C&A Foundation Lessons Learned: Invest in Leadership, Apply Learnings

(Credit: C&A)

C&A Foundation, the corporate foundation affiliated with global retailer C&A, shared some crucial lessons-learned in its annual report. For example, the organization says, “learning without application is not learning,” adding that forgetting the basics - that is, applying what has been learned - is “a crucial mistake.”

The Foundation - whose purpose is to “spark the change that will fundamentally transform the fashion industry” by giving partners financial support and expertise - suggests that in order to have the greatest possible impact, an organization needs to invest in leadership, strategy, planning and communications.

C&A Foundation invested about $54 million in 2o18, with more than 34 new partnerships and 24 renewed partnerships to increase the production and uptake of organic cotton, improve working conditions, end child and forced labour, foster new circular business models, and build resilient communities.

Other lessons learned:

• Good results demand collective learning: A collaborative approach to systemic change is complicated. That’s why it is crucial to build trust and have a continuous and open dialogue, co-creating the roadmap with all stakeholders.
• Changing policy with one voice: To change policy, we need to form alliances that break the comfortable patterns. Unique partnerships can spark solutions that haven’t been thought of and increase pressure on decision-makers.

Having learned these crucial lessons over the last five years since its first annual report, the Foundation says it is “time to step up our effort” as it uses “patient, philanthropic capital to try and effect large shifts” in the fashion industry.

C&A Sustainability

Meanwhile, C&A has reported strong performance towards its 2020 sustainability goals and says it has been focusing on products, supply chain and employees.

The company sourced 71% of its cotton “more sustainably” and released the world’s first “affordable, gold level Cradle to Cradle Certified jeans,” C&A says.

The company also says it increased the sustainability of other raw materials, with 49% of the raw materials used being “more sustainable.” C&A also announced that it is the world’s leading buyer of certified organic cotton for the sixth year.

How to Reach Sustainability Goals

To reach its goals, C&A says that the company is:

• Setting targets across the business, so everyone has a stake in ensuring materials meet the highest standards;
• Conducting due diligence that goes beyond simply relying on third-party standards;
• Working with stakeholders and industry leaders who champion best practice to make its products the best they can be, and encouraging others in the industry to extend positive outcomes beyond their businesses;
• Using industry and multi-stakeholder-developed standards and initiatives rather than developing its own standards and initiatives. Common frameworks at a global level are the only way of shifting the whole industry towards best practice, the company says;
• Working to reduce the water and chemical use, carbon, and waste impacts of the apparel industry, while ensuring people’s rights in its supply chain are protected.

Also This Week in Fashion

In related fashion industry news, Gap Inc. announced this week that it is producing denim using a waterless, indigo foam-dyeing technique that can reduce water usage by up to 99% while also using 89% less chemicals and reducing energy usage by 65%.

The new dyeing process, called Dry Indigo, was developed over ten years of research from Gaston Foam Systems and Indigo Mills Designs.