arc’teryx has discovered a single warrantied GORE-TEX jacket,once , can be re-engineered into two upcycled pouches and one tote — as shown above.
ReBird Stowe Windshell
Perhaps the crown jewel of the first release of ReBird products is the Stowe Windshell jacket. It’s made with upcycled material sourced from end-of-roll fabric originally used for their bestselling Squamish Hoody Windshell. For men, colorways consist of Ash Black, Black Labyrinth, and an Olive Amber Crytochrome (pictured above). For women, Ash Crytochrome, Black Labyrinth, and a unique Levitas Labyrinth (pictured above).
While 100 billion garments seems like a number that won’t be drastically decreasing any time soon, think again. When companies join with consumers in sustainability efforts, big things happen. Arc’teryx knows this, and they’re making sure we can acquire quality gear that champions planetary care.
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