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Every IADS event is designed to allow the Association members to learn from each other or from inspiring leaders. In early 2025, IADS CEOs gathered to exchange with Javier Goyeneche, the founder and CEO of ECOALF, one of the first genuinely sustainable fashion brands in history. The purpose was to explore the brand's specificities, the company behind it, and what it takes to “be sustainable” in periods of uncertainty, which 2025 certainly is.

Born in Madrid, Javier Goyeneche founded Fun & Basics after graduating in 1995, specialising in contemporary fashion handbags and accessories. Within 10 years, the business grew to 350 points of sale and 70 retail stores, and he was awarded Best Young Entrepreneur of Madrid in 2005.

However, he gradually grew frustrated with the amount of waste produced by the fashion industry, so he embarked on a mission to create a concept combining design, an understanding of the fashion consumer, and the latest recycled materials. This led to the launch of ECOALF in 2013.

The company now produces a fully sustainable lifestyle collection of outerwear, swimwear, casual apparel, yoga, footwear, and accessories. Brand distribution has strategically expanded to include prestigious department stores, speciality retailers (with over 1,800 points of sale), and a worldwide roster of retail stores.

Introduction: addressing the waste problem

At the beginning of 2025, Siemens Chairman Jim Hagemann Snabe published a paper in the World Economic Forum about the disappointing state of sustainability worldwide. Reviewing 2024, he advocated for radical efforts in sustainability despite the challenging context of geopolitics, macroeconomics, and inefficiencies in the global system. The most striking aspect of his stance is that incremental change was not enough for him to address the scale of challenges ahead.

However, the harsh reality for retail businesses is that they cannot pause all activities to reinvent themselves. In addition, it is now well documented that even the most vocal customers asking for more sustainable products are not always consistent with what they buy. Combined with the challenging 2025 environment, this context can encourage retailers to consider sustainability “a long-term topic to be addressed only when the skies are bluer”.

ECOALF positions itself precisely opposite to this view. The brand DNA is all about addressing the most immediate problems by providing a solution embedded in the company's business model. In 2013, Goyeneche identified that oceans were in danger due to massive pollution. With the world population projected to grow by two billion by 2050, the strain on resources will only intensify. Every year, 500 billion plastic bags and 650,000 tonnes of abandoned fishing nets pollute the oceans. While nets pose a significant threat to marine life and ecosystems, the massive use of plastic leads to a massive pollution of the seas. Plastic debris ends up in one of the seven oceanic “plastic gyres”, which are substantial oceanic zones with an abnormal plastic density (such as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”). The Ellen McArthur Foundation considers that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans, and it is calculated that there is the equivalent of a 16-tonne truck worth of waste thrown in the oceans every minute.

The problem is that 75% of this pollution is submerged and largely invisible, making it challenging to mediatise.

In parallel, the fashion business has grown out of control, with over 140 billion pieces produced yearly and 92 million tonnes of textiles wasted annually. Goyeneche’s initial take was that he could address both problems by using ocean waste to create fashion. This is how ECOALF was founded on the premise of innovation, sustainability, and design.

An iterative R&D process, from upcycling to recycling

Back in 2009, recycled fabrics were not attractive nor suitable enough for a brand that wanted to be more than “pragmatically sustainable”. This is why ECOALF started its research to develop new fabrics over three years, until 2013, with a tiny collection. The vision was simple: “the design should be sustainable”, and “sustainability without appealing design is meaningless to customers”. As such, the brand is based on three pillars: sustainability, innovation and design.

Based on that premise, ECOALF has developed over 683 different materials since 2013, of which 80% are 100% recycled (for instance, textiles produced out of plastic bottles). But the purpose is now to go beyond upcycling and being truly circular: when other brands collect unused garments, 90% of them usually end up in landfills because they are composed of different materials that are either too expensive or impossible to separate and recycle. Consequently, such products are downcycled into fibres used in construction, which does not address the fashion recycling problem.

To achieve such a vision, the brand adopts a “fibre to fibre” design process (i.e. developing mono-material pieces that can be easily recycled), a challenge for design teams as it bans the use of specific types of components (for instance, the very popular Elastane is not recyclable). ECOALF recycles cotton, wool, cashmere, and nylon from fishing nets collected in the ocean. 70% of the collection shown at Pitti Uomo is now mono-material.

This demanding approach goes well beyond clothing, as other categories are also developed with the same vision:

• Flip-flops are made from tyres and assembled without glue nor other components,
• Coffee leftovers are collected, dried and mixed with polymers from plastic bottles to be converted in high-tech material with specific properties (odour control, UV protection, etc.),
• Cosmetics are developed in powder to limit water consumption.

As of today, 92% of the fabrics used by ECOALF are recycled (including cotton, which is now 60% recycled), and the 8% that are non-recycled come from sustainable productions (example: leather made out of pineapple leaves, as well as an Indian fruit, kapok,  used as a substitute for water-consuming cotton).

How ECOALF has adapted its business model

While the company’s purpose is noble, it also induces much competitive distortion compared to other players who might not go through the same hardships to make their collections: pioneering sustainable fashion is economically challenging. ECOALF initially invested up to 40% of its turnover in innovation.

This significant investment was necessary to develop new, sustainable fabrics and processes. ECOALF also had to fight perception challenges in its early days, where sustainable products were often associated with poor design and quality.

This is why the company had to adapt its model to make sure its business model would not only avoid losses but also be profitable. This translated into concrete actions:

• Starting in 2013, ECOALF launched its “Upcycling the Oceans” initiative. This initiative involves collaborating with nearly 6,000 fishermen across various countries, including Spain, Italy, Greece, France, Thailand, and Egypt. The project has successfully extracted over 1,700 tonnes of ocean waste, converting 68% back into the system (and being locally transformed into products). Fishermen often collect vast amounts of waste alongside fish.

• In 2023, the company invested in its regenerative agriculture project in India to grow water net-positive cotton while at the same time regenerating soils,

Regarding traceability and transparency, ECOALF became a B Corp company, meaning that the whole supply chain was re-examined, and the company had to stop collaborating with non-compliant suppliers. Goyeneche was very clear that being fully sustainable also comes with drawbacks. For instance, a seasonal collection was once 40 days late because the company only ships products via boat, not plane. This led some wholesale customers to cancel their orders. However, he was also very clear that he did not want to change his vision and strategy and preferred to lose a handful of customers who did not share his views and values.

Today, ECOALF collaborates with 1,300 multi-brand stores (mainly in Europe) and operates 11 flagship stores worldwide. Interestingly, all the retail stores have been developed with recycled materials, meaning they have net-zero emissions.

This vision, combined with a constant will to communicate and educate the public about pollution and the results of our behaviours, has generated a robust and loyal following among customers, especially the younger generation.

Sustainability is a slippery concept: it is desirable, as customers are asking for it, but going full speed into it does not guarantee success, as the same customers might object to the price distortion induced by sustainable production practices. In fact, ECOALF has found that it cannot cater to the needs of all types of customers. Some customers, who can be vocal about sustainability but buy fast fashion products at low prices, are out of reach for the brand. Despite this, special attention is given to the price point to ensure ECOALF’s products remain within the limits of the market (for instance, a T-shirt retails at 39 EUR in Europe).

Despite this fundamental difficulty, the brand is getting traction from customers and the industrial ecosystem. While material innovation was initially led only by the company, factories now co-invest with ECOALF as they believe this can lead to more efficient and virtuous output. This also translates to scale economies and increased desirability for their products. This has created a virtuous circle: ECOALF does not work with non-sustainable suppliers or resellers who do not try to achieve a similar trajectory.

ECOALF is also known as a market player that remains true to its beliefs: for instance, the brand does not participate in promotions such as Black Friday or other equivalent high-stake customer events. Goyeneche believes that standing firm in his boots builds the brand’s credibility. This is why some may wonder if such a brand might be adapted to modern retail and competitive times. But what if this is the wrong question? What if department stores changed the narrative by increasing the proportion of virtuous brands in their product offering, supporting their sustainability claims while keeping margins high? The advent of Gen Alpha, combined with changes in consumption from “conscious clients” as identified by another IADS guest speakers, Sucharita Kodali in 2023, might answer this impossible question in the coming future.

Credits: IADS (Selvane Mohandas du Ménil)