ABOUT
Eileen Fisher is a sustainable apparel label focusing on encouraging circularity in fashion through their ‘nothing goes to waste’ philosophy. They create garments meant to last a long time, along with a conscious effort to protect social and environmental rights.
IMPACT
People
Eileen Fisher is notable for being on the Seal of Approval lists to offer plus-sizes as well as petites. They also have a Social Consciousness team who oversee grant programmes for Women-Owned Businesses. Eileen Fisher’s belief is that by helping women find their voices, they can become leaders. They also provide people with dignified work that will enhance their livelihood, empowering them socially and economically. Eileen Fisher also currently partners with nonprofits for their Handloom Projects, aiming to create more sustainable working conditions for homeworkers in West Bengali villages. They work with suppliers and manufacturers in 15 countries: New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, China, Japan, Vietnam, India, Turkey, Italy, France, Spain, Argentina, Peru, Canada and the US*.
Product
The company is working with ranchers who use regenerative practices to raise sheep, such as grazing sheep in rotation, something that can help sequester carbon in the soil of the ranch and potentially make wool carbon negative. They also use recycled plastic bottles to make dresses and shoes. They are working with new dye houses that are working toward bluesign® chemistry or certification, and responsible dyeing. The materials they use is organic cotton, linen, Tencel, feather down, leather and responsibly sourced wool. They have also joined the Leather Working Group, an association that sets industry benchmarks and audits tanneries for environmental performance in key risk areas, including chemical and waste management, energy use, air emissions and water treatment.
Packaging
Eileen Fisher uses recyclable plastic during shipping, and other parts of their packaging include a grey beater dyed paper made with renewable hydro-electric energy. They also work to improve other parts of its operation, such as limiting air shipments and eliminating conventional dry-cleaning in favour of hand and machine washing in cold water.
Planet
They have created a buy-back program that has collected more than one million garments in just 10 years to upcycle them into eco-preferred products. With Waste No More, the goal is to make the planet better through the creation of fashion instead of continuing to deplete its resources. The purchase of a Renew garment saves about 95% of carbon and water use compared to a new one. Eileen Fisher retail stores also resell donated lightly worn garments and find new ways to recycle the unsellable textiles. They also favour regenerative and renewable methods. They support wind power by purchasing renewable energy credits for 100% of the electricity consumption in all of their facilities.
Principles
Eileen Fisher is a certified B Corp, committed to using sustainable materials in 100% of their products by 2020. They use conscious business practices to achieve fair wages and gender equity. The brand also encourages a culture of caring in the communities throughout their supply chain. Eileen Fisher additionally offers free repairs for any pieces purchased from the brand. This promotes circularity and better care for our clothes.
