Blue skies ahead: ORTA shares their vision for sustainability in denim
Turkey-based denim manufacturer, ORTA, shares their unwavering commitment to sustainability and innovative approach to creating a more ethical and eco-conscious denim ecosystem.
July 10th, 2023
Written by FibreTrace®
Turkey-based denim manufacturer, ORTA, has never shied away from being a force for ethical practices in its industry. Though sustainable processes may be all but dismissed as impossible by other denim manufacturers — citing cotton’s use of agrochemicals, clearing of habitat for agricultural use, and consumption of water — ORTA has forged a way forward. From being the first organisation in their native country to establish unionisation, to being the first to utilise organic cotton in their products, sustainability is clearly built into the our esteemed partner’s ethos.
On this, their 70th year anniversary, we speak to Dr. Sedef Uncu Aki, ORTA’s director, about how through all the innovation, their dedication to sustainability has remained.
FibreTrace: At ORTA, sustainability is ‘business as usual.’ Has this always been part of the company’s mission, since 1953; or was there an evolution that took place to get to this point? What was the motivation for establishing ORTA Blu in 2010?
Dr. Sedef Uncu Aki: This is true; since day one. ORTA was established in 1953 as a weaving company by the notable businessmen of the city called Kayseri, in Turkey, to create employment for the people of the region. So people have always been the focal point of ORTA’s operations. For example, in the ‘60s, we were the first organisation in Turkey to establish unionisation. This mindset or approach has continued for all other aspects of sustainability: we were one of the first [organisations in Turkey] to establish an efficient energy management system, and to use organic cotton in the sector.
Establishing ORTA Blu, our sustainability platform, is one of these steps we have taken to create a better future for denim. That’s why ORTA Blu is in everything we do, and guides us to create our sustainability model at the intersection of where people, planet and purpose meet.
FibreTrace: Can you please elaborate on ORTA’s aim to create a more robust denim ecosystem where ‘art(design) meets technology meets ethics’? Why is each element — design, technology and ethics — important for the denim ecosystem?
Dr. Sedef Uncu Aki: We are a 70-years-old company, born in the heart of Anatolia, the cradle of many cultures. Anatolia has been the bridge between the East and the West trading routes, part of the original Silk Road that opened the world to the trade of goods and services in the 19th Century. The materials and craftsmanship, technical developments, and the exchange of cultural products of the West and the East were collected and shared in Anatolia on this route.
That is where we sourced inspiration from when we created our core values: art and artisanship, because we are in fashion, technology, sustainability; and with the addition of our new regenerative approach: biology. These four pillars have been the foundation of our operations.
Image courtesy of ORTA