Organic cotton is grown without the use of synthetic fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides. In order to ensure that our products also contain organic cotton, we use established standards for the internal monitoring of our supply chain. This creates reliability from the raw material to the yarn to the final product. To support organic cotton even further, we also use cotton from the transitional phase. What does this mean? It takes up to three years to convert to organic farming. During this conversion period, farmers adhere to the principles of organic farming until the cotton is officially certified as organic.

We use recycled cotton to make use of materials that have already been used, therefore producing fewer new materials. The recycled cotton comes from used clothing, for example, or from household textiles. We rely on established certification systems such as Textile Exchange to ensure that our products actually contain recycled cotton.

We have been sourcing more responsible cotton from Africa since 2009 as part of the Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) initiative from the Aid by Trade Foundation. Clear environmental and social criteria are defined for the farming of cotton. The use of genetically modified seeds is prohibited, for example, and the use of pesticides and herbicides is heavily regulated. We use Cotton made in Africa according to the mass balance approach (for more info: see below).
The initiative is also involved in social projects – including in the areas of the advancement of women, education and health – and invests revenues for licence fees in the cotton farming regions.

Another important partner for our sustainable cotton sourcing is the Better Cotton Initiative. Growers that are licensed to sell Better Cotton to the supply chain must meet minimum social and ecological criteria and demonstrate continual improvement in this area. In the environmental sector, for example, Better Cotton is characterised by a reduction in the use of pesticides, improved water efficiency and a cultivation method that shows a vested interest in maintaining soil fertility and biodiversity. You can find an overview of the Better Cotton criteria here (link: https://bettercotton.org/what-we-do/defining-better-our-standard/). Cotton is fed into the supply chain based on the mass balance approach.

In mass balance, the raw material and the end product balance each other out. Our suppliers purchase a certain amount of cotton that is needed for the manufacture of our goods through the Cotton made in Africa and Better Cotton initiatives. During further processing, this cotton may then be mixed with conventional cotton. This means that the final product isn’t necessarily completely made of cotton from the initiatives. It is important, however, that the corresponding amount of cotton required for the product comes from more responsible sources and enters our supply chain.