November 21, 2019 |
In 2015, The United Nations introduced their 17 Sustainable Development Goals – a list of objectives addressing climate change, environmental degradation inequality, poverty, peace and justice to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by 2030. Slowly but surely, the fashion industry is beginning to take note. From December, Balenciaga will continue their support of the UN’s World Food Programme with a new collection featuring the WFP logo; to help draw attention to and combat malnutrition, and a portion of proceeds going to the cause. For this season’s shows, brands on both sides of the pond including Gabriela Hearst and Gucci have started addressing their sustainability issues and addressing CSR integration. Aiming to reach their goal before ahead of their 25th anniversary in 2024, Danish womenswear brand Baum Und Pferdgarten are setting the tone in the contemporary womenswear market.
With company cornerstones of Trust, Transparency and Trend, Baum Und Pferdgarten are committed to making clothes that last, considering both the plant and its people without compromising their aesthetics. In the process of transitioning past practices to readily reduce and minimise the negative environmental impacts of their collection, the brand, which counts My Theresa, Net-A-Porter and Selfridges amongst its stockists, is taking UN’s CSR goals as a foundational framework. From this, they have identified four key areas from the CSR, through which they can make the most significant contributions to a sustainable change. The goals that they will focus on are clean water and sanitation, reduced inequalities, responsible consumption and production, and life on land. These, in turn, translate into five forward-thinking initiatives through which Baum Und Pferdgarten will focus their efforts to become a more responsible and transparent company, namely – Customer Engagement, Ethical and Fair, Forward-thinking Products, Plastics and Transparency.
At a closer look, the changes they are looking to undertake over the next six years include creating annual CSR reports and making sustainable innovation programmes an integral part of each Baum Und Pferdgarten collection. From a material perspective, they are committed to moving to better material solutions by only using recycled polyester and nylons and replacing all cotton with organic or recycled options. In addition, they will be introducing a product take-back programme to encourage recycling of their pieces. Effectuating also full supplier mapping, they are making sure that all fabric supplier information is available on their website. They are also ensuring they are compliant with their Code of Conduct and Human Rights Policy by 2020 and other recommended industry-wide audits and standards. We can only hope that other brands will be following suit shortly and start taking sustainability as seriously as them.
Further information on Baum Und Pferdgarten’s commitments and policies are available to read and download online. Photograph by Luka Roné.
