We’re into the crisp autumn months and so are back with the next quarterly update on our sustainability journey, penned by our specialist Sourcing & Sustainability Consultant, Julia Redman. Read on to hear about our latest news and developments.

Since our last instalment of news on our sustainability journey, we’ve been working hard on further positive changes to our supply chain.

As part of our commitment to improving social and ethical practices throughout our supply chain, we have joined leading online data exchange Sedex.

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What is Sedex?

The ‘Social & Ethical Data Exchange’ is an online platform with over 60,000 members, both retailers and suppliers, in over 180 countries, who are dedicated to improving conditions worldwide in apparel production.

By joining Sedex, members get access to one of the world’s leading online platforms that helps companies manage and improve the working conditions in global supply chains. Sedex also provides invaluable tools, services and a community network to assist companies on their journey to improving sustainability within their operations.

MODEL WEARING DINO TOP, MODEL WEARING ALYS TOP Dino Dinosaur Breton Stripe Top, Alys Green Pot Plant Breton Stripe Top

How Does Sedex Work for Us?

Sedex enables greater visibility and transparency in our supply chain. It is an information sharing platform which contributes to supply chain assessment and the auditing of manufacturing facilities throughout the world.

Our aim is to gain further insight into our suppliers and their practices. Sedex helps us to be more familiar with every supplier in the chain and allows us to hold key information about them, including:

• Where all suppliers throughout the value chain are located – including suppliers to direct suppliers, and their suppliers etc.
• Any possible fundamental risks to human and environmental rights associated with the countries, industries and activities of each supplier.

MODEL WEARING LUCIE DRESS, MODEL WEARING ARIANNE LIGHTNING JUMPSUIT, MODEL WEARING PURDITA STARBURST DRESS Lucie EcoVero™ Nocturnal Print Dress, Arianne EcoVero™ Lightning Bolt Print Jumpsuit, Purdita EcoVero™ Retro Starburst Print Shirt Dress

Why is this important?

Making further improvements to our supply chain visibility is key to responsible sourcing, and therefore our sustainability journey. Joining Sedex will help us to identify, mitigate and prevent possible risks that could occur within supply. As a member of Sedex, we also get support in helping us comply with local legislation and the due diligence we’re able to put into supply decisions support human and environmental rights.

Every audit carried out checks for compliance against a set of key criteria including health and safety, workers rights, working hours and wages, local laws and regulations, environmental impact and initiatives, cleanliness, access to drinking water and toilet facilities, etc. It is a very thorough and stringent process, with follow up visits to ensure that any requirements for improvement are dealt with quickly and efficiently.

By increasing our knowledge of our supply chain, and making it as transparent as possible, we will have far greater control over our ethical and environmental impact. There will always be more we can do to improve in these areas so our work here will be forever ongoing in the interests of protecting the future of both our people and the planet, in line with Unicef’s Sustainable Development Goals.

This aligns with our plans for a greater level of Environmental Social Governance, and equal importance of people, profit and planet within our business and its supply chain. It will ensure that we can measure our progress against ethical, social and environmental goals more effectively.

Our Brand Director, Lucy says:

Whilst Joanie is still a relatively small independent business, we have huge ambitions when it comes to improving our practices and environmental footprint that go far beyond other clothing brands much larger than ourselves. When we started Joanie, we wrote our own set of guidelines and an Ethical Code for our suppliers to follow. By joining Sedex, we can take that one step further; we have much more transparency in our supply chain. Now that our factories are being independently audited, we have further assurance that best practices are being followed and working conditions are the best possible for the people making our clothes. There are many more steps to take, but our journey towards becoming a more conscious brand continues.

 

MODEL WEARING MACDOUGAL RUST BOILERSUIT, MODEL WEARING MACDOUGAL SAGEBRUSH BOILERSUIT MacDougal Cord Long Sleeve Boilersuit - Rust, MacDougal Cord Long Sleeve Boilersuit - Sage Green

Sedex and Future Practice

All of our suppliers have now joined us in becoming members of Sedex, and we are moving towards the next stage of this rollout, by working with these suppliers to help them become fully and consistently audited to the highest level. Our factories are now 70% SMETA (Sedex Member Ethical Trade Audit) audited and we are working towards becoming 100% by the end of the year.

Any new suppliers and factories are checked for relevant audits before we take them on, but by carrying out SMETA audits, we can be much clearer on the provenance and supply chain journey of every single product we produce.

We are very proud of this achievement and are also ambitious in our plans to further develop both the ethical and environmental credentials of our sources throughout our operations and supply chain.

Please see our Ethical Policy for further information and you can shop our latest sustainable styles, here!