Our Path to Sustainability launched in March 2020 as Vanlova group and lays out a comprehensive set of targets, concentrating on four key areas: Responsible Sourcing; Community Care; Reducing Emissions; and Increased Circularity. Our four pathways encompass all areas of sustainability – from considering the origins of the raw materials in each product to thinking about where that product ends up at the end of its lifecycle and all the stages and processes in-between.
Our Commitments
• To acknowledge our shortcomings and continually improve
• To ensure our practices and policies
• To quantitatively measure our impact and work with industry regulators
• To better our sourcing and processing of raw materials
• To apply our high standards to all our suppliers and partners
• To share updates on our progress with our customers, employees and partners
Materials
We’re not limiting responsible sourcing to addressing the main compositions of our products. We endeavour to use as many processes and materials as possible that are better for the environment and animal welfare. Here is what we’ve achieved so far:
• We are using responsibly sourced wood-based fibres in our ready-to-wear collections, particularly in our base fabrics for printed garments.
• We predominately focus on digital printing which has a lower environmental impact.
• We’re using potato starch, resin and corozo nut buttons.
• Our faux fur is made from recycled polyester, and we are exploring using faux fur which is made using a bio-based ingredient derived from corn husks.
• For SS20, our indigo washes were identified as low impact based on a leading industry criterion developed by Jeanologia who is at the forefront of developing sustainable denim manufacturing processes.
Packaging
From the boxes in our warehouses to the shopping and garment bags you’ll find in-store, we are improving our packaging from start to finish.
We have set ourselves the target of switching all wholesale, retail, and ecommerce packaging to more environmentally friendly versions made from 100% recyclable, biodegradable or compostable materials. This will include the bags you pick up in our shops, the parcels that we send to your home and the garment bags and plastic sleeves that the products arrive in.
We started to introduce our new retail bags in stores from March 2020 while using up stock of the old packaging to ensure that zero waste is created from the changeover. Our new bags are made from 40% post-consumer waste and are 100% recyclable, right down to the handle, which is made from paper. They are also certified as being made from card that is from well-managed forests. The same approach is being applied to our gift packaging, which features 100% recycled polyester ribbon and packaging used on our e-commerce orders.
We recognise that our packaging waste impact can be reduced by working closely with factories to align with our goals. So, we have also introduced plastic garment sleeves made from at least 30% to 100% recycled content and we are actively working with suppliers to encourage switching to less harmful materials where we do not supply the packaging directly. The hangers we use are made from 100% recycled content and are recyclable, and we are working with factories to align with this preferred selection of hangers where they are not supplied by us directly.
Currently, the boxes in our warehouse are made from 75% reclaimed materials and are 100% recyclable. We’re trialling new paper ‘filler’ packaging to replace harmful and non-recyclable plastic air bubbles as well as looking for a paper tape that is recyclable to use on all boxes leaving our warehouse, while ensuring that the boxes remain secure for their journeys to our wholesale customers.