Kindly's Sugarcane-Based Bra Cups Are Coming to Walmart

With roughly 11.3 billion tons of textiles headed for the landfill each year, it's no surprise that Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, star of the first-ever edition of Vogue Scandinavia this week, is using the cover to highlight the fashion industry's waste problem. And while brands like made-to-order jeans company Unspun and resale platforms thredUP and Trove are working to reshape those systems and divert as much as possible from the landfill by reducing waste and popularizing resale, solving what to do with used intimates gets a little more complicated. Intimates manufacturer Gelmart hopes to solve that problem with Kindly, an underwear brand that aims to offer affordable, comfortable, inclusive and sustainable undergarments to consumers through a partnership with Walmart. The new line of bras and underwear is available online at Walmart.com and in Walmart stores starting today in classic, wireless and bralette-style bras and three-packs of underwear that top out at around $14. Kindly's not claiming to revolutionize the intimates industry in a heartbeat, opting instead of a path of incremental change that prioritizes accessibility and size diversity alongside environmental concerns. And while some experts are applauding its efforts, others expressed skepticism that it's really committed to the sustainable messaging central to its branding. A step in a greener direction Rather than using petroleum-based foam, which is generally what bra cups are made out of, Kindly worked for three years to find and develop a more sustainable alternative that didn't emit the same toxic chemicals in production or require fossil fuels as a base. The result is a sugarcane-based foam bra pad, which addresses the most problematic piece of the garment, according to Kindly. Madewell Partners With thredUP to Sell Used Jeans Online Initially, the brand also experimented with recycled plastic as a base, but ultimately scrapped the idea when it was unable to mold it into larger bra sizes. The final product is 80% bio-based, including the pads, straps and everything in between. But beyond that, the brand was unable to share specifics related to the makeup of the sugarcane-based material. "The [bra] pad has been around for 40 years, and it has not seen much evolution," Yossi Nasser, Gelmart CEO, told Adweek. Sure, there have been comfort and style upgrades, he said, but in terms of environmental sustainability, bra cups haven't made much progress. With Kindly, Gelmart is taking a step in a greener direction, according to Kindly chief marketing officer, Caroline Levy Limpert. The goal is to create a brand that's "kind to the wallet, kind to the body and kind to the earth," she said, acknowledging that Kindly is still far from perfect. "It's not an Earth-hugging brand; it's a good, smart, kind, 'light green' brand that is about making sustainable accessible for everyone," Levy Limpert explained. Still, these disclaimers about incremental progress aren't clear on the brand's online presence—"plant-based" and "sustainable" are touted as the products' central selling points. While the Kindly bras are not currently biodegradable, that is something Bastug hopes to achieve with more research. The brand is working with recycling programs to ensure scraps from product manufacturing are reused in things like furniture and car seats, but there's no supported recycling program for end of life in place right now. Bastug said the brand hopes to offer end-use recycling "in the future." Is incremental progress enough? Kindly is aiming to appeal to the majority of consumers who say sustainability factors into their decision-making process when buying clothes. That includes nearly three-quarters of Gen Z and millennials, according to a recent Adweek-Morning Consult poll. And while some experts applaud Kindly's efforts, others express skepticism when it comes to the brand's sustainability messaging. “It’s great to see sustainability progress in the lingerie industry—especially with padded bras, which are a somewhat complicated garment and usually rely on unsustainable polyurethane foam for the cup," Melissa Breyer, editorial director for the sustainability focused publication Treehugger, told Adweek. Still, she also pointed out the ecological risks related to sugarcane cultivation, saying that sustainable sourcing will be crucial to the brand fulfilling its promise. And while accessibility is important, Breyer also highlighted the inherent problems in creating low price-point garments that consumers see as short term or disposable items. "Fast fashion is creating a serious eco crisis," she said. "The longer-lasting these bras are, sugarcane and all, the better." Lynda Grose, professor of fashion design at the California College of the Arts, also pointed to the systemic problems of overproduction that can overshadow brands' attempts at incremental progress toward sustainability. While an awareness of fast fashion's environmental impact is much more widespread than it was 30 years ago and "eco-friendly" messaging abounds in the space, the industry's footprint continues to grow. "Those products exist in business models that grow every year," Grose explained. "When you're improving a product by whatever it might be, 2%, [...] and if your business is growing 30% or 50%, then the unsustainable part of your business is growing faster than the sustainable piece." Elizabeth Cline, author of two books on fast fashion and industry expert, pointed out that even bio-based plastic causes environmental problems, including shedding microplastics into the water supply, despite sounding like a better option to consumers because it appears more natural. "One of the main issues in fashion sustainability is problem-shifting, where rather than use data to address the known sustainability challenges in fashion, brands are switching to new, unvetted materials to appear green," Cline said.

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