About Fashion Footprint
When we launched Fashion Footprint in 2007, our objective was to monitor and manage the social and environmental impacts of our business. Good businesses recognise that sustainability makes business sense, and we are committed to being part of this.
We believe there are many opportunities for us to fashion a brighter future; our overall Fashion Footprint vision is ‘to produce fashionable products in an ethical way and demonstrate a responsible attitude towards people and the environment’.
Our Fashion Footprint workstreams are organised into four main areas:
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR ENVIRONMENT
OUR EMPLOYEES
OUR COMMUNITIES
Fashion Footprint GoveRnance
Fashion Footprint is overseen by a Steering Group, which meets quarterly to ensure that our social and environmental responsibilities remain integral to Arcadia’s strategy.
The Group is made up of people in senior management positions from across the business and is chaired by Ian Grabiner, Group Chief Executive with Alda Andreotti, Group Supply Chain Director, as the Deputy Chairman.
Each key pillar includes working groups which are sponsored by a Steering Group member to drive progress towards monthly key performance indicators (KPIs). The overall Fashion Footprint programme is managed and coordinated by Derek Mackay, Group Head of Supplier Management, and his Ethical Trading team.
Our Fashion Footprint Advisory Panel (FFAP) was established by the Steering Group in 2009 to act as the voice of our employees. Members represent brands and functions across our business. You can read more about the FFAP in Our Employees.
Stakeholder Engagement
Stakeholders are important to all four of our key pillars and is one of the areas which support all of our Fashion Footprint work (as well as reporting and communication).
Six key groups regularly shape and challenge our work. Below we outline these groups with some examples.
1. Suppliers, their factories and factory workers
We work frequently with this group of stakeholders, in particular on ethical trading.
2. Our employees
Our employees are involved in the FFAP and take on Green Champion roles in Head Office.
3. Trade unions, governments, NGOs, campaigning groups and students
We liaise with this group of stakeholders on a variety of projects, such as with the Institute of Human Rights and Business on migrant workers or Self Employed Women’s Association in India.
Each year we offer ethical trading student placements, leading to some useful projects relating to areas such as purchasing practices and up-cycling garments (re-using fabrics to make new garments).
4. Customers
Customer letters and emails ensure we keep up-to-date with their interests and concerns and have influenced how we plan to roll out Fashion Footprint to our stores.
5. Other retailers and brands
We benefit from collaborating with other retailers and brands, both in large groups and on specific projects.
6. Third party service providers
We work with many third party service providers, from testing our products, to auditing our suppliers’ factories and shaping our thinking about Fashion Footprint. These companies provide an extension of the work our teams carry out and are a valuable support to our programmes.
For more information about our Fashion Footprint work, you can follow the links above or go to our FAQs.
You can contact us at hellofashionfootprint@arcadiagroup.co.uk.
