CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility

Filippa K’s philosophy revolves around style, simplicity and quality. It is important to us that we create products of which we are proud. This applies as much to the design, quality and value of our products as it does to the working environment of everyone involved in our production cycle. Only in this way can we measure up to the demands placed on us by our customers. Therefore, we have put into action an ongoing strategy to implement step-by-step improvements.

Code of Conduct

Our Code of Conduct states the conditions applicable to our company’s production and purchase cycle, and is a part of our contract with all of our suppliers. Based on United Nations’ human rights and International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, our Code of Conduct encompasses our suppliers as well as its implementation.

We penned our first Code of Conduct in 2000. In 2008, we became a member of the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) and drew up a plan, approved by FWF, for our work environment practices.
At Filippa K, we believe that only by maintaining a presence and having a high-quality dialogue with our suppliers can we create change – inspections alone are never enough.

Suppliers

A large percentage of Filippa K’s suppliers are located in Europe and several are in China.

Long-term relationships with suppliers
We have built long-term relationships with many of our suppliers and have worked closely with many of them for more than a decade. We visit them several times a year, enabling us to nurture a close bond. We believe that maintaining a presence and having a constructive dialogue help our suppliers understand and implement the requirements of our Code of Conduct.

Checking compliance
During the spring of 2007, we carried out independent inspections of two Chinese factories with the help of Sustainia World AB. The auditors interviewed the management and employees, inspected all factory premises, and checked payroll reports and time card documentation. Everything was in order. However, we still saw some challenges ahead of us. One challenge was that working hours exceeded what was required in the Code. This was problematic and hard to change because of cultural differences, but we were able to persuade one factory to shorten working hours during the spring. This was a successful outcome and we continued along this path.

FWF has supported us in our independent inspections by carrying out reports and action plans when needed. All of our factories in Portugal, Italy and Turkey have been inspected, in addition to 73 per cent of our Chinese factories. Our goal is to have 90 per cent of our suppliers in China inspected by 2011.

Reporting inspection results
After each audit, we collate the results in a report, specifying the areas in which improvements are needed. Filippa K and the relevant supplier then agree on a date by which these improvements must be made. This is then followed up. We continue our collaboration as long as the supplier is willing to continue to make step-by-step improvements.

Environment

The textile industry is by its very nature complex, embracing chemical, water and energy use, which impact the environment. Although we have improved in some areas, we still have a long way to go. Therefore, we decided to create in 2006 a more structured environmental work process within the company before approaching our suppliers.

Filippa K’s vision has always been to produce products of which we can be proud. We have long-term relationships not only with our suppliers but with our customers and partners. The purchasing department works with environmental, chemical and work environment issues on a daily basis. We are aided in our work by our Code of Conduct and our environmental policy, as well as the associated strategies.

We are keen to take the advice of organisations and consultants, who are experts in their respective fields. We developed our environmental policy and strategy with the assistance of The Natural Step.

All of our offices, for example, use green energy. We have replaced all of our company cars with eco-friendly vehicles and bought bicycles for use within Stockholm. Recycling and economical usage of office supplies is a matter of course for us.

We offer our employees ecological products, such as milk, fruit, bread and more. We also have a sustainability policy and an environmental strategy for all departments within Filippa K.

We have increased the number of organic cotton garments included in our collections in recent seasons. The autumn 2010 collection included 18 styles. The availability of organic cotton is limited, however, so we are also trying to identify sustainable cotton alternatives.

The material we prefer is Lyocell/Tencel; it comes from wood pulp that is converted into cellulose and then into fibres in an environmentally closed process that reuses water and chemicals. The autumn 2010 collection included 24 styles in lyocell – both in jersey and woven products.

Our present goal is to have 10 per cent of the styles in any of our collections made from an eco-friendly material. The autumn of 2010 saw us reaching 6 per cent.

Finishing and dyeing the materials utilises a great deal of chemicals, water and energy. We have a list of chemicals that banned from use in our production processes and other chemicals that can be used in limited amounts. We follow the SIN List, a list produced by NGOs incorporating ca. 100 chemicals prioritised for phasing out. We monitor compliance through random sampling.

In order to learn more about making the finishing and dyeing process more environmentally responsible, we collaborated with Nordic Ecolabel or “Swan” for some of our products during 2007 and 2009. Nordic Ecolabel helped us ensure that all of the chemicals used to produce garments made to meet the Swan standard complied with its stringent requirements and avoided using excessive amounts of energy and water. We also learned more about the demands we should be imposing on all of our production processes. We continue to follow these directives when producing the relevant styles; the only exception is that the copper content in the dye bath is just above Nordic Ecolabel’s stipulations.

In 2010, we were one of 24 companies that started STWI, a Swedish initiative that brings together the textile and leather industries to learn more about how the production of our products affect the world’s shared water resources. This collaboration will result in guidelines that will help us show our suppliers the way forward when it comes to water issues, and it is an important learning process for all participating companies. For more information, please contact Jan Peter Bergkvist at +46 763 36868 or Johanna Sjödin at +46 8 22 13960.

Filippa K stands for high-quality clothing and timeless fashion. Our clothes can be used from one generation to the next, producing sustainable fashion that is moving toward a brighter and greener future.