When we developed our ethics and sustainability strategy (coming soon on site), we were overwhelmed by the extraordinary amount of metrics and indexes that are used to assess the overall ‘goodness’ of a brand. So we decided to go a slightly different way.
It’s really wonderful that the world is waking up to the harmful effects of fast fashion. Really, it is. And it’s even more great that governments, NGO’s and researchers are trying to quantify exactly how fast fashion and mass production is killing the planet, harming communities and misleading consumers. But since fast fashion is relatively new (less than sixty years old), the consensus on it being Really Bad is new.
We are currently experiencing a sustainability and ethics spring- ideas are emerging really quickly on how the problem of mass production can be solved, and along with those ideas come countless methods of measuring just how and why fast fashion is really bad, to the last decimal point. We’ve all seen the stats and chilling headlines about how 1 in X [name of item] are impacting an X% increase in landfill waste. And while we would never disparage attempts to expose and quantify those negative effects, we do think that consumers deserve metrics and indexes that are universally recognised (without losing their nuance), by all stakeholders alike.
This is particularly important because big brands, the worst offenders, will often ignore genuinely useful methods of measuring their own impact or holding themselves accountable in favour of others that are a little more flattering. For example in the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, there was a more stringent fire safety accord which some brands signed and a less stringent fire safety accord which other brands signed. And a consumer wouldn’t know which is which because they sound quite similar, unless they really looked.
When we then turned the microscope inwards on ourselves, we realised that our production is so small-scale that metrics wouldn’t throw up anything significant. That being said, we did our research (Common Objective in particular is a goldmine of resources) and we broke down the ‘goodness’ of a brand into the following generally recognised categories: Transparency, Labour Ethics, Environmental Impact, and Sustainability. And because we run a fairly small scale operation, we thought the best way to test ourselves on how well we are doing is to ask around and gather case studies, interview our artisans and create an open feedback culture. A human, qualitative approach. Here’s how we did it:
Transparency: The current design of our website and product page in particular is the result of years of planning and adjustment. Trust is central to everything we do, and transparency is how we gain the trust of our community. We held three rounds of focus groups on different versions of the site, with a focus on product, to get a better idea of what consumers would like to know about brands. Our content team then took the findings from focus groups and used them to build what you see today- like the receipts feature on product pages that breaks down the exact cost of each item and the long-form craftsmanship stories that detail how we source our collection and who we source it from.
This is particularly important because of the cost of our products. It’s important that consumers know how much it costs to make high quality, ethical items so that they begin to question how it is possible that they pay so little for high street products.
Labour ethics: We only work with artisans who are true experts, and make the best things in the best way. They are skilled workers and artists who are remunerated accordingly. The costs they charge per product and for their unique skills are visible on the receipts we break down on each product page.
We evaluate our relationship with each artisan on a six monthly basis and ask them if they would like to see anything changed or improved. There’s also informal regular check ins, and each artisan has a dedicated relationship manager who works directly with them and speaks their language, to make sure nothing is lost in translation. We encourage them to take their time, and we have realistic expectations of how long it takes to make something well. If the cost of a raw material increases, we don’t ask them to cut corners- we reevaluate the pricing.
Sustainability: Where possible, we only make what is ordered and operate on a pre order system. Where this isn’t possible, we order very small batches of products based on our knowledge of what sizes, colours and styles are likely to sell.
Our online community thread on StyleForum gives us the opportunity to work directly with our customers when designing new products so we know exactly what they want, and we iterate on early samples according to feedback. There are 188,000 users on Styleforum- so we engage thousands of people in designing our product to make sure it is exactly what people want. We never waste any products by over-ordering and we even sell samples we don’t end up taking through to production at cost price, but only when they adhere to our quality standards but may feature minor defects such as a barely visible scuff mark, or design features that we have opted not to use.
Environmental impact: Our artisans recognise that the best leathers, cashmere and more make for the best final product. In order for raw materials to be high quality, they must come from an animal that has been treated well throughout their life and expertly handled by skilled artisans.
High quality fabrics/materials require animals to have led good lives, otherwise the quality is impaired. For example, high quality leather like the kind we use needs to be supple, smooth and uniform. If an animal has had a stressful life or suffered under inhumane conditions, this is immediately discernible in the hide.
We conducted a 5 month research exercise that resulted in the creation of our quality guide (also going live soon), which helps consumers discern well-made products made using animal skins or wool from fairly treated animals. And because the quality is so high, our products last very long- meaning you won’t have to purchase a new jumper each Christmas, and that our leathers last beyond a lifetime. This reduces our carbon footprint, because people who purchase from us don’t need to buy large quantities often.
We also don’t opt for vegan leathers or polyblends because they simply don’t last as long and spend a very long time decomposing once they end up in a landfill.
Ultimately, we did what worked for us in the absence of satisfactory external assessment and evaluation methods, and we think a bespoke option in the absence of universal metrics (or ones designed for small scale brands).
