Wages, and in particular living wages, seem to always be embroiled in a never-ending debate pertaining to the garment factories of Asia, but with the recent international hue and cry on working conditions the call for living wages is getting even louder. Few Brands have come forward to offer what they believe is living wages, amongst them is the Swedish brand Nudie Jeans which has initiated a move to provide living wages to its only Asian supplier, Armstrong Knitting Mills in Tirupur. Apparel Online takes a closer look…!
A member of Fair Wear Foundation that establishes standards in the apparel industry pertaining to member companies for implementation of a Code of Labour Practice along their supply chain, Nudie is open to scrutiny on compliance through monitoring audits and remediation efforts by the foundation. Taking its good labour practice efforts to a higher plateau, Nudie is working along with the Fair Wear Foundation and through local stakeholders and manufacturers, to define fair wages in its production countries. For Nudie, it is important for the suppliers to earn a decent living wage as low wages in the garment industry is probably one of the greatest challenges marring the industry’s reputation. “When Nudie Jeans decided to take a step towards living wages in India, we calculated a local living wage for the region where we are producing together with the management of the factory. The starting point for this calculation was the definition of a living wage as defined in the Fair Wear Foundation code of labour practices,” informs Henrik Lindholm, CSR Manager, Nudie Jeans. The living wage level for Armstrong Knitting Mills has been calculated in cooperation with the supplier and through the aid of the Asian Floor Wage benchmarks, and is an increase of approximately 17 per cent of the worker’s annual salary.
[bleft]Nudie Jeans is a Swedish clothing brand that originated in Gothenburg in 2001 and was founded by Maria Erixon, former Design Director at Lee Europe. From day one, the business philosophy of Nudie Jeans Co has been based on the love for denim coupled with growing focus on sustainability.
[/bleft]Yet, nothing is defined or concluded in the program regarding fixed living wages, which is still at a premature phase. But for Armstrong, it really is a very good project that they would like to carry forward. “We have been talking about living wages with different customers for past four years and Nudie is the first one to agree and initiate steps to start the process. Few others are following now and there are positive signs that some more will join with us sooner or later on,” maintains P. Vivekanand, MD, Armstrong Knitting Mills. Still in its initial testing stage, the company is very upbeat of the results. “The experience so far has been good and being a really complicated project, it needs more time to conclude and define the model of living wage to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. Right now we really do not know how long it will take to put a workable model in place,” adds Vivekanand.
Being an important supplier for Nudie Jeans, India is where the retailer’s backbone collection of basics, including T-shirts, is produced and going forward the denim brand is also looking for new possibilities of production in the country. As of now, only working with one supplier throughout Asia, major production for Nudie Jeans happens in Italy and Portugal. “As we try to work with long and stable supplier relationships, we have not had a great need to look for suppliers outside Italy and Portugal. One of the reasons why we have not expanded our supplier base in Asia is that we want to have the ability to closely follow production, both because of quality and sustainability issues. As a smaller company, it was not possible for Nudie Jeans to have the level of control that we wanted outside Europe,” asserts Henrik.
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- The company believes in reusing and recycling denims and gives discount to customers who bring their old pair of jeans to their concept stores. These denims are remade and repaired and sold thereafter. For this effort of recycling old denims, Nudie Jeans has achieved the Swedish “Bra Miljöval” or “Good Environmental Choice” eco-label for its second-hand jeans.
- “For Nudie Jeans as a company, sustainability is when there is no trade-off between profit and people, or between manufacturing and environmental responsibility.”Henrik Lindholm, CSR Manager, Nudie Jeans
[/bleft] With support from its suppliers and customers likewise, Nudie Jeans has been able to cater to sustainable production of denims while maintaining a healthy long-term relationship with its suppliers. Already overseeing social challenges such as living wages, the company is also working towards a greener future and production methods leading to environmental sustainability. Till date, the denims produced by Nudie are made from 100 per cent organic cotton, taking forward the sustainable measures of production at each stage in the life cycle of a pair of jeans. “Our commitment is from the cotton field to the recycling of the garments, that is also why we try to encourage environmental thinking throughout the user phase as well, encouraging customers not to wash their clothes too often and to repair their garments when they tear,” states Henrik.
Through improved technology and chemical formulation, the retailer is undertaking a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study of denims in order to improve its production chain and overcome challenges associated with it. “For Nudie Jeans, probably the recycling part is the greatest challenge. We can collect old jeans in our stores and use them in our recycle projects, but for jeans sold where we don’t have our own store, there needs to be an infrastructure and a system to take care of old garments. Here we need both political action as well as technological developments,” asserts Henrik.
In the garment industry, Nudie’s efforts stand out all the more as huge demand for changing fast fashion exacerbates environmental issues, including unethical labour practices. Today an individual owns at least 4 pair of denims while three new pairs are sold every single second around the world. Though Nudie is not the only label which offers a greener alternative for conventional denim, but its focus on sustainability does give the likes of H&M and Inditex some food for thought. It might have been difficult and it may have taken 11 years for Nudie, but it is providing the new wave of conscious consumers a fresh take on denim and a genuine green alternative to the existent big retailers. Further, Nudie inspires other companies to follow their living wage lead and the current program which Nudie is undertaking, is one that many large players will fail at. Seeing a smaller company making this kind of commitment and lead during tight economic times is remarkable!
