Yahoo Finance

Eightyards has officially opened business operations. The Metzingen-based, wholly owned subsidiary of the Hugo Boss Group enables the German giant to repurpose its surplus materials into new revenue streams.

The independent company, dedicated to “setting the standard in a new era of resource utilization,” will handle the recycling and reuse of deadstock materials for Hugo Boss, which aligns with the group’s sustainability strategy.

More from Sourcing Journal

• The EU's Clean Industrial Deal is a Climate Contradiction, Critics Claim

• Hyosung, Loop, Pleatsmama Team on Three Cheers for Circularity

• H&M Foundation Backs Ellen MacArthur's Fashion ReModel with $15M

“The creation of Eightyards shows our great internal talents and their entrepreneurial spirit. I’m excited to see the contribution that Eightyards will deliver to the circular economy,” said Daniel Grieder, CEO of Hugo Boss. “At Hugo Boss, we are already leveraging data-driven insights to enhance efficiencies across our value chain, especially with our Digital Campus and the Digital Twin program. Eightyards is another step on our journey to shape a more sustainable future.”

Eightyards will do so by focusing on three core areas: reselling and reusing as well as re-, up- and downcycling of the group’s surplus textiles, to be sold within the fashion industry, among others. Ultimately, the recycling venture’s mission lies in identifying the global use cases for turning deadstock into dollars.

“As a Hugo Boss subsidiary, we have access to high-quality surplus materials which have been sourced under high ESG standards,” Eightyards director Markéta Miltenberger said, noting the intent to leverage this asset for its customers. “Our aim is to drive cross-industry collaboration with partners beyond the fashion sector.”

While part of the Hugo Boss Group, Eightyards will operate with its own branding and organizational structure, emphasizing a new, forward-looking resource cycle. That said, former Hugo Boss employees—Miltenberger and Placido Klitzke—are at the helm of the initiative, respectively serving as director and co-director.

Working to empower the circular economy, Eightyards hopes to go beyond the fashion industry. By focusing on identifying the best solutions for the individual needs of its customers, Eightyards would, ideally, extend its services to other material supply sources further down the line.

“At Eightyards, we are customer-oriented, and use-case driven,” Klitzke said. “Therefore, we want to open industries silos and serve overarching demands with existing materials to reduce the need for primary resources.”