SUSTAINABILITY UPDATE

Working towards our 2020 goals

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As a brand we are constantly working towards our goal of creating beautiful clothes in a more beautiful way. Across our teams, be it our Design, Sourcing, Retail or Logistics, we are continuously looking at how we can do things better and considering the ways we can innovate to create more sustainable processes and practices. Following on from our 2020 Social and Environmental Sustainability Goals set out in January, we have progressed a number of these key initiatives across our brand and in line with our Corporate Social Responsibility pillars. By way of update, we have made progress in relation to the following:

•  We worked to create a more eco-friendly fashion show for Fall in New York - this included recycling more of our set production and significantly reducing the energy used to light our runways. We also worked with the Carbon Neutral Charitable Fund to plant 10 native trees in Australia for each guest that attended our show.

•  We are on an ongoing journey to find ways to repurpose surplus fabrics, including for future collections. From a design perspective, the creative team has been working to re-use and recycle more of our past seasons fabrics and trims in new and exciting ways – this will be a feature of our upcoming Spring 21 Collection. 

•  One of the effective ways to minimise the transporting of our products and assist reduce our carbon footprint is to ensure that they are reaching the right store or warehouse the first time around. We have implemented a number of processes to make our product allocations more efficient, including improved consolidation of stock movements and a reduction in the number and frequency of transfers between our stores.

•  We have reviewed our packaging with a view to incorporating more recycled materials and to ensure the level of paper and plastic used in our retail and online business is environmentally considered, while still remaining luxurious for our clients. We have identified new suppliers that can deliver on our goal and we are currently finalising samples with a view to having these incorporated into our business by the end of the year.

•  Similar to our customer packaging, we have reviewed our B2B packaging and in particular the bags that are used to protect each garment as it travels to our warehouses and to our partners. We have recently approved a new 100% recycled bag which is in the process of being implemented across our business.

•  Our commitment to ensure our compliance documentation match the Australian Modern Slavery Act has progressed and we now have a draft statement that is available for review by third party compliance groups ahead the deadline for submission at the end of the year. 

•  Of course, 2020 has been a year of so much upheaval across the world and for an Australian brand, it was devastating to watch the impacts of the Summer Bushfires on local communities and wildlife. Amongst other initiatives, we created a limited edition linen tee shirt from which all proceeds went to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital which supports Australia’s endangered koala population. To date we have donated in excess of AU$50,000 to help our koala population. As a company we also donated in excess of AU$90,000 to the Australian Red Cross as part of it bushfire relief effort.

As we seek to reduce our impact across all areas of the business in line with our goals, we continue to identify new opportunities, both big and small, to work towards a more sustainable future. Moving forward, we are focusing on several new initiatives beyond our original 2020 goals including:

•  Introducing certified organic cotton to select styles in our Resort Swim 2021 Collection, which will be available in stores and online from October this year.

•  The development of a swimwear lining made from recycled material, which will be used in Swim Collections from January 2021.

•  Changing the way our denim styles are created, including the creation of more sustainable labelling, fabrication, washing and trims.

•  Investigating a significant long term project to upscale larger amounts of excess fabric and complete the cycle by committing to purchase for future use.

There is much for our teams to undertake as we head into the second half of 2020. We will continue to provide updates on our Sustainability progress as the year progresses.

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