On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Ispo Munich, the trade fair is not looking back: this summer, for the first time, a separate sustainability summit will be held. The obligatory press conference of Ispo Munich this time went quite differently than expected. Instead of a review of the achievements of the past 50 years, there was an emotional speech by the American astronaut Ron Garan. The message: We must intensify our efforts to do everything necessary to protect people, the earth and nature from the consequences of climate change.
The outdoor industry has been considered a pioneer in the field of sustainability for years. Brands such as Patagonia, Vaude and Houdini are doing pioneering work and motivating more and more brands to follow their example. Never before have so many competitors worked together in workshops on new solutions for sustainable production! To support this development, Messe München is introducing a new conference format on June 29, 2020, parallel to OutDoor by Ispo: The Ispo SDG Summit. The abbreviation SDG stands for the 17 Social Development Goals of the United Nations, which are intended to ensure sustainable development on an economic, social and ecological level worldwide. The aim is to develop solutions and joint projects that contribute to the various sustainability goals.
There were many highlights in the field of sustainability at the fair. One focus of the innovations was on recycling, which has developed from the PET bottle to a holistic concept. One example was the outdoor brand Bergans of Norway, which presented a new backpack project. With the co-owner approach, Bergans integrates the consumer and gives him or her the right to have the backpack recycled after the use phase and to receive a new product made from the material. The product is made of Spinnova fiber and is completely recyclable. A technical innovation was presented by the French action sports brand Picture Organic Clothing. Picture developed a three-layer, waterproof jacket with the novel membrane Xpore from BenQ. Xpore membrane only contains Carbon and Hydrogen and won’t produce any harmful chemicals or gases during thermal treatment for recycling. Also the production process is completely solvent free since Xpore use mechanical stretching not chemicals. The outer fabric of another jacket from Picture consists of a bio-based polyester and can also be recycled.
From Norway the company Pure Waste presented a basic sportswear collection completely made of recycled materials, namely 60% recycled cotton and 40% recycled polyester. The fibers are obtained from industrial waste and spun into new yarns in the company's own spinning mill in India. For the first time, the integration of post-consumer waste has also been successful, with a share of 20%. Pure Waste sells finished garments as well as fabrics and yarns and also works with partners to develop local recycling solutions for textile post-consumer waste. Fjällräven presented its famous Kanken backpack made from recycled wool.
In addition, however, many segments were still relatively unaffected by sustainable progress. In the ski segment, for example, bright colors and shiny metallic coatings were among the fashion highlights. After all, Bogner proclaimed not using furs since this year, but fur is still part of the range for other brands.
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