Sustainability at FALKE 2021
Released August 2021
Mission statement
Dear Readers,
Through the Sustainability Report 2021, we would like to share with you our understanding, our views and our goals about sustainability.
Sustainable corporate governance has always accompanied us and is reflected in our corporate culture, our processes and even in the design of our products. Particularly during the Corona crisis, which overshadowed our anniversary year 2020 and which will continue to be of high concern to us in 2021, we are taking our responsibility towards society seriously, especially towards our employees.
We are countering the current crisis with appropriate measures to ensure the continued existence of our company and to be able to offer our employees a secure job now and in the future. This is not only about counteracting the economic challenges caused by the restrictions in the retail business, but also about stopping the spread of the Corona virus through appropriate preventive measures. This is done by using air filters in offices and warehouses, fever-measuring devices in the entrance areas and regular rapid tests at all company locations. The strong expansion of the possibility to work in a home office is a matter of course.
We consider it essential that our sustainability goals are in line with our corporate goals and are guided by the principles "Social, Ecological and Economic". In order to sharpen our focus on corporate sustainability and product sustainability, we have launched an overarching internal initiative. We will closely monitor and regularly communicate the implementation of the resulting measures and action plans. A decisive step in 2021 will be the certifications according to the Organic Content Standard (OCS) and the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS), which will guarantee us complete traceability of the organic and recycled materials used.
We hope you enjoy reading the report. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information or feedback.
Best regards,
Franz-Peter Falke Paul Falke
How we make our products
The FALKE GROUP produces legwear, underwear and apparel of the brands FALKE and Burlington. Furthermore, FALKE is licensee for ESPRIT legwear.
Our drive and basic principles
Accordingly, before supplying goods to FALKE we request conformity to our guidelines from each supplier of material and finished goods.
To verify the compliance to our requirements we assess our suppliers on a regular basis regarding working conditions, environment protection and chemical management. The audits focus on risk countries as classified by Amfori BSCI and are performed either by our specially trained employees or by independent external institutes. Based on the audit results we accompany the relevant suppliers closely to support them implementing our high standards.
Product Quality
- Pilling
- Abrasion
- Change of colour shade
- Shrinkage after washing according to care labelling
- Visual appearance after washing
- Lose thread ends
- Colourfastness to washing
- Colourfastness to heavy water
- Colourfastness to rubbing
- Colourfastness to sweat (alkaline and acid)
- Colourfastness to saliva and perspiration
- Conformity to Restricted Substances List (RSL)
- Conformity to REACh
The tests performed in our laboratory cover the requirements of physical characteristics, using characteristics and colourfastness as figured above. Independent research and testing institutes verify compliance with the FALKE RSL, which sets the limits of certain substances that must not be exceeded in our products. The FALKE RSL considers relevant requirements of Oeko-Tex and REACh. Any exception from our guideline will be declared and results in root cause analyses with subsequent corrective actions.
Should there be any reason for complaint – we look forward to receiving your feedback for consideration in our product development and improvement process.
Certifications & Standards
FALKE has been certified according to Standard 100 by Oeko-Tex for many years. This standard proves the conformity of our products with the corresponding requirements for physical and chemical product properties. In addition, we have been certified according to the Organic Content Standard (OCS) and the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) since 2021. These certificates provide us with the opportunity to ensure appropriate traceability for organically grown and recycled materials. This is done considering the entire supply chain, which must also be certified. Further information on the standards can be found on the websites of the standard providers:
Standard 100 by Oekotex: https://www.oeko-tex.com/
OCS: https://textileexchange.org/standards/organic-content-standard/
RCS: https://textileexchange.org/standards/recycled-claim-standard-global-recycled-standard/
Social Responsibility
To be in line with our definition of social responsibility the conformity to the BSCI Code of Conduct along the supply chain is an essential part of our Buying Conditions. BSCI is an optional initiative for companies to support the improvement of working conditions along their supply chains. Specific institutes perform audits on a regular basis at participating companies around the world. FALKE is BSCI participant for years and performs audits in all own facilities in BSCI risk countries.
Independent of the availability of a valid BSCI audit we follow up the adherence to the intended social standards. Based on the supplier evaluation either our specially trained employees or independent external institutes visit the facilities on a regular basis. Assessments include but are not limited to monitor working conditions, fair wages and safety aspects. Based on audit results and development we provide close support to the factories to implement our high standards and to improve their BSCI rating. In addition to full audits FALKE continuously performs spot checks along the value chain during regular routine visits for status updates and progress monitoring.
Environment Protection
Environment Protection means to FALKE meeting nature with the biggest respect along the whole product creation process and supply chain. Right from the start, we develop our products under consideration of material origin and consequences of the required production process. We review our production and logistic processes continuously to reduce energy consumption, waste and rejects. We have summarised further information under "Goals, measures and successes in environmental protection" and update this regularly.
Beside prevention of pollution and carbon dioxide emission, animal welfare has been and is a matter of course for us. Wool is one of the most important raw materials we use in our products. Therefore, we have set animal protection as an essential principle in our FALKE Quality Guideline. Please find relevant guidelines and requirements for the individual kinds of wool below.
| Material | Compliance to following guideline |
| Sheep's wool | IWTO Guideline for sheep welfare and Mulesing-free |
| Angora | Certified by CaregoraTM |
Mulesing is a painful treatment of sheeps to prevent infestation of special maggots. Our Quality Guideline excludes the purchase of wool obtained using this method.
Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC)As a proof of conformance, we perform wastewater analyses on all our own factories with “wet processes” and request valid analyses from suppliers with wet processes. In case of non-conformance we agree on countermeasures. The analyses base on ZDHC criteria, a global initiative of fashion brands targeting to bring harmful substances within the manufacturing process to zero.
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