SUSTAINABILITY
Responsible style, now and forever
Over a decade ago, I founded ME+EM on three key pillars: flattering, functional, and forever. From focusing on long-lasting aesthetic appeal to scrupulously selecting the highest quality fabrics, slow fashion is in our DNA.
But as our brand, and the fashion industry, have evolved, the importance of ‘forever’ has gained an even greater sense of urgency. That’s why we’ve been working tirelessly behind the scenes to review every area of our business and reduce our impact on the environment. The result is more responsible decisions for our planet and for our people - from you, our customers, to our teams, and every person in our supply chains.
Collaborating with experts both in-house and externally, we have created a comprehensive roadmap to becoming the most socially and environmentally responsible brand we can be. In the interest of honest transparency, here is a breakdown of those short- and long-term goals across our business.
Our Factories
Our suppliers are an extension of our team. Direct relationships with them mean we know exactly who is making our clothes and where. We don’t introduce new suppliers every season so that we can not only build strong and transparent relationships but also so that we can guarantee consistent quality. Explore our supplier map to learn more about where we make our collections.
We work with factories all over the world. We ask our suppliers to provide transparent costs for every style so that we can work together to agree on a fair price for everyone involved.
Visibility, honesty, and transparency are values we extend to all our relationships. To effectively communicate this with our suppliers, we created a code of conduct that they must adhere to in order to work with us.
In March 2022, we were proud to graduate to full membership of the Ethical Trade Initiative, an organisation dedicated to bringing about long-term change and respect for workers worldwide. As members of the ETI, we have adopted its internationally recognised base code of labour standards as the foundations of our own code of conduct, specifically relating to protecting and promoting workers' rights. Through our graduation we have demonstrated the practical ways in which we work that promotes transparency and fairness within our supply chain.
We are also members of SEDEX, an organisation that helps companies improve their responsible and sustainable business practices. We require all our suppliers to be members of SEDEX as well so that we can have full transparency of their business operations and how workers are treated. This is achieved through a rigorous auditing framework and assessing sites to ensure workers rights are protected. It also gives us the opportunity to celebrate their successes and partner with them to remedy areas for improvement.
Sourcing
It’s crucial that all our buying and design practises are ethically responsible, fair and reduce carbon emissions wherever possible. 57% of the fibres used in our SS22 collection are natural or recycled, and 85% of all our fabrics are sourced from the country they are produced in, minimising the transport element of the supply chain.
All of our suppliers must also adhere to the same strict code of conduct in order to work with us. This covers:
Animal welfare (our wool is mulesing-free and our leather is only ever obtained as a by-product)
Chemical policy (we do not allow the use of any hazardous chemicals in our supply chain and suppliers must follow REACH regulations)
Cotton sourcing (we do not permit any cotton sourced from Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Xinjiang)
We want to support the most innovative sustainable initiatives in the industry. In February 2022, we became members of Better Cotton. Better Cotton’s mission is to help cotton communities survive and thrive while protecting and restoring the environment.
Better Cotton trains farmers to use water efficiently, care for the health of the soil and natural habitats, reduce the use of harmful chemicals and respect the rights and well-being of workers. It’s a comprehensive approach to growing cotton in a more sustainable way. Better Cotton is sourced via a chain of custody model called mass balance. This means that Better Cotton is not physically traceable to end-products, however, Better Cotton Farmers benefit from the demand for Better Cotton in equivalent volumes to those we ‘source.’
We are committed to sourcing 50% of our cotton as ‘more sustainable cotton’ by 2024. This includes cotton sourced as Better Cotton, recycled, Fairtrade and organic cotton.
We recognise that our processes have an environmental impact and have made a commitment to owning our carbon emissions. As such, we have begun an exciting project to understand our carbon footprint and can therefore target reduction areas and commit to projects to help offset our emissions.
Packaging
Currently, over 75% of our packaging is made from recycled or recyclable material. By the end of 2022, that will be 100% of packaging. In addition, we’ve made our delivery bags and our ME+EM tote bag, which are crafted entirely from plastic bottles, 100% biodegradable.
We have also launched our next project to ensure that all swing tickets and attachments on our products are sustainably sourced by the end of 2022.
Our look books are printed on PEFC Certified paper from sustainably managed forests and controlled sources, are 100% recyclable, and are never sent in any kind of plastic bag.
HQ
To avoid any ME+EM products entering landfill, we recycle or donate all our fabrics and trims from our head office to art schools and colleges. We also donate samples and write off stock to charities such as Smart Works and NEWLIFE (newlifecharity.co.uk).
Community + Giving
As a brand founded by and predominantly run by women, it’s crucial to us that we pay those opportunities forward to support and empower others. In 2020, ME+EM Founder Clare Hornby was made an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust Women Supporting Women initiative, which works to equip young women across the UK to build their own future through education, training and employment. We continue to support their vital work throughout the year with exclusive collaborations and donations.
We donate the proceeds of our sample sales to Smart Works, an organisation that arms women with the tools and clothes they need to succeed in job interviews. We have also collaborated with the Lady Garden Foundation, a charity working to remove the taboo around discussing gynaecological health, while raising awareness and funding for gynaecological-cancer research (https://smartworks.org.uk/)
(https://www.ladygardenfoundation.com/)
In addition, we are pleased to be an accredited Living Wage Employer. The real Living Wage is higher than the government’s minimum, or National Living Wage, and is an independently calculated hourly rate of pay based on the actual cost of living. Over 9000 organisations, including ME+EM, voluntarily choose to pay the real Living Wage because we believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. This commitment applies not only to directly employed staff but also to our third-party contracted staff.(https://www.livingwage.org.uk/what-real-living-wage)
Circularity
In our commitment to preventing any materials or garments entering landfill, we recycle or donate all our fabrics and trims from our head office to art schools and colleges.
We donate damaged or unsellable stock to Newlife, the charity supporting disabled children and their families, for their recycling centre operation. The operation gives opportunities to people from all backgrounds and abilities to volunteer and learn new skills. (https://newlifecharity.co.uk/about/)
And we have partnered with My Wardrobe HQ to offer a capsule selection of our range for rental.