WAGE
Average wages do not tell the story of how wages are distributed among different groups of wage earners. It is a well-established fact that during recent decades wage inequality has increased in many countries around the world. In the most recent years, many countries have adopted or strengthened minimum wages, as one way of supporting low-paid workers and reducing wage inequality. Recent evidence shows that, when set at an adequate level, minimum wages can raise the income of low-paid workers – many of whom are women – without significant negative effects on jobs. The setting of minimum wages, however, is a balancing act; it should be evidence-based and done in full consultation with social partners and, where appropriate, with their direct participation on an equal footing (ILO 2020).
MATERIALS
The use of more sustainable materials is a powerful way to reduce your company’s environmental impact as some of the biggest sustainability impacts and “hotspots” of textile production are to be found in the growing and extracting of raw materials. It is also an area where more and more retailers sharpen the requirements to your products.
How much of the cotton you use is from sustainable sources like GOTS, OCS, BCI, CmiA or recycled cotton?
Leather. The issues linked to the leather industry are widespread: From working conditions, animal welfare and environmental issues. The conventional leather production often includes harmful chemicals (like chromium salts), hazardous waste-water, waste dumping, forced labour and poor working conditions.
The objective of The Leather Working Group is to develop and maintain a protocol that assesses the environmental compliance and performance capabilities of leather manufacturers and promotes sustainable and appropriate environmental business practices within the leather industry.
How much of the leather you use are from The Leather Working group tanneries or a similar alternative and have a policy on animal-welfare and working conditions?
Manmade fibers are made of cellulose-based materials that are dissolved in a chemical bath, leaving only the pure cellulose fibers. These fibers are then spun into yarns we know as viscose and rayon etc.
The process of the conventional manmade fibers such as Rayon, Acetat and Viscose from non-certified trees and bamboo usually involves a vast amount of hazardous chemicals. Chemicals that are often released into local environments.
Deforestation is another critical issue for conventional Viscose. To use certified materials is a way of making sure that the production is made in a more sustainable way.
How many of the manmade fibers you use in your collection are from sustainable alternatives like Lyocell, Tencell, Refibra, or similar?
How many of the synthetic fibers you use in your collection, are from recycled sources or bio-based?
Denim is another fiber group of growing interest. The problems of the conventional denim production are mainly the vast amount of water and chemicals used and the following waste treatment.
Sustainable denim production can be achieved by reducing the use of water, energy and chemicals; this will significantly reduce the environmental impacts.
How much of your denim in your collection is "low impact denim" with focus on water and chemical usage?
CERTIFICATES
Certificats can help ensure that your products are made accordinly to the demands you require and can also be a useful guiding element to customers.
Certification occurs when an accredited independent body (an auditor) verifies that a supplier adheres to the appropriate standard. Upon successful verification, the auditor typically issues a certification statement.
How much of your sourced material is certified with certifications like, GOTS, BCI, CmiA, TDS, RDS, RWS, GRS, Fair Trade, The Nordic Swan?
PACKAGING
Packaging has been an overlooked area for some time, but the impact of packaging materials should not be underestimated. The use of more sustainable materials has a great effect on the environmental impact.
How much of the carton and paper packaging comes from a more sustainable sources like FSC or recycled sources?
How much of the plastic packaging from recycled sources?
You are a frontrunner!
Your high performance on social compliance, environment, materials, waste, animal welfare to packaging makes you compliant with the highest requirements in the test set by retailers like Zalando and Boozt.
You are in a good position
You are compliant with most retailers including Net-a-porter and De Bijenkorf with an overall strong performance.
However, you still have work to do if you want to be compliant with the highest requirements set by retailers like Zalando and Boozt, and you need to prepare for the future where the demands from retails will be even higher.
You accomplished but have work to do
But you have work to do if you like to be on all platforms - especially looking a few years ahead. The tendency is clear, more and more retailers are setting up stronger and higher requirements, and you must step-up in order not to lack behind.