OVS Strengthens Cotton Traceability with Haelixa’s DNA Technology

OVS brought cotton farming back to Sicily. Through a strategic partnership with Haelixa, every fiber is marked with a unique DNA ensuring its authenticity.

About OVS

OVS is Italy’s leading fashion retailer of men’s, women’s, and kid’s fashions, operating through multiple brands with a significant market share. Founded in 1972, it has over 2000 stores in 35 countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia.

The Challenge

OVS aimed to revive Italian cotton cultivation, which had declined since the 1950s, to create a fully traceable, sustainable “Made in Italy” collection. The initiative sought to enhance supply chain transparency and support local agriculture.

The Solution

Haelixa partnered with OVS to implement DNA marking, ensuring traceability from cotton cultivation in Sicily to the finished garment.

“Traceability strengthens trust allowing better control of raw materials and increasing the transparency for clients. Thanks to Haelixa we’ll be able to track the material from the cotton field and ensure consistent information about the quality and sustainability throughout the whole supply chain.”

Simone Colombo

Head of corporate sustainability at OVS

Key aspects of the solution

Marketing at the source: Unique DNA markers created for OVS were applied to the organic cotton in Italy’s ginning stage, allowing for forensic verification of origin throughout their supply chain.
Verification at every step: With qPCR testing, the markers proved the origin of the marking, even after processing and manufacturing.
Integration with OVS processes: The integration of marking and testing was customised to align with OVS’s existing production and supply chain workflow.
Consumer-focused transparency: The results provided OVS with traceability details for costumers, reinforcing trust and their sustainability commitment. See here the sustainability report of OVS.

The Results

The partnership between Haelixa and OVS milestone:

100% traceability: Italian cotton was accurately tracked throughout the production process, successfully manufacturing approximately 30,000 garments from high-quality Sicilian cotton, all proudly produced in Italy.
Consumer engagement: Launching a traceable cotton collection demonstrated OVS’s commitment to transparency and resonated with its environmentally conscious costumers. The collection was launced on Earth Day, 22 April 2023, symbolising OVS’s commitment to sustainability to sustainability. This initiative also contributed to the revival of local cotton farming, promoting economic growth in the region.
Strengthened brand position: Strengthened OVS’s reputation as a leader in sustainable fashion.