The Problem with the Past System

Starting around the 20th century, the world began using GDP, Gross Domestic Product, as a measure of a country’s success. All eyes were on financial targets and using this metric of financial growth as the measure for how well a country was doing. However, several factors have caused a shift in how success is measured or at least a shift in the conversation around success. Globalisation and human and economic development have revealed increasing inequality, environmental crisis, labour concerns, and the unsustainability of a country’s growth. The sole focus of simply growing the economic pie to be as big as it possibly can led to breakdowns in what humans and the planet actually need to survive and to live humanely. This marks the rise in questioning what the goals should look like as a country develops and what are more accurate markers toward a more sustainable (in both senses of the word) and healthy society.

What is the Wellbeing economy?

Reevaluating the global economy has led to several new definitions of success, progress, and development. This widening of parameters from GDP has come to include other elements, such as: quality of life, wellbeing, health, environmental sustainability. These concepts are then being leveraged to shape frameworks and policies to be used at all levels of operation in organisations and governments.

?The Wellbeing economy is one of the new economic models proposed that prioritises environmental and human well being over purely financial aims. The UN General Assembly developed the global action plan under the guidance of a wellbeing economy that has taken the form of the Sustainable Development Goals (DSGs) for the years 2015-2030. The new focus is clear: natural, social, and human capital are contributions towards a collective wellbeing as measured by progress in 17 significant societal issues linked to quantifiable economic, social, and environmental goals.

The New Operating Framework

While greater detail can be found in the UN’s resources, the 17 sustainable development goals are as follows: no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, life on land, peace, justice and strong institutions, partnerships for the goals. The Wellbeing economy is an interdisciplinary approach that in essence looks at underlying causes and connections to problems so as to address the root problem from where it starts to where it is perpetuated to where it ends up.

The Wellbeing economy connects intimately with the fashion industries' growing orientation towards transparency, circularity, reduction of waste, regeneration farming, biodegradability, ending forever waste, safe labour conditions, fair pay, and reevaluating processes along the entire supply chain based on environmental impact.?

How Denim Privé and Kassim Denim Play a Role in the Wellbeing Economy

Juggling these 17 goals can be overwhelming but sustainable brands like Denim Privé and Kassim Denim track all possible elements of their business to make sure these Wellbeing economy standards are being met and improved upon every year.?

By taking a closer look at resource usage like land and materials these abstract goals come to life. “Goal 15 is about conserving life on land. It is to protect and restore terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and stop biodiversity loss.” While there can be some overlap to the metrics that meet different goals, Goal 15 pulls at a lot of different elements that Denim Privé and the fashion industry is working towards. For example, Denim Privé works to stop land degradation and manage forests sustainably by choosing to source from farms that apply regenerative farming practices. This means that even if it is more effort, farmers are treating the land to last not just to produce in the short term. In 2023, Denim Privé sourced 86% of their cotton from the farmers at the Better Cotton Initiative. In addition to improving how the land is treated and being intentional about sourced materials is a focus on recyclability. A big push was made by Denim Privé in 2023 to drive what polyester they did use into a higher percentage of recycled polyester. This resulted in 32% of polyester consisting of recycled polyester as opposed to the 6 to 8% of recycled polyester used in previous years. Denim Privé has responded directly to concerns over forest management by planting and maintaining 5,000 trees of native species on 11 acres of land in Pakistan. They have been getting bigger each year and there are plans to expand in 2026.

This is only scratching the surface, but feel free to pull up the sustainable development goals and run through business models and sustainability reports to see how much fashion brands are tracking along. The Wellbeing Economy isn’t just a philosophical question of what the world should consider valuable, it also has measurable, real ways of getting there. It’s not all a guessing game and you can see for yourself.

See the Wellbeing Economy in Action at At Kingpins 2024

Sometimes the details of how to achieve these lofty wellbeing goals gets lost in the paperwork. Kingpins is an opportunity for denim producers and enthusiasts to gather and connect the abstract ideas and far away production to a physical, tangible showcase of the innovative processes, the sustainability progress, the connection we all have that has turned the world from an us versus them to an all of us, collaborative reality. The fashion section will cover in greater detail how the collaboration between Simply Suzette and Denim Privé was an embodiment of the care put into the role denim producers play in building a wellbeing economy. The collection is biodegradable because of the complete reliance on natural and compostable fabric and materials. Even the trims don’t include plastic waste, excess of chemicals, or petrochemical materials. Check out what the Wellbeing Economy looks like at the Denim Privé Kingpins booth in April 2024 in Amsterdam.