Oberalp Group has recently held its 2023 yearly summit in Venice. While meeting its key clients and partners, the outdoor apparel, footwear and gear specialist offering brands like Salewa, Dynafit and LaMunt, has disclosed some of the novelties of its s/s 2024 collections.
It has also highlighted how the group aims to reach climate neutrality by 2030, while reducing its emissions ins in line with the Paris Agreement, as presented in its recently issued Sustainability Report 2022.
Other targets of the group include measuring its impact and reporting on their progress, while focusing on specific reduction targets.
Among its key ones, a most important step is to reduce its environmental impact and move from the old "take, make and dispose" model toward a circular business model.
Recycling is key
As part of this strategy, the group aims to offer 100% of its products including a percentage of recycled materials in the near future.
Some of its products have already achieved this target. Salewa’s iconic Sarner jacket, for instance, is a made in Italy jacket made with 100% recycled material from discarded woolen products.
The company is also focused on a series of upcycling projects like, for instance, creating products from production leftovers, reusing materials that would have otherwise gone to waste. Among them, Salewa and Dynafit smartphone insulators are made from leftover materials from the production of other products.
Will hemp save our lives?
The Salewa s/s 2024 Trekking collection, as presented during the company's summit, includes items made with a blend of Alpine Hemp and Sorona, a bio-based responsible polymer that offers natural performance with exceptional strength and high breathability combined with a unique texture.
This boot has an abrasion-resistant knitted nylon and rip stop polyester upper reinforced with an external toe cap and all-round protective rubber rand with a PFC-free waterproof and breathable Powertex membrane.
Designed according to a circular approach to manufacturing, the forefoot midsole uses recycled hemp fabric waste and virgin hemp and reduces the usage of virgin EVA, saving resources and offering a sustainable perspective, without making sacrifices on performance.
The same concept is applied to the sustainable shoelaces on this model, by combining 15% hemp with recycled polyester. This trekking boot bears the Salewa Committed icon and meets strict criteria for additional sustainability and environmentally-friendly manufacturing.
How recycled leathers keep you warm
Other materials made according to sustainability principles are used for LaMunt, a women's mountaineering apparel brand launched for s/s 2022.
The brand uses Remoca, the unique synthetic insulation padding made from recycled ski mountaineering skins and first introduced in the FW23/24 collection.
The lightweight insulation material has excellent technical performance and high thermal capacity and is made from the regenerated blend of Pomoca brand ski mountaineering skins (50%) combined with recycled polyester fibers (50%) for durability and extraordinary softness.
This particular material was developed in collaboration with Imbotex, a partner of LaMunt, a company founded in 1955 in northern Italy and a leader in natural, recycled and technical textile padding.
As early as the 1950s, Imbotex used industrial waste from the local textile industry to produce mattress padding.
In addition to the Remoca Pad, Imbotex also produces recycled cashmere for Lamunt's jacket padding.
This is a new and unique recycled insulation material produced using a process that minimizes energy expenditure, waste generation and water consumption. This allows the South Tyrolean brand to continue in its mission toward reduced environmental impact while using one of the natural materials most valuable in the fashion industry.
READ ALSO:
