THE ONLY WAY IS
ethics...
We don’t claim to be a 100% sustainable brand from top to tail yet - but we do believe there’s a better way of doing things. An approach that will have benefits for everyone – for us, for you, for our customers, partners and their employees, for our products and all our futures.
But rather than go on and on about CSR, ethical trading policies and ‘green’ sustainability strategies… we just want to tell you about how we are doing things we think are a little better.
BETTER FOR OUR PRODUCTS
Being ‘Famous For Fabrics' means we constantly search for interesting, innovative and different materials that look and feel fabulous. We now want to become ’Famous for Sustainable Fabrics‘.
With sustainability driving advances in textiles and fibres, we’ve been hard at work over the last two years introducing an increasing number of sustainable fabrics to or range – some made from some very unlikely ingredients – not weird…just different.
BAMBOO
What can we do with just bamboo? This fast-growing, replenishable grass doesn’t require pesticides, is cut not uprooted so it’s kinder to the soil and biodegradable. Its fibres can be spun and woven into a super soft fabric that’s kind to skin, has great UV protection, moisture management & thermal control properties.
LINEN
There is a reason this material has been around for so many years, loved by the Egyptians for its anti-microbial properties, it is one of the world’s strongest natural fibre so it lasts longer, plus being made from the incredibly versatile flax plant, nothing goes to waste.
MACARONI™
The opposite of fast-fashion, our unique Macaroni fabric is slow spun for more fun! Long lasting wash after wash, with no need to iron, this triple twist yarn is the legacy of Weird Fish and will be with us for years to come. Wear it, wash it, love it, repeat.
TENCEL
Super comfy, beautifully cool to wear and biodegradable, Tencel fabrics are made from wood pulp from fast growing trees. The process that goes into making this more sustainable fabric has won Tencel a European Award for the Environment.
BETTER FOR OUR STORES AND THE COMMUNITY
It’s not just our factories and fabrics where we can see a better way of doing things.
We’ve almost totally phased out plastic carrier bags in store, by switching to an alternative made from grass. We are the first company in the UK to use these amazing bags, which are compostable, chemical free, use a fraction of water, and save up to 75% of Co2 emissions in production, compared to paper bags. What a find!
Customers can also now purchase our branded reusable, organic cotton canvas shopper at the till.
We’re saving customer returns and end of line stock from landfill by donating to charity “Newlife” for disabled children, they process and distribute to their special fashion stores to raise money for the charity.
We’re sending fabric offcuts, old trims and spare parts to fashion universities to recycle into garments for their projects.
BETTER FOR OUR FACTORIES AND THEIR EMPLOYEES
We plan to move more and more products to Platinum Level Green factories who offset up to 90% of emissions through wind, solar and steam power.
We have created a policy which sets out how our suppliers are to act and comply with our stance on ethical manufacturing and sustainability in all aspects of product development.
ADDITIONAL ACCREDITATION:
We are working with our factories to achieve the following targets;
• SA8000 STANDARD - SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY
• SEDEX - RESPONSIBLE SUPPLY CHAIN
• OEKO-TEX
• CERTIFIED TO OE BLENDED STANDARD ORGANIC EXCHANGE
• GLOBAL ORGANIC TEXTILE STANDARD
• CERTIFIED FAIRTRADE
• ETHICAL TRADING INITIATIVE
• BETTER COTTON INITIATIVE
• RBON NEUTRA PRODUCT
BETTER FOR OUR FUTURE
It’s our first leap up the sustainability ladder, they’re small steps but we know there’s more we can do:
• Widen our use of sustainable fabrics such as Tencel and Bamboo across our entire range.
• Introduce organic cotton in our cotton rich products.
• Introduction of E-Receipts to cut down on paper consumption.
• Encourage more welfare schemes for factories to include childcare, education and housing.
• Continue to innovate, develop, source, manufacture and distribute fabulous products that are affordable, fun and truly capture that authentic wear the weekend feeling.
• Introduce more recycled fabrics such as 100% recycled PET and cotton waste into our products and trims.
IT’S OUR REAL LEAP OF FAITH
Long live the fish
LEAP ONE
Phase out plastic bags, use substainable materials.
LEAP TWO
Increase use of substainable fabrics and accessories.
LEAP THREE
Move to platinum rated ethical manufacturers.
LEAP FOUR
Wider partnerships with like minded organisations.