Home | Sustainability

BECOMING THE MOST

RESPONSIBLE

VERSION OF OURSELVES

We are in the midst of a change in industry toward greater responsibility for products, people and the environment. We want to face up to this change and play an active role in shaping it. In doing so, we have a lot to learn and follow the motto "BECOMING THE MOST RESPONSIBLE VERSION OF OURSELVES", a little more every day.

OUR RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS CONDUCT POLICY

What values do we follow in our daily work, in our communication and cooperation with colleagues, partners and our customers? 

With our RBC Policy, we have committed ourselves to more responsibility and want to anchor this in the minds of our team.

IMPACT REPORT 2022/23

For the fiscal year 2022/23 we have written an Impact Report for the first time. In this report, we tell you more about our sustainability strategy, our supply chain and products, how we live our team culture and empower our colleagues. 

We are a Fairwear member

We have been a member of the Fair Wear Foundation since March 2022 and work closely with our production partners to improve working conditions for workers. We are very proud that we achieved the Good Status in our annual Brand Performance Check. Read our latest Fair Wear Social Report here. 

OUR COOPERATION WITH Evidence Action

In the middle of 2023, we developed a new donation strategy. It was important to us to dedicate our annual donations to a project that we consider particularly effective and that is close to our team's hearts. In fiscal year 23/24, we donated 35,000 euros to Evidence Action.

OUR PRODUCTS

Our products stand for quality, durability and timelessness. We try to constantly use more recycled and resource-saving materials throughout our product portfolio. For example, recycled PET in our backpacks and bio-based acetate in our sunglasses.

BACKPACKS & BAGS

A backpack usually consists of a variety of materials, such as linings, reinforcements, foams, buckles or zippers. Therefore, here we will only go into the main materials, which are rPET, PU and polyester. These materials are made from petroleum-based commodities and are characterised by particularly high durability and longevity. This is extremely important for a backpack, as it is exposed to high stress daily and would otherwise wear out too quickly.

While we currently still rely on virgin material for PU and polyester to meet these needs, we are constantly trying to increase the proportion of more resource saving materials. What is the advantage of recycled material compared to virgin material? On the one hand, finite resources such as petroleum are less strained, and on the other hand, the negative impact on the environment during processing and production is significantly lower. We will explain the process of rPET production in more detail here. 

What is rPET?

The abbreviation rPET stands for recycled polyethylene terephthalate, a material which is made from old plastic bottles. How does this work?

Through the recycling process, the so-called "post consumer plastic", which comes from private households, is returned to recycling plants where it is cleaned and melted down to be spun into polyester fibers. Recycled polyester is still of high quality compared to newly produced material but requires significantly less resources to be manufactured and causes much less emissions. RPET is mainly used for outer material and lining layers in our backpacks. 

EYEWEAR

We use stainless steel and acetate for the frames of our high-quality sunglasses. Acetate is particularly well suited to the requirements of a pair of glasses, as the material is light but at the same time very flexible and robust and can therefore withstand daily use for a long time.

Acetate is a chemically produced fiber, but has a natural origin, as it largely consists of dried cotton or beech wood. These natural resources are ground into a fine cellulose powder, esterified and pressed into a sheet mold, from which the frame shapes are cut out and further processed. Any waste during the production process is collected and recycled. We recently switched the acetate of our frames to a bio-based alternative, which will be used for all our acetate eyewear models from May 2023 onwards. Bio acetate is comparable to conventional acetate in the manufacturing process but uses nature-based plasticisers that have a less harmful environmental impact; production requires fewer resources such as water, energy and uses improved chemicals. In addition, the product can be degraded more quickly. Under optimal conditions, laboratory tests have shown that the cellulose pellets, from which the bio acetate is pressed, have degraded by more than 90% after 90 days.

Therefore, we are very proud of our bio acetate frames; they do not only meet ambitions for a more ressource saving production through the use of renewable raw materials and bio-based plasticisers, but also have a promising end-of-life concept, which we want to expand further in the future.

Contrary to what you might expect, the majority of our lenses are made of nylon rather than glass, as this material has many advantages. It is robust, versatile and does not splinter when broken. In addition, nylon lenses are very lightweight and therefore contribute to optimal wearing comfort. Due to their high flexibility, they are compatible with many frames and can also be ground into different corrective lenses. We are currently investigating whether the lenses can also be manufactured from recycled materials and how they can also possibly be recycled in the end-of life phase.

WATCHES & JEWELLERY

For most of our watch and jewellery collections, as well as for some eyewear frames, we use 316L stainless steel refined with chrome, nickel and molybdenum. A high proportion of chromium makes the housing particularly robust as well as corrosion-resistant, while nickel and molybdenum provide protection against, for example, water, heat and salt. Among other things, this composition gives our products increased resilience.

In addition, 316L stainless steel is hypoallergenic, making it suitable for everyone. Moreover, it has the advantage of being one of the most recyclable materials on earth. However, the manufacturing of stainless steel is energy-intensive, as it requires high temperatures to melt. This is why we have made use of recycled stainless steel for out latest watch models. Recycled stainless steel is extracted from offcuts and waste materials and then reprocessed. While manufacturing of recycled stainless steel is the same it saves the use of finite natural resources and therefore also needs fewer resources and causes less GHG emissions. For this reason, we have decided to increase the use of recycled stainless steel in our all our watch models and eyewear frames where style and condition allows. 

JACKETS

Our fleece jacket models are mainly made of recycled nylon, which is, similar to the material of our backpacks, made from recycled PET bottles. This has the advantage that no new resources have to be used for the production and the production is also less harmful to the environment, because for example less energy is used in the production of the material. If you want to learn more about the process of rPET manufacturing, go to the Backpacks and Bags section here.

Our rain jacket models are mainly made of PU material, which gives the jacket its waterproof character. PU is therefore an important component for the functionality of the jacket. We are currently looking at how we can use PU in our backpacks and jackets in a more resource-friendly way. We are looking at how we can make the bottom layer of the PU from recycled polyester and the polyurethane coating water-based so that we will have to use fewer raw materials and chemicals in the future.