A Code of Conduct is a document with guidelines and criteria regarding ethical matters, such as human rights, safety and health requirements, working conditions, hours and minimal wages, restriction of employment and abuse of child labor, etc.
At ella&il we have a Code of Conduct (CoC) developed by IEH (Ethical Trading Initiative Norway) that our suppliers have to comply with. With this we can make sure all humans and animals are being treated fair/ethically.
Rikke and Lene visit the lovely factories frequently, so that they also can have a bigger understanding of how the people work and through this build a strong and solid relationship with everyone working for us. Currently we are working with suppliers in Portugal, China, Hong Kong and Turkey.
Responsible production
We’re proud to be a part of NFT&A and their workshops with other brands to collaborate on reaching the climate goals.
To make each individual employee’s use of resources more efficient, we have implemented a year wheel as a management tool with the desired sequence of events within our core areas, design, finance, logistics, sales, shoots, and events. We have already seen a positive effect of the annual wheel as a management tool through improved interaction across core areas and clearer communication with suppliers and customers. Room for delays is reduced by samples, prices and bulk being received in accordance with the established timeline. Styles can be outed earlier; samples can be corrected before bulk, which results in fewer shipments and a more sustainable production.
Reduce overproduction & waste
Here are a few steps that we’ve taken in consideration when creating a new collection:
- We have 4 annual collections a year, which creates an estimate for the total order value to the suppliers. We strive to order a minimal advance purchase of fabric, if possible, to prevent overproduction and waste.
- 70% of the order value is pre-sold to external stores.
- A reduced number of seasonal colors per collection -> “made to last”. From our Autumn/Winter 2023 collection, the number of new seasonal colors per collection has been reduced to reduce the number of prototypes, the risk of unsold items and create a stronger focus on our vision: “Made to last”. Clothes that you can wear year after year without getting tired of them. Our base colors consist of white, black, navy, grey and beige (2023). We aim to continuously ensure that the COC is updated.
- One of our largest suppliers will be getting a solar panel on the roof by the end of 2023.
- For each collection, we have three different shoots. We want all women and men to feel good in their own bodies and have since the beginning focused on shape and quality. As a brand, we have an important responsibility to contribute to increased diversity and show off our garments on different body shapes. This is something we need to get even better at. For SS24 and future collections, we get several size sets on protos so that we can show off a greater variety of different body types.
- We always want to repair rather than give a new garment. Read more about our different collaborations in ella&il EVERLASTING.
CODE OG CONDUCT
Reduce carbon emission
For each of our suppliers, we want to choose the means of transport with the lowest possible carbon emissions. We have factories in Portugal, Turkey and China and boat is therefore not an option for all shipments.
As a starting point, we do not want to use airplanes as a means of transport, as airplanes have the greatest emissions. In some cases, flying is the only option if the production of bulk is delayed. The alternative in the event of delayed production is either a flight or that the goods are delayed for several months and cannot be sold online and in stores during the current season. We do everything we can to avoid delays, but if delays occur, we must consider the various transport methods based on emissions, time and cost. In certain cases, planes may weigh more than the goods go unsold (increasing the risk of overproduction and waste). Especially in recent years, global conditions in the world, including covid19 and the war, have resulted in us as a small player not being able to choose freely between different means of transport to transport the goods from the factories to our customers. Trains are the most sustainable means of transport compared to cars and planes and are currently not an option as long there is a war in Europe. To be able to choose the most environmentally friendly means of transport, we must constantly assess the options we have available given external factors we cannot influence.
In 2023 one of our transporters is Poterbuddy which is almost fully electric. We want to focus even more on the carbon emissions of the suppliers we work with in order to reduce our total emissions.
Reduce packaging
We strive to find new packaging solutions that will minimize our environmental impact. These are some of the things we have done:
- Switched to recycled plastic for several of our suppliers. Stopped with silk paper on website purchases (2022).
- Nordic Eco return label for online purchases (2023).
- Recycled plastic for all orders that can be reused for returns (double tape) (June 2023).
- Switched to recycled plastic for several of our suppliers.
- Reuse the same cardboard boxes that we get in to send out (70% -> B2B customers).
