Apart from being one of the fastest growing e-commerce brands in Europe, we also promise to do our utmost to be a better brand from a sustainability perspective. We are on a path for a more sustainable future and we have set high goals towards which we are racing at full speed. We want to do our part to make the fashion industry fit for the future. Read more here.
The majority of our garments are made with at least part organic, recycled or better produced materials (63% in 2021). Our goal for 2030 is to reduce our climate impact by 50% (compared to 2020). As the materials in our products, and the production of those materials, stand for the greatest impact, our goal is for 100% of our materials to be either organic, recycled or better produced by 2030. One example is our recently launched collections that use innovative, more sustainable materials such as swimwear in SEAQUAL® YARN. This is a high quality 100% post-consumer recycled polyester yarn containing approximately 10% upcycled Marine Plastic from SEAQUAL INITIATIVE and 90% recycled PET plastics.
Here at NA-KD, we also use the Jeanologia technology for an increasing share of our denim products, which means fewer chemicals, less water, and less energy. Read more about our more innovative materials here.Â
At NA-KD we have set climate reduction targets aligned with the Paris Agreement and approved by the Science Based Target initiative. Our goal is to reduce our absolute emissions by 50% by 2030 (compared to our 2020 baseline), and by 50% per product and service sold by 2025. We are well on our way, reducing our absolute emissions by 5% in 2021, and by 28% per product and service sold. We believe that we drive greater change together in the industry, which is why we are proud members of the Swedish Textile Initiative for Climate Action, and have signed the SME Climate Hub commitment.Â
At NA-KD, we offset all emissions from our transport since the end of 2019 (from suppliers, to warehouse, to customers, NA-KD Circle shipments between customers, and potential returns). Our primary focus for our climate action is to always reduce the impact of our transports. When a customer visits a bricks-and-mortar store to look at, try on and buy their clothes, they usually have the option to walk, cycle or take public transport to the store – all of which are low-impact choices. However, as an e-commerce company, we rely on often carbon-intense transport to ship our products from suppliers, and to and from our customers. We are therefore working closely with our transport providers to reduce emissions as much as possible. What we cannot reduce, we climate compensate. In 2021, the total offset was 9,209 tonnes of COâ‚‚e.Â
Here at NA-KD, we aim to champion diversity and female empowerment in fashion and have a deep respect for nature. In 2020, bad press regarding the company's shortcomings in working conditions in Sweden gave us the impetus to re-evaluate our culture and governance. After an in-depth investigation into the allegations, we updated our internal code of conduct and whistle-blower system, providing better training for managers and employees. If you are curious to know more about the findings of the investigation and our actions, please read our Sustainability Report for 2021, page 7.Â
We respect human rights and strive to empower and enable all people across our supply chain to be able to fulfill their potential. We are working to ensure fair and equal opportunities across the supply chain, where we are members of both the Sustainable Apparel Coalition and the amfori BSCI. As a relatively small brand we believe in industry collaboration to drive change across and upstream the supply chain.Â
All our suppliers sign our supplier Code of Conduct (for which we have adopted the amfori BSCI Code of Conduct) and need to hold a valid social audit. In 2021, we started looking into worker wages in our supply chain and map out the situation in the factories producing for NA-KD. You can read more about this in our latest Sustainability Report. Further, we expect our suppliers to share their environmental performance with us through the Higg index and continuously strive to support them to improve their practices.Â
Also, we want our customers to know the origin and impact of their wardrobe. We gladly take on the responsibility and challenge of providing this information. However, we know it won’t be easy because the fashion supply chain is long, complex and often opaque. Our long-term goal is to achieve full supply chain transparency. This will be a long journey and will likely take many years. As of 2021, we have full transparency of our tier 1 factories which are available in our supplier list on our website and updated twice a year. These are the factories actually producing our garments – where the cutting, sewing and finishing takes place. On our website, customers can also see in which factory the garment was produced. The next step is to improve transparency in tier 2 and above, which includes all the producers of the fabric, yarn and raw materials that we use. In 2022, we started tracing products back to raw material origin with the help of our Trustrace platform.
Our approach to sustainability is systematic and deeply rooted. We want future fashion to be grounded in equality, diversity and a deep respect for nature. To get there, we will use our creativity, agility, lots of energy and an honest and open relationship with our customers and other stakeholders. We have set clear goals within our four key areas: Climate action, Circularity, Sustainable Products and Diversity & Inclusion. You can read more on our website.
We work with independent producers based mainly in China and Turkey. However, we also have producers in India, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Poland, South Korea, Bangladesh, Bulgaria and France.
A large part of our carbon footprint comes from the energy used by suppliers to manufacture the textiles. At NA-KD, we aim to work more closely with our suppliers. To help suppliers move towards a more sustainable energy usage and a greener production and distribution of apparel.
Traceability and transparency in where materials are sourced are essential. Since June 2021, we have ensured public disclosure of our supplier list. You can find the list on this webpage. On our website, customers can also see in the product background in which factory each garment was produced.
The quality of our clothing is good, and the sizing is accurate. We also have a consumer rating of 4+ stars. This indicates that our customers are generally satisfied with their purchases. We currently rank 19th among General Apparel sites.
At NA-KD, we are putting much effort into becoming a leading brand that respects nature, people and the planet, working closely with our customers to create a more sustainable fashion industry.