Sustainable fashion - responsibility in the whole value chain

In many ways, the nature of the fashion industry is the opposite of sustainability. It is therefore even more important that we as an individual fashion enterprise take responsibility for the world around us, and contribute by making our part of the industry as sustainable as possible.

People, Profit, Planet - the Stockmann Group sustainability strategy

Lindex is part of the Finnish group Stockmann and, at the overall group level, we work jointly in various work and steering committees to push sustainability work forward. We have set joint goals in order to take clear social responsibility, minimise the negative effects on the environment, contribute to a sustainable financial development as well as to prevent corruption.

The sustainability work rests on the 10 principles for responsible enterprises in the UN's business initiative, Global Compact. Stockmann employs a three-pronged strategy - People, Profit, Planet - and the result is measured and reported in accordance with GRI's guidelines. Lindex prepares an annual climate analysis, and Stockmann reports to the Carbon Disclosure Project at the group level.

Sustainable fashion covers the whole value chain

We wish to offer our customers inspiring and affordable fashion while taking responsibility for our activities and taking care of people and the environment. The sustainability work spans the whole value chain from raw materials to the finished product, to how the consumer uses and, lastly, how they dispose of our products. In this way we contribute to a positive development and sustainable future in the countries where we have our activities and where our production takes place.

In 2011, we offered our customers more than 5 million eco-labelled items primarily made of organic cotton, recycled polyester and polyamide as well as Tencel. We are pleased that our customers appreciate what we do, and our ambition is to gradually expand the number of fashion items in more sustainable material.

Large-scale improvements

We are also working to improve conventionally-cultivated cotton, which we are doing through the Better Cotton Initiative and educating 2,000 cotton farmers in India. Since conventionally-cultivated cotton represents 98 per cent of the world's cotton, this is where we can contribute to influencing a positive development on a large scale. At the same time our goal is continuing to increase the percentage of garments we purchase in ecologically-cultivated cotton.

Recycling clothing into new textiles - Close the loop

To get things right from the beginning and be able to offer the customer attractive and inspiring fashion precisely when customers want it is something we work very hard on doing. In this way, we succeed in having the assortment and volumes that meet the customers' needs.  How the customers treat their clothing and what happens with the clothing when the customer finally decides to dispose of it has a large impact on the environment and, as regards washing, reusing and recycling there are big possibilities for minimising the effect on the environment. Our wish is to close the material loop by recycling fibres from recycled garments and, in this way, reducing the need for new raw materials. There are many challenges on the way there. Clothing made from recycled material is already available today, but large-scale recycling requires new techniques and new solutions that are able to recycle blended materials. This is a challenge that we, together with other players, are working to find a solution to.  

Financial sustainability

Lindex has approx. 5,000 employees over large parts of the world. Our almost 450 stores are located in 14 countries. We expand through our own establishments and through franchises, which made it possible for us to establish a presence in Iceland in 2011, among other things. Production offices are located in China, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Turkey near our suppliers. In 2011, it became possible to purchase Lindex's fashion collections online in all 27 EU countries.

Despite a difficult market for the fashion industry in 2011, Lindex has experienced a positive development. During the year, sales amounted to MSEK 5,635 - an increase of 2.0 per cent compared to the previous year. Moreover, Lindex has won market shares in all markets. 

Work in the supply chain

There are many steps on the road from fibre to finished product. Lindex does not own its own factories but works with independent suppliers who produce our products.  We work with several parts of the supplier chain in order to, together with our suppliers and their sub-suppliers, improve production, for example through efficient energy use, focus on water usage and chemicals. Water is - and will remain - one of the most important areas we will be working on in the future.

Social Compliance in the supply chain

Lindex's code of conduct forms the basis of the work to improve the working conditions in the production segment. The code has no weight if we do not work, in our way, with implementation, improvement work and following up. We have come part of the way and many of the requirements in the code have been met, especially as regards health and safety. Challenges we cannot solve ourselves are dealt with in cooperation with other players in order to influence and create change together. We are convinced that good working conditions increase productivity in the factories and also produce financial profits for the supplier. Our challenge lies in getting the suppliers themselves to take ownership of the issue, the initiative and the improvement process, which is completely crucial for continued success in improving the working environment together.

Stakeholder involvement drives the sustainability work

Sustainable development is something we create together in Lindex in cooperation with other players and in dialogue with our external stakeholders. Employees at Lindex are very enthusiastic about sustainable development, and work actively to pursue these issues in the framework of the daily work. The employees' competence, enthusiasm and effort are what creates the positive development and allow us to constantly improve our work, which I am proud of and thankful for. I hereby invite all of our stakeholders to learn about how our work with sustainable development proceeds and follow along on the on-going journey we are on together.

Göran Bille

President and CEO