In a supply chain ecosystem driven by high consumer demand not only for sustainability, but also traceability, the story of how a product is made has become just as important as what it is made of.
ORTA takes pride in its deep roots in transparent innovation, with the goal to radically reduce the denim industry’s environmental footprint. But now, to further deepen its ORTA BLU sustainable commitment to ethical, open, transparent and eco-conscious innovation, the denim manufacturer has introduced an industry-leading impact platform called the “New Denim Route.”
Transparency is in ORTA’s genes, and jeans. The New Denim Route brings artisan mastery into the eco-innovation of today. It is an open supplier map and resource to share ORTA’s developments in ethical and eco-innovation based on the three T’s of its Transparency ecosystem: Transparency, Traceability and Touch (Human Touch).
Transparency: ORTA has always been transparent inside and outside, and it is continuing to implement new processes to achieve this. For years, ORTA has partnered with key stakeholders, welcomed clients to stay with on-site at its world-leading factory in Kayseri, Turkey, with 24/7 access to details involving the production of their denim fabric. With the New Denim Route, ORTA will continue to lead in openness and sharing of resources, knowledge and information, on all processes and breakthrough eco-technologies.
Traceability: ORTA’s ethical roots in circularity and transparency are pushing new levels of engagement from farm harvest to fashion purchase. In performing Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies, ORTA can bring the intel of your denim’s lifecycle in each garment. Each material produced shares raw material supplier information and science-based LCA data related to it, accessible by QR code. ORTA is even collaborating with new traceability systems that use nanotechnology and blockchain to trace fibers from the farm throughout the full product lifecycle.
Touch: ORTA’s accountability includes the third T, for human touch. The company continues to engage every member of the ORTA family to contribute to the overall sustainability journey. For example, the manufacturer is investing in real-time transparency, so that team members from the Kayseri factory, headquarters in Istanbul, as well as those still working from home, can share their stories and experience. The aim is to give everyone the opportunity to share their voice and contribute to the transparent pledge: ORTA IS ALWAYS OPEN.
Why the New Denim Route fosters transparency and collaboration
The idea for the New Denim Route was born from respect for the manufacturer’s roots. ORTA’s home, Anatolia, Turkey, has been the bridge between the East and the West trading routes, part of the original Silk Road that opened the world to the trade of goods and services in the 19th century.
The company aims to open a new level of trade, craftsmanship and cultural exchange for the 21st century through its New Denim Route. Kayseri, the heart of ORTA’s manufacturing today, serves as the hub for the route. ORTA Kayseri continues to be the hub for the exchange of ideas, innovation, artisan wisdom and crafting, the creative development hub between design, manufacturing, production and sustainable innovation.
Dr. Sedef Uncu Aki, who leads ORTA’s denim sales and marketing, product development, R&D, planning and operations, said that it is difficult for designers to collaborate to fix problems if they don’t know where their denim is being made. In Aki’s eyes, that means ORTA must leverage the tools it has to be open to questions, more transparency and more collaboration.
“Circularity, local sourcing and ethical manufacturing are all part of our eco-modern handprint. By opening the doors to our R&D and factory, we are opening the heart of our production and we are the first B2B denim company in the world to do this,” Aki explained. “We have always opened our doors to our customers, but now we are becoming more transparent by opening up our supplier map and our handprint to our brand partners, designers and people everywhere can get first-hand knowledge about how we are creating ethical denim for the future. Ultimately, it helps us connect with each other and encourage more eco-imaginations to improve our sustainability practices, and ensure denim’s future together.”
In addition to supporting the company’s commitment to open transparency and traceability, ORTA’s New Denim Route is about fostering creativity without restrictions. Committed to supporting the next generation of designers, ORTA PRIME is a new premiere membership program that gives designers and design students the freedom to order sustainable and premium quality fabrics with a low minimum order of just five meters.
Bottom line: ORTA’s New Denim Route is about supporting artisan mastery and elevating eco-innovation for a more open, ethical and eco-modern denim future.
“For ORTA, transparency leads to accountability. Accountability leads to transformation and a handprint in contributing to net-positive future for people and the planet—a transparency pledge that ORTA IS ALWAYS OPEN,” Aki asserted.
Learn more about ORTA’s New Denim Route, a supplier and resource platform for everyone who loves denim. ORTA opens its processes, traceability and production so we together, can create a more open, ethical and eco-modern future. Learn more at Ortablu.org/transparency and discover ORTA’S New Denim Route on YouTube.
The ORTA BLU sustainability platform aims to create a future where denim is designed, produced, consumed and disposed of in radically different ways. Learn more at http://www.ortablu.org/.