Impact Assessment

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL

IMPACT ASSESSMENT

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL

IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Our mission is to improve the design process, sourcing, and fabric choices to lower our overall impact on the environment.  

We truly want to understand the environmental footprint of our garment production, and where its largest impact occurs. This is why we partnered with Made2Flow, a data company, specializing in environmental data gathering and validation across supply chains in the fashion industry with the goal of personalizing impact calculations. 

A deep dive into our supply chains to measure the company’s footprint provided us with granular, validated data regarding our environmental impact. For the pilot of 82 styles, Made2Flow contacted 88 production partners in 15 countries. The share of primary data used for the assessment was 64%, which suggests a high level of data accuracy. 

You can find our products with the measurement of the ecological footprint here.

That´s how the indicators are defined:

CO2 EMISSION

Greenhouse gases are the gases which absorb and emit infrared radiation in the wavelength range emitted by Earth. Measured in CO2 equivalent, it includes gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane.

WATER CONSUMPTION

All water used in the direct process or sub-processes such as energy generation and that has been withdrawn from its original source.

LAND USE

The environmental impacts of occupying, reshaping and managing land for human purposes.

That’s how Made2Flow conducted the assessment:

1. Supply chain mapping

Our supply chain traceability is already comparably high. For the assessment we shared the contacts of manufacturer as well as the fabric, and trim supplier for each style with Made2Flow. They traced the unknown production partners across tiers 1-4. Based on this information and further research, Made2Flow outlined the production process of each garment. 

2. Primary Data Collection 

Primary data comes directly from the supply chain. Made2Flow deployed its data gathering technology to collect necessary environmental data points such as energy use, waste, chemical usage directly from our production partners – and their suppliers - across the supply chain.

3. Validation

All data went through a validation process using a proprietary algorithm to ensure any data used for environmental calculations is credible. Any use of secondary data based on a multiple source approach, deriving from previously collected primary data and twenty-two external databases.

4. Calculation and Analysis

Based on the consolidated, collected data, the environmental impact is calculated based on a life cycle assessment methodology (ReCiPe 2016 midpoint). This provides quantifiable indicator such as CO2 emission or water use to show the influence of the production on the environment.

5. Benchmarking

Each item is compared to another of the same material composition and weight, taking into account the industry’s most commonly used processes, sub-processes, practices and transport modes. The data for the benchmark is derived from previously gathered data, peer reviewed published life cycle assessment studies and twenty-two recognized databases.

What about the use phase of the garment?

Our environmental impact assessment covers the impact across the different production processes up to our warehouse (cradle-to-site). This is the part we can control, but it is, of course, only part of the environmental impact occurring in the life cycle of a garment. How many times a garment is worn and how it is cared for also contributes significantly to the overall environmental impact. The longer a garment is worn, the lower the environmental impact per wear and the amount of waste created.

That is why we place great emphasis on quality and longevity. Our clothes are made to last. In our Care Guide, you can learn how to care for different fabric types in an environmentally friendly way, so you can enjoy your clothes for many years to come and even pass them on.