Responsibility | Nobody's Child

People
Planet
Product
Goals

Our responsibility mission

Nobody’s Child is a London-based fashion label established in 2015. We make responsible clothing for free-spirited and strong-willed women with materials that have a lower impact on the planet. We believe that people can look and feel their best whilst being kinder to the Earth. Our mission is to revolutionise women’s fashion by making clothes that are made responsibly, while existing at an affordable price point.

Fabric choice accounts for up to 80% of a products social and environmental footprint, so that’s where our focus lies. We are proud to say that over 90% of our 2022 collection was made using responsible fabrics – we’re working hard to get to 100%. We do this through sourcing new and innovative textiles and collaborating with key partners to find the best solutions for people and the planet. whilst making the best product for our community.

Collaboration is integral to our success. Challenges are often complex, and we partner with select experts and businesses to educate and collaborate with us on complex and nuanced areas to find viable solutions. These partners include suppliers, fabric mills, raw material suppliers, NGOs and specialist consultants.

Nobody’s perfect. We certainly don’t claim to be. The fashion industry flourishes from consumption and this, in itself, contradicts the concept of sustainability. Instead, we are forward thinking, focused on innovation and the continued development of our responsible initiatives ensuring we make the right choices at the right time to minimise our social and environmental impact.

In 2021, we kicked off our Responsibility Roadmap. With our ambition of being the most responsible version of ourselves, we outlined our intentions, and set in place tangible short and long-term initiatives around how our business impacts people, the planet and how we produce our products in a responsible way.

2022
- Re-Fashion
  
  Collaborated with Re-Fashion to promote circularity and give clothes a second life.
2021
- Reforestation
  
  Supported TreeSisters by funding the planting of 5.5k trees.
- Circularity
  
  Signed up to Textiles 2030 to tackle circularity in the fashion industry.
- Recycled materials
  
  Launched our first athleisure collection made from recycled plastic bottles.
- Forestry policy
  
  Partnered with Canopy on the PACK4Good initiative, making a commitment through our Forest Fibres Policy to protect the world’s ancient and endangered forests.
- Women's empowerment
  
  Signed up to the Women’s Empowerment Principles.
- Carbon emissions
  
  We kicked off the year with a carbon assessment of our business.
- Brand commitment
  
  Collaborated with The Right Project to map out our Responsibility Roadmap.

People
Planet
Product
Goals

People

Labour standards and code of conduct

We ensure safe and fairly paid work for everyone who works for and with Nobody's Child and it is integral that our partners throughout our supply chain are treated fairly. We have labour standards in place that are continuously monitored. We are committed to continuously strengthening these safeguarding measures each year. Our suppliers must meet or exceed the conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Our Code of Conduct ensures the companies we purchase goods and services from:

operate lawfully;

do not exploit the people who work for them;

provide decent working conditions; and

do not damage the environment.

Our Code of Conduct are based on the ILO conventions and the Ethical Trading Initiative’s base code, to which we have added two additional requirements covering modern day slavery and the environment. The Code is designed to be fair and has the aim of promoting the ongoing development and success of our suppliers and factories. In collaboration with our key partners, we aim to exceed it all targets. We work with specialist companies to independently audit our suppliers' factories on an annual basis and have a rigorous Ethical Trade Programme in place. The audits include confidential interviews with workers, wide-ranging document checks including employee contracts, wages, hours and thorough health and safety inspections. Any non-compliances found are given timescales to complete which are investigated with a document review or additional follow-up audits.

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Gender equality and women’s empowerment

Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a sustainable world. We signed up to the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. Established by the UN Global Compact and UN Women, the WEPs are aligned with international labour and human rights standards and are grounded in the recognition that businesses have a stake and responsibility for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Animal welfare

Responsible fashion shouldn’t just consider the impact on humans, but on the impact on animals, too.

Currently, the only animal fibre we use is a small amount of wool. Meanwhile we’ve reassessed our approach and taken into consideration the negative water pollution, land use and global warming factors that are commonly associated with wool production. Where we can, we use recycled wool, any virgin wool we use must be RWS rectified. The Responsible Wool standard ensures the welfare of sheep and the land they graze on.

Beyond the use of wool, we don’t use any other animal fibres in our clothing collection and have a strict policy on any materials in our goods that contain animal-derived fibres.

Charities and community work

We’re committed to making a positive change within the fashion industry and within the communities around us. Since 2021, Nobody’s Child has:

Provided stock and samples to Smartworks, a UK charity that exists to give women the confidence they need to reach their full potential, secure employment and change the course of their lives.

Donated clothes to Newlife, a charity that supports children with disabilities by providing much needed specialist equipment.

Supported WWF's Wildfire Emergency Appeal by donating over £5000 to help stop the wildfires in Turkey and protect the wildlife affected.

Arranged a team litter pick around the area of our new office in Camden, London.

Planted 5448 trees in partnership with TreeSisters. We have also committed to planting a tree for every bag our customers donate to Re-Fashion.

Supported Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity.

“Doing a world of good for people and the planet is what we truly believe in. Because while we’re on a journey, we feel positive about the change we can make along the way.” –  Jody Plows, CEO.

Planet

Biodiversity

The fashion industry is a significant contributor to the loss of biodiversity on the planet. Fashion supply chains are directly linked to soil degradation, conversion of natural ecosystems, and waterway pollution. Biodiversity matters; we rely on it for food and energy, and we depend on its irreplaceable role in sustaining air quality, providing fresh water and soil, and regulating the climate.

Here are four ways we are supporting the planet and its biodiversity.

1. Material use

Using organic and transitional cotton instead of conventional cotton means we can help restrict the use of harmful pesticides and create healthy soil that locks in carbon. Wood-based natural fibres such as viscose are involved in the logging of more than 150 million trees a year, up to 30% of which come from endangered and primary forests. We use responsible viscose from responsible, regenerative and certified sources.

2. Water

The production of clothing can overexploit freshwater resources and contaminate waterways through chemical runoff and nonbiodegradable liquid waste. Of the 1,900 chemicals used in clothing production, the European Union classifies 165 as hazardous to the health or the environment. The material certification we use for our fabrics restricts the use of hazardous chemicals in our products.

3. Microplastics

Around 700,000 fibres are released in a standard laundry load, and half a million tons of microfibers (which are a type of microplastic) end up in oceans every year. There is an industry-wide challenge that requires further research to find out which fabrics release the most fibres and what the industry can do to prevent the fibres from entering the water system. Over 70% of our dresses are made from LENZING™ ECOVERO™, which are fully biodegradable and do not contribute to marine litter and microplastic pollution.

4. Textile waste

73% of textile waste is incinerated or ends up in landfills, this releases pollutants into the surroundings and contributes to habitat loss. We work with Re-fashion to encourage our customers to keep their clothing in circulation for longer.

We know that textile production is the world’s second most polluting industry after the oil industry. The total greenhouse gas emissions from textile production currently stands at 1.2 billion tonnes annually and accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions.

Climate impact

We know that climate change is the biggest problem facing our planet; it’s responsible for food insecurity, water scarcity, flooding, infectious diseases, extreme heat, economic losses, and displacement. We also know that textile production is the world’s second most polluting industry after the oil industry. The total greenhouse gas emissions from textile production currently stands at 1.2 billion tonnes annually and accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions. Consuming fossil fuel-based electricity, the primary source of energy in the apparel production process, cause huge greenhouse gas emissions.

Measuring carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is complex. Many businesses do not include emissions that derive from the use of their products and supply chain (where the most emissions usually occur), but only the operations in the country they operate.

To start our journey in this area, we worked with an independent carbon consultancy over four months to gather important data that allows us to map our entire emissions, both direct and indirect, and set our baseline year (2020). This included measuring emissions all the way from raw materials to how our customers use out products.

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What we learned

Our total carbon footprint is how much carbon dioxide and other gases go into the atmosphere.

Our total emissions for 2020 were 2,050 tCO2e. That’s the equivalent of:

1,266 flights from London to New York or

34.4 million smart phone charges

88% of our carbon footprint is attributed to sourcing our products. This includes raw materials through to sewing and then transporting our goods to the UK

10% comes from our customers using our products (mainly washing and drying)

2% comes from the storage and distribution of our goods

Our next steps

Update our data for 2021 so we have an up-to-date information on all our emissions
Work with specialists to produce a carbon reduction strategy and review areas where we can reduce our emissions
Set science-based targets to achieve these reductions
Offset our entire emissions for 2021 and become Net Zero (balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere)

Product

When it comes to cleaning up fashion, fabric choice alone can account for up to 80% of a product’s social and environmental footprint. We’re proud that over 90% of our 2022 collection was made from responsible fabrics. We are working to get that remaining 10% more responsible through the exploration of new materials and embracing textiles innovation with key partners. We define a responsible fabric as one where at least 50% of the fabric used is verified as being recycled, organic or lower impact than traditional fabrics. Primarily, we have sought to find responsible alternatives to three of the most widely used materials in the fashion industry which have a negative footprint on the planet: viscose, polyester and cotton.

Fabric choice accounts for 80% of a products social and environmental footprint.*

Our fabrics

Viscose

The vast majority of our Viscose is sourced from sustainably managed forests and has a lower water footprint compared to standard viscose. The wood fibres are derived from FSC® certified neutral, renewable sources and have full traceability back to their origin.

As well as using less water, both LENZING™ ECOVERO™ and Livaeco by Birla Cellulose™ have a lower carbon footprint than traditional viscose and are biodegradable meaning they’re kinder to the planet as well as soft on the skin.
Cotton

Organic cotton creates healthy soil that locks in carbon and emits up to 46% fewer greenhouse gases than conventional cotton.
Meanwhile, it uses 11 times less water than traditional cotton, doesn’t use harmful pesticides that leach into the environment, contributes half as much CO2 emissions than regular cotton does. Its fibres are longer and stronger than conventional cotton so your clothes last longer. Our cotton is free from exploitation, so we don’t source our cotton from Xinjiang, Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan.
We use cotton which falls into one of the following certifications:
Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certification
Organic Cotton Standard 100 (OCS100) certification
Fairtrade certification (by Flocert) Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certification BCI (Better Cotton Initiative)
.

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Embracing TRANSITIONAL COTTON programmes that help and assist the farmers during their pre-certification years is integral to supporting a future of widely used organic farming. .

Farmers go through a lengthy process to achieve an organic certification for their cotton, which typically takes 3 years. This conversion period is very difficult for farmers, who usually experience an initial drop in yield, while not being able to obtain premium organic prices for their crops. Embracing transitional cotton programmes that help and assist the farmers during their pre-certification years is integral to supporting a future of widely used organic farming.

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Why is traditional cotton bad for the planet?.

Cotton is the most used fabric on Earth, accounting for over half of the world’s fibre needs, however, the use of conventional cotton has negative impact on the planet through high water usage and the use of more pesticides than any other crop on the planet.

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Synthetics

Where we use synthetic fabrics, we seek out recycled fibres to reduce the creation of new materials from crude oil. Recycled polyester is obtained by melting down existing plastics and spinning it into a fibre. The use of which gives a second life to material that’s not biodegradable and would otherwise end up in landfill or the ocean. And with 8 million metric tonnes of plastic entering the ocean each year, recycled polyester offers an alternative to plastic waste.

We work with certifications including the Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certification and the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) certification. Where we can, we’re reducing the use of blended synthetic materials, making our products easier to recycle at the end of their life.

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Why is POLYESTER bad for the planet?

The use of which gives a second life to material that's not biodegradable and would otherwise end up in landfill or the ocean. And with 8 million metric tonnes of plastic entering the ocean each year, recycled polyester.

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Materials we don’t like

Along with identifying responsible fibres for our collections, we have also restricted certain materials from ever knowingly entering our supply chain. Our restricted materials list is applied to our main materials categories as well as to our trims and components.

Animal Fur Angora

Conventional Cotton, Nylon, Polyester and Viscose textiles

Exotic Skins or Hides Endangered Species; we will never knowingly source any species listed on the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) and IUCN (International Union for Conservation Red) lists of endangered species.

PVC (polyvinyl chloride)

Virgin Animal Derived Leather Virgin Down and Feathers
Finishing

All our materials undergo a certain degree of processing, known as ‘finishing’, when they are made into textiles. We uphold rigorous finishing standards to ensure our materials minimise chemical impacts.

How do these materials compare?

How do these materials compare?

Transparent supply chain

We would not be able to say that over 90% of our 2022 collection was made from responsible fabrics if it were not for our key partners in our supply chain.

We strive to trace every step of our clothing supply chain from raw material source to manufacturing. For the majority of our ranges, we buy fabrics directly from fabric mills which allows us to better understand potential social and environmental risks, as well as opportunities to improve our impact

In support of our transparency objectives, we list all our factories on the Open Apparel Registry, an open-source tool which maps garment facilities worldwide.

Neotex Morocco	Make our woven products including our Alexa, Clementine and Lucia dresses.
Safran Turkey	Make our woven products including our Felicia, Luna, Daisy and Selena dresses.
FA Fashion Moldova	Make our woven products including our Maya, Esme and Delilah dresses.
Choice Clothing India	Make our woven and broderie products including our Alexa, Esme and Felicia dresses.
3F Global Hazır Giyim A.S. Turkey	Make our woven products including dresses and tops.
Azim Tekstil Konfeksiyon Gida Turizm San. Ve Dıs Tic. Ltd. Sti. Turkey	Make our activewear from our athleisure collection.
Imteks Mayo Tekstil Sanayi ve Dis Ticaret Anonim Sirketi Turkey	Make our swimwear.
Manual Turkey	Make our woven dresses.
Sava Triko Ind And Trade Ltd Co Turkey	Make our knitwear.
Tera Giyim San Ve Tic As-fatsa Branch Turkey	Make our loungewear including our vegetable-dyed jumpers.
Newtex Turkey	Make our woven occasion dresses including our Ammie, Amy, Alice, Coco and Dani dresses.
Chottani Industries Pakistan	Make our denim products.
Echotex Ltd Bangladesh	Make our knitwear, loungewear and t-shirts.
London Fashions Romania	Make our tailoring and suits.
Akbaslar Turkey	Make our fabrics.
Ilay Turkey	Make our fabrics.
Savcan Turkey	Make our fabrics.

Our packaging

Product Tags

Our product tags are made from 100% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper from responsibly-managed forests.

Shipping and Packaging

It’s estimated that the average European generates 170kg of packaging waste per year.

We have upgraded our packaging to brown paper that’s responsibly sourced from FSC approved materials. Just like our previous bags we were using before, it’s recyclable.

To ensure your delivery arrives in top notch condition, you’ll still find a certified recycled and recyclable plastic inner bag inside. However, we’re aiming for a plastic-free future at Nobody’s Child and will continue to review the most responsible solutions on the market as they’re developed.

Alternative Packaging

We have explored paper, oxo-degradable and biodegradable plastics in our packaging. But as with all sustainability initiatives these things are nuanced. Such materials need to be properly composted and meet very specific conditions in order to break down into natural matter, and in some cases, this type of packaging can contaminate waste streams. When thrown in the bin, they're likely to end up in a landfill without the proper temperature and oxygen needed to decompose. We opted for recyclable packaging to help our customers help the planet with minimal effort.

“Here at Nobody’s Child, we have a positive vision for the future. We believe thoughtfully created clothes should be the rule, not the exception, and we’re dedicated to making responsible and affordable pieces, whilst being as transparent and honest as possible.” –  Jody Plows, CEO.

Investing in a circular future

A circular economy is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in
use, and regenerating natural systems.

For fashion this means:

keep clothing in use for longer

making clothes from safe and renewable materials

ensuring clothes are made to be made again

We are designing and sourcing our products with the intention of them being reused and circulating for as long as
possible.

We have joined Textiles 2030, a new ground-breaking, expert-led initiative, harnessing the knowledge and expertise of
UK leaders in sustainability to accelerate the whole fashion and textiles industry's move towards circularity and
system change in the UK. Textiles 2030 targets include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water and the amount of
virgin materials used.

As well as participating in Textiles 2030, we plan to review all areas of our business to assess how circular they
are. We will be training our design and buying teams on the concept of circularity with a focus on circular design.
Then, we will develop our own circular strategy and set appropriate targets.

“For fashion this means creating business models that keep clothing in use for longer, making clothes from safe and renewable materials, and ensuring clothes are made to be made again, so that at the end of their use they can be safely and easily used to make new clothes.”

– Laura Balmond Project manager for Make Fashion Circular at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation22

Goals

We have chosen 5 key goals to achieve. We plan to review these goals at the end of each year and provide updates on our progress. Under each goal you the relating, The Sustainable Development Goals^,which were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. Here at Nobody’s Child we align our activities, goals and reporting to these SDGs.

2023
- 95% of collections made from responsible fabrics
  
  How will we achieve this?
  - Responsible fabric alternatives will be continually assessed for all product types and integrated into our material mix regularly.
  - Continue to always choose the most responsible version for key fabrics.
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- Carbon Neutral
  
  How will we achieve this?
  - Update our carbon footprint for 2021 and 2022
  - Offset 2021 emissions in full (Scopes 1,2&3)
  - Create a carbon reduction strategy and establish Science Based Targets (SBTi)
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- Zero waste to landfill from our UK operations
  
  How will we achieve this?
  - Working with our warehouse partners and office management to implement policy and procedures to ensure no waste to landfill. A reporting mechanism will be established to monitor.
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2024
- Introduce Circular Design into 50% of our styles
  
  How will we achieve this?
  - Train our design and buying teams on the concept of circularity.
  - Specific training for our designers to ensure circular principles are designed into our clothes.
  - This is in line with the following UN sustainable development goals:
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2025
- Reduce our absolute emissions in-line with the Paris agreement
  
  How will we achieve this?
  - Collaborate with experts to identify key areas in which we can reduce absolute emissions and drive core initiatives to reach targets set.
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Our responsibility mission

2022

Re-Fashion

2021

Reforestation

Circularity

Recycled materials

Forestry policy

Women's empowerment

Carbon emissions

Brand commitment

People

Labour standards and code of conduct

Gender equality and women’s empowerment

Animal welfare

Charities and community work

Planet

Biodiversity

Here are four ways we are supporting the planet and its biodiversity.

1. Material use

2. Water

3. Microplastics

4. Textile waste

Climate impact

What we learned

Our next steps

Product

Viscose

Cotton

Synthetics

Materials we don’t like

Finishing

How do these materials compare?

How do these materials compare?

Transparent supply chain

Our packaging

Product Tags

Shipping and Packaging

Alternative Packaging

Investing in a circular future

Goals

2023

95% of collections made from responsible fabrics

Carbon Neutral

Zero waste to landfill from our UK operations

2024

Introduce Circular Design into 50% of our styles

2025

Reduce our absolute emissions in-line with the Paris agreement

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