Popular direct-to-consumer fashion brand Rothy’s, has partnered with French spring water brand Evian on a tennis collection made from upcycled Evian water bottles.
With water bottles collected from last year’s U.S. Open, the newest Rothy’s collection celebrates tennis with recycled materials.
“Inspired by the staggering amount of waste our founders saw in other footwear manufacturing, Rothy’s was founded with the goal of creating something better: better materials, better production, better product,” Saskia van Gendt, Rothy’s Head of Sustainability, said in a statement.
“We have built a sustainable business from the ground up, including an owned and operated Rothy’s factory, where every single Rothy’s product is made,” said van Gendt. “We are excited to collaborate with Evian to showcase Rothy’s transformative capabilities and prove that through innovation we find new uses for single use plastic.”
Rothy’s x Evian
The seven piece capsule collection includes slip-ons and sneakers, caps and visors, a racket bag, sling, and a duffle bag.
According to Rothy’s, the U.S. Open generates nearly ten tons of plastic. In 2021, the California-based brand collected the equivalent of approximately 72,000 Evian water bottles. The Evian bottles were blended with other recycled plastic bottles into a washable thread used as the base for each of the items.
The launch comes as Rothy’s and Evian announced plans to be circular by 2023 and 2025 respectively. Rothy’s is already working to close the loop on its production. It claims to be nearly waste-free. Last year, it announced a shoe recycling technology to help hit its 2023 circularity target. That tech allows it to use twice-recycled materials in the development of new items. The company is on track to reach carbon neutrality by 2023 as well.
Claiming to be a sustainable brand is difficult for companies in the single-use plastic bottle business. But Evian is making strides. The company is certified carbon neutral, and all of its water bottles are fully recyclable. It’s natural spring water 1.5L bottles in the US are made from 100 percent rPET2. For the last 25 years, the French Alps water company has been working on regional conservation efforts. As a Danone brand—Danone North America is a certified B Corporation—it’s also invested in the company’s One Planet. One Health vision.
“Our pioneering spirit drives the Evian brand to find revolutionary and sustainable ways to help limit packaging waste and promote recycling,” said Leeni Hämäläinen, Marketing Director at Evian North America.
“This partnership has allowed us further our circular commitment and truly give our product a second life together with the sustainability fashion leaders at Rothy’s. Collectively, we’re inspired by the sport of tennis, and after an exciting journey together over the past year, we are thrilled to introduce this one-of-a-kind collection to the world.”
The future of tennis
The new collection comes on the heels of a FiveThirtyEight report that found the future of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments is in jeopardy if climate change isn’t slowed. Plastic, a byproduct of fossil fuels, is deeply tied to the changing climate. It’s also polluting oceans, which makes them less capable of sequestering carbon. And ocean plastic threatens wildlife and jeopardizes the food chain, among other issues.
“At Wimbledon, the groundskeeping crew will have to work extra hard to keep the lawns lush and tidy as it could feel like 102 degrees in London in 2050. But that might feel like a reprieve compared with the 2050 U.S. Open in New York, where the heat index could rise to 145 degrees,” Jonathon Braden wrote for FiveThirtyEight.
“At the 2050 French Open in Paris, players could experience a heat index of 113 degrees, with the temperature potentially reaching 90,” Braden says.
The tennis industry is taking action. As of 2019, the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments joined the Sports for Climate Action Framework.
“In the face of the climate crisis urgency, we must combine our strengths and generate peer-pressure with other events – especially the four Grand Slams, including athletes, partners, and all of our stakeholders”, said France’s Roland Garros President Bernard Giudicelli.
“The USTA is proud to support the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework and become an international voice for environmental responsibility,” said Gordon Smith, USTA CEO and executive director. “Tennis is truly a global sport and we are looking forward to using the U.S. Open as a platform to promote the important principles set forth in the Framework.”
The Rothy’s x Evian capsule collection is available starting today for a limited time, exclusively at Rothys.com and Rothy’s New York City store locations.
Read about the compostable menswear collection at Gomorrah.
