Phil Chamberlain, Head of Sustainable Business Development, C&A Europe
C&A Europe is one of the leading chains of fashion retail stores in the world. It started off as a two man operation in 1841, and today it has retail stores all over the world. It is renowned for its fashion trends in the market, and has the most unique fashion designs and patterns to offer to its customers.
Its role in encouraging sustainability in the global textile and apparel market has remained noteworthy. C&A has played an immense role in encouraging the use of organic cotton, especially in the mass market. It is an ardent promoter of transparency throughout the supply chain.
How important is sustainable production for C&A? What steps does the company take towards sustainable production?
It’s extremely important for us. C&A is a company that has been dealing in clothing products since more than 170 years. It’s a family run business, and therefore sustainability plays an important role in the way we think and the way we act.
Coming to the second question – what steps do we take? I think we can divide that into social and environmental issues because sustainable production depends on both these factors. From a social point of view, improving the working conditions is important for us. We have in place a ‘Social Compliance Program’ for this purpose. Equally important is improving the dialogue between the management in production units and the factory workers. On the environmental side, we are the No. 1 user of organic cotton in the world. Sustainability, at the end of the day, is not just about the manufacturer, but goes right through the chain.
Why do you think is it important to improve the dialogue between the management and workers in a production unit?
Because if the dialogue improves, the workers are bound to feel more involved in the production process. The attrition rate drops, migration rate drops, and the overall wages improve! These are the benefits of sustainable production.
Would you advise the use of recycled clothes and second hand clothes to your customers?
Advise? I am not very sure. Recycling is a relatively new industry in this part of the world. So, C&A recycling activities are in their infancy. We are testing this process of recycling the clothes. Second hand clothes are something that we are not promoting at this stage.
Are consumers sufficiently aware of the importance of sustainable clothing in the global fashion and textile industry?
Mainstream consumers at this stage, no, I would say! But probably, there is a core group that is sufficiently aware. I am not sure of the proportion, but there is a small minority who are aware, and who are looking for something more sustainable. There is probably another group behind who would like to, but don’t know how to start about it as yet and then there is another group at the end of the spectrum who have not begun at all. So, it’s a mixed bag. However, that is the current status and by the next five years, the consumers may become far more aware and far more demanding.
Would all the consumers in all the geographical locations be sufficiently aware of this concept in this span of five years that you say? Do you suppose there is more awareness in developed countries as compared to developing countries?
I can’t speak on behalf of developing countries. But if I speak on behalf of C&A Europe (we have twenty one countries in C&A Europe), across the board of twenty one countries, there is an increasing awareness about the need for sustainable clothing. And they will become more vocal in this regards. This concept is much more significant in some countries as compared to the others, so you can’t say that the awareness is similar all across the European Union.
