Longer life.
11 WORDS TO SUMMARIZE OUR COMMITMENT, THAT’S THE CHALLENGE WE DECIDED TO FACE.
#GreenerFashion is the symbol of 8 years of work to contribute to the active mutations of the textile industry. We are part of those few actors who, since their beginnings, have decided to take the subject of "sustainable fashion" head on. Far from the production rhythms we are all used to.
For us, it was a choice to offer permanent collections instead of seasonal ones.
The second issue is temporal. Longer will be the life of your pants, less you will replace them, better we will be.
Today, many of you have been following us for years, you know how much our eco-responsible commitment is a part of us. We don't need this message to be repeated all day long, so we're going to privilege the quality of our speeches over the quantity. We are in 2024 and the past year has allowed us to put everything in order:
going to put this down here and it can be summed up in 11 words.
11 WORDS
1. Rhythm
A PRODUCTION IS STILL A PRODUCTION AND IT HAS A CERTAIN IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT.
So we had to take a drastically lower approach.
Permanent ranges is the model we chose to slow down.
Where seasonal collections follow each other and look the same, where huge quantities are produced in the hope of selling huge quantities, where unsold items will be sold at any cost in sales or even destroyed if not sold: we made the bet to take the opposite view.
The permanents are available all year round, and the quantities are controlled and calculated on an increased knowledge of you, our customers, your tastes and your needs. We test the commercial potential of our pants before producing large quantities and we plan restocking when and only when necessary. We obviously renew ourselves, but at a decent pace.
2. Intermediaries
THE OBJECTIVE FROM THE BEGINNING, TO ELIMINATE AS MANY OF THEM AS POSSIBLE.
Our pants, you will find them only in our stores and on our e-shop. We made the choice not to have retailers, on one hand to control our costs, so that the price is the fairest for you and the fairest remuneration for our workshops. It's also an opportunity to minimize the use of transport for our pants.
One the other hand , we minimize the intermediaries in our relationship with our manufacturers. We have chosen to work directly with the workshops and it's also a way to receive real-time information, to create real partnerships with them. It's a way to know more about the manufacturing chain, the origin of the raw materials and their good social and environmental practices.
3. Special offers
THIS WILL CERTAINLY MAKE SENSE TO YOU IF YOU HAVE READ THE FIRST TWO PARTS.
We don't practice sales and other Black Friday. By offering permanent ranges whose lifetime is not limited in time or constrained by seasons and trends: we control almost all of our stocks, which means that we don't have to participate in this temple of consumption, also known as sales. We set our prices according to the reality of costs (raw material, production, transport, marketing, margin) and not according to the market, which anticipates future end of season reductions.
Conclusion: a decent production rate to control stocks and no intermediaries to control costs = no sales.
4. Distances
Our pants and accessories are made in the European Union and 67% of them are manufactured in Portugal in the Porto region. The main objective is obviously to minimize the distance between your legs and our pants, while getting the know-how at its source depending on the products. It is also important to know where the fabrics are made. Why? By taking the example of French manufacturing: a product can be self-proclaimed Made in France when only 45% of the production took place in France, the fabric may well be made in China. Regarding our fabrics, 67% are made in Italy, 11% in Portugal, 11% in France and 11% in Morocco. This is an opportunity to break down some prejudices: regardless of where they are manufactured, the workshops are chosen for their expertise but especially for their social and environmental commitment. We provide more details on certifications a little further.
Our goal: to always select our workshops, always in the European Union for the geographical proximity, which is not always a guarantee of quality in terms of ethics. This way, we make sure of the good working conditions and the specific know-how of each one.
5. Materials
We have always opted for the use of natural and animal materials: cotton and wool. 100% of the materials in our products are natural or recycled: 79% of our materials contain natural fibers and 21% of our materials contain recycled fibers (cotton, polyester or polyamide). When we use polyester, we prefer recycled polyester to avoid creating new ones (from petrochemicals and therefore from oil). Concretely, we design some of our jeans with organic or recycled cotton since last year. This year, we pick up the pace by renewing the test on our new ranges of jeans and women's chinos. And this is just the beginning, as we plan to generalize this practice to our entire offer.
Advantages: organic cotton (currently 36% of our cotton) is obviously cultivated without pesticides or fertilizers. Organic culture favors a rotation of the grounds and gives them the necessary rest to their fertility, for a better conservation of water in the grounds and a significantly lower consumption. The benefits of recycled cotton are clear. Instead of cultivating again and again, we draw on existing resources: we recover the fibers from fabric waste or from old clothes.
Moreover, and it's the case on our bleached jeans which require a washing of the material: we also take care to control our water consumption, while this practice originally requires a lot of water. It also needs enzymes, chemicals and pumice. Ozone washing is more ecological and very simple to understand: the jeans are humidified, exposed to this gas, and then rinsed 2 to 3 times, against 6 to 7 times during a traditional washing. Result: 50% less water consumption and 61% less energy consumption.
6. Certifications
IN ORDER TO LEGITIMIZE AND CONCRETIZE ALL THESE GOOD INTENTIONS, NOTHING BETTER THAN GREAT CERTIFICATIONS.
As we said, our workshops, no matter where they are located, are audited and chosen for the quality of their social and environmental practices.
100% of the manufacturing workshops for men's and women's jeans are GOTS - OEKO-TEX and GRS certified. Regarding our pants workshops, one is in the process of GOTS certification, the other has provided us access to its audit report.
Moreover, 100% of the laundries where our pants are washed are GOTS and OEKO-TEX certified. More energy-efficient, less use of chemicals and especially lower water consumption thanks to water treatment and improved water circuits.
A large part of our materials are eco-labeled, certifications that are often the same as those given to the workshops. Our ultimate goal is to have them all certified. A small overview to see more clearly.
- GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) is a label that certifies not only decent working conditions but also environmental compliance by indicating that the textile fibers come from organic agriculture, and requires real actions in terms of water management, energy and the non-use of toxic substances and / or carcinogens from the actors wishing to be labeled.
It certifies a product that doesn't affect the health of those who wear it.
- GRS (Global Recycle Standard) guarantees the recycled content of a product and checks the respect of environmental and social criteria.
- Finally, OEKO-TEX certifies the sanitary and ecological qualities of textiles by ensuring the absence of toxic products for the body and the environment.
Our objective: to continue to work with and to select committed suppliers who are able to trace the fabric's production chain, from the raw material to the spinning and finishing stages. We choose workshops that vertically integrate all these stages of production, to limit the transport between these different stages, and to have a real traceability at the production level, because these are the most energy-consuming manufacturing stages. In terms of water, energy and waste. This is a real lever if we want to limit our environmental impact.
7. Electricity
ONLINE SALES REMAINS OUR CORE BUSINESS BECAUSE IT IS OUR DNVB (DIGITAL NATIVE VERTICAL BRAND) MODEL.
So, as you can see, we try to do it with the lowest possible impact on the environment. For a few years now, we have completed this activity by opening stores. 3 to date and we hope to open more in the hope of being even closer to you. We had to go to the end of our approach by switching to green electricity in our stores.
As we like to know exactly what is hidden behind the words, we wanted to know what really makes the difference between green electricity and grey electricity, which still represents 80% in France. This grey electricity comes from coal, fossil gas or nuclear energy, and is therefore non-renewable, polluting and dangerous.
In concrete terms, once injected into the electrical grid, it's impossible to tell the difference between electricity produced by renewable energies (green electricity) and that produced by fossil fuels or nuclear power (grey electricity). The electricity that reaches our electrical outlets therefore comes from multiple sources, both renewable and non-renewable. However, by choosing a green electricity supplier in our stores, we only finance the production of renewable electricity, without CO2 emissions or nuclear waste, which should increase the share of renewable energy in our electrical outlets by mass effect. And that’s a big yes!
8. Advice
OUR ORIGINAL BUSINESS MODEL REMAINS E-COMMERCE.
With its many advantages and a few disadvantages. Between our pants and your legs there is a trip and we want to make sure that there is only one. To this end, we must avoid as much as possible returns and other exchanges. This requires good communication, clear and precise product sheets to avoid unpleasant surprises, and photos that are true to life.
Above all, it requires customer service worthy of the name and this is an integral part of our strategy. We give you advice on a daily basis and we accompany you in your purchases so that your choices are right the first time. This way both of us are happy and each of our carbon footprints will be better.
We are very connected, very reactive and we invite you to ask us, you will never bother us.
9. Packaging
0 PACKAGING IS BOTH NOTHING AND A LOT.
We respect everyone's choices and principles and if you prefer to receive your pants in a beautiful box, we won't keep you from it.
On the contrary, if for you the container has no value compared to the content, then we will always invite you to choose the 0 packaging option when you finalize your order. If you choose the zero packaging option, no pretty box, no tissue paper, no flyer, just your product in a recycled and recyclable pouch.
Like all the small actions that we take, it is thanks to your numerous memberships that they take on their full meaning. Today you are more than 70% to choose this mode of reception and we hope to go beyond this year. This means that there will be tens of packages less to produce every day, hundreds every month, thousands every year.
10. Recycling
"A LIFE AFTER YOUR LEGS" IS THE NAME OF OUR RECYCLING OPERATION, IN ASSOCIATION WITH LE RELAIS: WE SUGGEST THAT YOU GIVE A SECOND LIFE TO YOUR PANTS.
A collection point in each store: drop off your pants - whatever their brand - and receive a voucher.
The interest: promote recycling, preserve the resources of our planet, create jobs in the sorting centers Le Relais, and encourage social integration (Le Relais primarily recruits people who meet the criteria of Integration through Economic Activity).
Well beyond the collection points LePantalon, Le Relais recovers more than 1 800 tons of textiles every week, which represents 55% of the collection in France. These textiles are sent to 14 sorting centers, to know different fates according to their condition and their quality:
Textiles that can be used as seen are resold at low prices in Le Relais' 73 Ding Fring stores or destined for export.
Textiles that can no longer be worn are recycled by Le Relais for the production of wiping cloths for industry, or for the manufacture of insulation.
The non-recovered material represents 3% of the volumes collected, much of which will be used for energy recovery.
Every penny generated is reinvested in the fight against exclusion.
11. Repairs
Offering a single length allows us to control our stocks and fight against waste.
We think that most of you can wear our pants, with a little hem if necessary, and that's where we surround ourselves with our partner Tilli for your home alterations.
Tilli also offers a repair service and this fulfills a second objective: to extend the lifespan of our pants, which we already optimize to the maximum through their manufacturing method. A hole or a loose seam over time happens to even the best clothes. To repair them is to postpone renewal and it is to produce less, it is to produce useful.
WE ARE NOT PERFECT, IT’S FOR SURE, BUT WE DO OUR BEST.
Any ideas?
Our imagination is not without fault and we may not have thought of everything to minimize our impact on the environment.
YOUR SUGGESTIONS ARE THEREFORE WELCOME.
Any questions?
Would you like to have more details on the themes mentioned above?
LEPANTALON TEAM WILL ANSWER YOU WITH GREAT PLEASURE.