FeatureBreitling’s Sustainability Initiatives For A Truly Super Ocean
Breitling recently conducted a summit in Dubai, where they introduced their latest initiatives in sustainability, including their new Outerknown NATO straps made of ECONYL® regenerated yarn—a sustainably-produced nylon. At the Summit, we had conversations with Breitling and their collaborating partners, Outerknown and Aquafil, and here’s what we discovered
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This year, the planet has been one of the biggest topics on social media, with chatter on protests against climate change, the melting icecaps, warnings against escalating levels of air pollution right here in India, and a whole lot more. The global conversation for the environment has also been a great deal about sustainability, and against the unlimited and mindless consumption that humankind indulges in. Plastic has been categorised among earth’s greatest enemies, and it’s begun to dawn on several industries that the use of plastic needs to reduce, if not stop altogether. The watch industry is slowly but surely taking notice. This year alone, several watch manufacturers have taken initiatives to not just direct resources towards the betterment of the planet, but also to demonstrate the use of sustainable materials and manufacturing processes.
Probably the biggest environmental threat that the watch industry is currently addressing, in its own way, is the pollution of our oceans, most of which comes from the improper disposal of plastic. Plastic in the ocean winds up gagging marine creatures or entering their stomachs, preventing real nourishment. With the destruction of the eco-system, and at the going rate, studies say that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by the year 2050. However, some suggest that even 2050 is rather optimistic. Among the watch brands that have taken steps towards recognising this concern, and acting accordingly, is Breitling.
The Breitling-Outerknown Collaboration
Between 2018 and now, Breitling have created two editions of their Superocean watches featuring NATO straps made by Outerknown, a company that creates and markets sustainably-produced apparel and accessories. Outerknown is the brainchild of renowned surfer Kelly Slater, who is in Breitling’s ‘surfer squad’ of ambassadors. As part of their efforts to streamline their product offerings, Breitling have categorised their watches into pillars of ‘air’, ‘land’ and ‘sea’. And to speak to a wider audience, the Swiss watch manufacturers have collaborated with professionals in various fields closely related to each of the three pillars. Kelly Slater is one of them. “When we decided to reposition the brand two years ago and decided to go with ‘air’, ‘land’ and ‘sea’, with sea, we were figuring out what we could do to protect the ocean, and we thought of Kelly Slater,” explains Tim Sayler, the chief marketing officer of Breitling. “Slater was very clear. He doesn’t do endorsements without sustainability and his own brand being in the mix. And via Kelly Slater, we got to Outerknown.” At this point, Breitling was also working with Ocean Conservancy, an environmental advocacy group. So when they got in touch with Slater and Outerknown, it was a natural fit for both. “Breitling wanted to do something with Kelly. Kelly has this sustainable clothing company. There was a great opportunity to do something,” explains Mark Walker, the CEO of Outerknown. “Outerknown had already done an entire collection of clothes that raised money for Ocean Conservancy. That’s how it originally started. We began talking about designing a watch together. Eventually, we felt it could be a series of watches that could be built over time.”
“We worked within the confines of existing models. With the first Superocean Heritage, the idea was to have an aesthetic influence on the colours,” Walker continues. “And then, in the new 2019 edition, we did the Breitling yellow on the seconds hand. In the design conversation with Kelly, he said he’d really like to do a green watch, green being his favourite colour.” That’s how the second Outerknown edition became green. And then there was the conversation about the sustainable element—the strap. “We said to Breitling that they were the experts in making watches, while we consider ourselves to be experts in preferred fibres and using recycled materials,” Walker elucidates. “So we said that the strap was an area where we could participate. And that’s when Outerknown introduced Breitling to ECONYL®.” ECONYL® is a special nylon yarn manufactured through the regeneration of synthetic materials such as plastic waste. Walker adds, “We said that it would be great if the launch could have a sustainable attribute. Instead of using rubber or metal, we thought of NATO. So the idea of making a NATO strap out of ECONYL® was something that Outerknown brought to the table.” The only manufacturer of ECONYL® is a company called Aquafil—a leader in research for new production models for sustainable development.
ECONYL® By Aquafil—How The Sustainable Nylon Is Made
“ECONYL® is made 100 percent with waste,” states Maria Giovanna Sandrini, the brand and corporate communication manager for Aquafil, who told us about how the miracle material is made. “We collect waste—such as fishing nets, old carpets, nylon and plastic components, fabric scraps—all made of nylon, from all around the world. We deal with two kinds of waste—pre-consumer (meaning industrial waste or unfinished products) or post-consumer waste (such as fishing nets and old carpets). After cleaning, it’s all sent to a regeneration chemical plant. Thanks to the chemical properties of nylon 6, it comes back to its original building blocks. It’s pure, it’s exactly like virgin material that comes from oil—there’s no difference. And afterwards, the process is exactly the same as producing nylon once again. Instead of using oil, we use waste as the raw material and we transform it.” Sandrini then explains the difference between regeneration and recycling. “The advantage of the process is that it can be done an infinite number of times without losing out on the quality or the performance of the nylon that we create,” she elaborates. “And this is great, because when you recycle—mechanically speaking—you can recycle once, or twice, but third time onwards, you downgrade the quality of the product. This is particularly important for the textile sector because they ask for yarn of very high quality to produce their fabrics.” What makes ECONYL® even more impressive is the fact that it is completely hypoallergenic and devoid of impurities. “After the chemical reaction takes place, the raw material is purified. For example, we feed the plant with waste of all colours, and what comes out is raw material that is transparent like water,” Sandrini assures. “All the additives that were in the material before are gotten rid of through this process. This is why the material is high in quality because there are no contaminants anymore.”
So this is how it works. Aquafil makes the ECONYL® yarn, which Outerknown have used in their collections and eventually for the NATO straps that Breitling uses in its Superocean watches. However, Superocean is just the beginning for these Outerknown ECONYL® straps. “It started a year ago, with the first Superocean Outerknown watch, and now we’ve expanded with a second watch, with an entire collection of NATO straps in different colours made from ECONYL®. These straps can be used on any Breitling watch, or any other watch for that matter,” Sayler informs. “It gives us the opportunity to support the story and also educate people.” The straps that Breitling and Outerknown have created are currently in six colourways, but the plan is to create many more. This is in part because there is an opportunity to cater to a market that’s increasingly demanding the aspect of interchangeability of straps in watches. “You can dress a watch up in so many ways, and the character of a watch changes completely by adding a different coloured strap. It’s something the consumer wants,” Sayler adds. The possibilities of creating straps go beyond the Superocean collection, as they are even considering customising the straps for other Breitling creations, and maybe even for individual customers. “We’ve already seen the reaction to the first watch and the ECONYL® story, and it’s really picking up a lot. And we are very proud that we are the first watch brand to make ECONYL® straps.” Sayler expands, “There’s a lot more potential and interest to develop more ideas. A huge topic for consumers in any industry, especially in luxury and watches, is personalisation and customisation. We’re working on projects in this area for the watch itself. On straps, we don’t have any concrete project yet in the pipeline, but of course, it could be another way in which you can personalise it further, with your initials, and so on.”
In case you have any queries on the Superocean Outerknown 2019 edition, or these Outerknown NATO straps, please drop us a message in the comments section below
The Bigger Picture, The Bigger Problem
Sayler also says that these straps are a perfect answer in a lot of ways. “Today, consumers also want to know how a brand engages with sustainability,” he declares. However, at the same time, the brand does realise that marketing watch straps made from ECONYL® is not going to solve the plastic problem. “Our biggest contribution really is education and generating broad awareness. We know that these watch straps will not eliminate waste,” Sayler acknowledges. “But with them, we have found a voice to raise awareness, and showcase an example of circular economy.” In fact, it’s partnerships with brands boasting a global presence, such as Breitling, that give a company such as Outerknown the audience they need to spread the good word. “We are trying to use these relationships to really get the message out there,” says Walker. “Nobody in this audience here would know what Aquafil or ECONYL® is, but because of our relationship with Breitling, 250 people in Dubai got an education, not just about Outerknown, but also about this company that’s taking carpets and fishing nets and turning it all into sustainably produced, high-quality nylon.” Spreading the word extends even to welcoming others to use the sustainably-produced material, to expand the good it can do for our planet. “There’s another big term in the sustainability world called ‘open sourcing’. It’s almost the ‘anti-Apple’. The old way of doing business was proprietary information. Like: ‘Oh wow, we’ve created something amazing and we’re going to keep it tucked away, and we don’t want anyone to have this secret recipe’,” Walker expresses. “Open sourcing is when we acknowledge that ECONYL® is one of the most innovative and greatest new inventions in preferred fibres, which everyone should use. Since we were the first brand to use ECONYL® back in 2015, we could have signed them on to supply exclusively to us. But we pride ourselves in the fact that we helped them get started and a lot of people saw that and felt inclined to use ECONYL® for their own brands.”
Take a look at how ghost fishing nets that Aquafil uses to manufacture ECONYL® are retrieved from the ocean by Healthy Seas, a non-profit organisation that works with volunteer divers to clean the seas of marine litter:
Accepting Sustainability
Even Aquafil’s Sandrini acknowledges how ECONYL® is now on the radar of several brands. It helps that ECONYL’s® polymers and yarns can be used for a variety of products, including carpet—rugs and flooring. “We’ve collaborated with some designers who have made small tables, chairs, the frames of sunglasses—all with the ECONYL® polymer,” Sandrini informs. Further to that, ECONYL® can be used extensively in the fashion industry. “Outerknown is using ECONYL® for some of their jackets.” Sandrini reveals, “Prada recently launched a collection of bags, backpacks, wallets and so on. But the very interesting news is that they’re going to commit that by 2021, all their nylon will be ECONYL®. They use nylon not only for bags but also for their jackets and other garments. Stella McCartney also mentioned on her website in the material descriptions that everything that is nylon will switch to ECONYL®.” Sandrini does attribute this acceptance of ECONYL® to their work with brands such as Breitling. “Luxury brands have been around forever, and they have a very set way of doing things. They’re very hard to convince because they don’t go for regenerated or recycled materials as they consider them as second-rate materials, which they are not,” she declares. “At the beginning, it was difficult to make them implement sustainability as a concept to be included in their products and practices. So a partnership with a luxury brand like Breitling is very encouraging.”
Accepting The Dire Need For Sustainability
It is definitely an encouraging development to see the luxury and fashion industry as a whole waking up to what the planet needs. “The reality is that in the textile world—clothes and shoes—50mn tonnes of waste goes into the landfills every year. That’s a dump truck every second,” Walker says, and then he counts from one to five. “There, five dump trucks just unloaded somewhere on the planet in those five seconds. That’s the rate of consumption and the waste that we’re creating. You know there’s an estimated 640,000 tonnes of ghost nets floating around the ocean that are just abandoned by fishermen. We tell people these things and hope that they begin to start thinking about not using plastic that isn’t recyclable. I mean it really does come down to education, even if it means taking the negative route—scaring them and making them feel like they have to do it. Whatever it takes! We’re in trouble.”
Even though Breitling are only scratching at the surface with the sustainably produced straps, they are trying to reach more people and touch upon other areas where they can make an impact. Sayler informs that they are in the process of developing packaging that uses ECONYL®, and has been designed to be collapsible, which helps reduce the impact that shipping these goods globally has on the environment. Reducing their carbon footprint, efforts such as limiting official travel of employees to the necessities, are those that Breitling are consciously making. And they continue to work with Outerknown and Kelly Slater, who would love for parts beyond the straps of the Outerknown edition watches to be made factoring in sustainability. As Breitling and Outerknown are already talking about what they’ll do for next year’s edition, there’s probably scope for a lot more. However, what’s encouraging is that there has been an awakening and a growth of awareness. Every drop makes the ocean, and Breitling are doing what they can, one strap at a time.
In case you have any queries on the Superocean Outerknown 2019 edition, or the Outerknown NATO straps, please drop us a message in the comments section below
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Breitling Superocean Heritage
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Breitling Superocean Heritage
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