Putting Cotton at the Heart of a Fashion Sustainability Story

SHASA—a Latin American fashion brand—is committed to using natural fibers like cotton as part of their sustainability efforts. Their campaign, “The Future Is In Your Hands,” helps customers easily identify sustainably made products within their brand and understand the importance of sustainability. Hangtags in stores and special search functions within SHASA’s website also highlight products made with cotton.

Other searchable elements in SHASA’s “The Future Is In Your Hands” initiative include:

Made with Natural Fibers
Made with Recycled Materials
Made to be Reused
Made with Sustainable Processes
Cruelty Free Beauty Products

As a natural, renewable fiber, cotton is an integral part of SHASA’s sustainability commitments. Read our Q&A with SHASA to learn more about their company and how they’re using cotton’s sustainability story to support and amplify their own.

Q. Why did SHASA decide to become a Cotton LEADS℠ partner?

A. We always try to work under the best practices, and the Cotton LEADS program is perfectly aligned as a product-focused program that helps us ensure our sustainability goals. With cotton garments made from natural fibers we can foster sustainability and at the same time guarantee our customers a product of the best quality.

Q. How does the Cotton LEADS partnership advance SHASA’s sustainability goals?

A. Cotton products have become an important part of our product base within the “The Future Is In Your Hands” collection. Being a partner, the Cotton LEADS program provides an environmentally friendly commitment to our clients. Working with Cotton LEADS, together we promote an industry that takes care of the planet and its resources.

Q. What are SHASA’s sustainability initiatives, and why is sustainability so important to your company? Tell us about “The Future Is In Your Hands” and how it plays a role.

A. Being a conscious and responsible brand is in our DNA. We always look to do the best for our community, and we transmit our values through our different initiatives. With the “Future Is In Your Hands” project, we identify the good, sustainable practices throughout our value chain and set viable objectives to preserve our resources. We innovate when creating each of our collections in this project, taking careful note of the impact on the environment.

Our sustainability initiatives are far-reaching, and we’ve pursued many different avenues to improve the carbon footprint that our company makes. In the last 2 years, our efforts have included:

100% LED lighting in stores
Non-toxic, environmentally compliant for store construction
FSC-certified paper bags (no plastic)
Reusing more than 52,000 cardboard boxes
Recycling more than 5.5 tons of plastic hooks
Tree seeding programs to reduce carbon footprint
Biodegradable ecommerce mailing bags

Q. Why is sustainably produced cotton an important part of your sustainability story? What inspired your shift towards a cotton product line

A. We are always trying to offer our clients a product with the best quality. As a leading fashion brand, we live in a permanent search to find new opportunities, and we know that conscious consumption is a positive trend today which has been very well accepted within SHASA.

Q. What do your customers know about sustainability? What do you want them to know?

A. Our community is more informed and more demanding about sustainability every day. It is very important for us to be sincere and honest with our community and let them know the origin of our products. The way we take care of our communities and the different ways we help improve the impact on our planet is also a very remarkable factor.

Q. How have consumers responded to your sustainability initiatives? Have they shown an interest in sustainably sourced cotton?

A. Gradually the interest in these products is becoming more present—of course it goes hand in hand with the information that is included in our stores, hang tags and web and social media content. In general, our sustainability initiatives have had wonderful acceptance, and we are convinced that this collection and the entire project will continue growing.

Q. Are your sustainably sourced cotton products more expensive than synthetic products? How well do they sell in comparison?

A. As a fundamental part of our culture and business model, we always look for an irresistible price to offer alongside incredible products. Nowadays, our clients love a wider choice in price and style, which we reflect in this initiative and different collections. For this reason, “The Future Is In Your Hands” has been successful, and we will continue to promote this type of initiative.

Q. Do you have an end-of-life plan for your sustainably sourced cotton products?

A. Unfortunately, recycling post-consumer still doesn’t have many opportunities in Mexico and the rest of the world. That is the reason why, for now, we only work on collection campaigns and garments’ second life, as well as useful content to reuse or redesign your clothes.

Q. How has working with Cotton Inc. and the Cotton LEADS program helped you tell SHASA’s story?

A. Undoubtedly, these alliances have helped us provide products and communicate about these products and sustainability with our community more clearly.

Q. What would you say to other companies who are considering becoming a Cotton LEADS partner?

A. We are very happy to be part of Cotton LEADS program, which has helped us to be more aware and communicate our incredible products that are also friendly to our natural environment to our consumers. We are glad to invite more companies to join this type of program.

Year after year in SHASA we work to improve processes along our value chain that help us reduce our impact on the environment. These improvements range from recycling supplies, the careful selection of materials with which our stores are built, initiatives for the donation of trees, and of course the creation of thousands of products that involve sustainable processes. At the end of 2021, SHASA had more than 500,000 products under “The Future Is In Your Hands” concept.

This way we take care of our community and collaborators through programs dedicated to spread our values, and we promote those initiatives that can supply to other communities what they need.

Adopting a product line with a natural, sustainable fiber has been an essential element to SHASA’s sustainability story. Having a partner in Cotton LEADS to help them communicate the importance of sustainable fabrics production and the many ways that cotton continues to become a more efficient and environmentally sustainable crop, has been an essential element to helping SHASA engage and empower customers in their “The Future Is In Your Hands” campaign. Consider becoming a Cotton LEADS partner today.