Apparel Online India Magazine February 1st Issue 2019 | Page 16

SUSTAINABILITY TO ADVERTISE GOING TO A GOOD EVENT? Contact Rani Mahendru [phone] (512) [email protected] Send your industry gossip, photos and news to [email protected] Premium performance sportswear brand ODLO on the path to become more sustainable A respected name in the field of premium performance sportswear, ODLO has come up with its sustainability report for 2017/2018. The company was founded over 70 years ago and is continuously growing. With many big and small, but important steps and initiatives, the brand has done remarkable work as far as sustainability is concerned. Apparel Online, having explored the report in detail, brings to its readers some of the most interesting things done by the brand. Explore the brand Market: ODLO’s products are available in over 8,000 sales outlets around the world. The brand, sold in around 35 countries across the globe, also runs 17 brand stores and 17 outlets across Europe. Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium/ Netherlands, Austria, UK and Norway generate the majority of its turnover. Product: ODLO follows one Spring/ Summer collection (of around 920 styles) and one Fall/Winter collection (of around 940 styles) with a total production volume of approximately 6.8 million items. Sourcing: It has its own 13 production sites across Europe and the Middle East which contribute 51 per cent (value-wise) and 63 per cent (value-wise) respectively of the brand’s total supply. The rest of its sourcing are done totally from Asia. As far as India is concerned, only Right Sports Apparels, Valsad (Gujarat) and Usha Garments, Umbergaon (Gujarat) are the vendors for the brand and have a share of 1.3 per cent and 1 per cent value- wise and volume-wise respectively in the total supply. ‘Bike to work’: For more than a decade now, ODLO International AG is taking part in the national ‘bike to work’ initiative organised by the association ‘Velo Schweiz’. For one month, employees commute to work by bicycle, in combination with a team competition about the longest distance taken as a team. Here, ODLO’s five teams cycled 6,511 km, making not only a positive contribution to their own fitness, but also to the environment apart from saving a total of 938 kg of CO 2 . 16 Apparel Online India | FEBRUARY 1-15, 2019 | www.apparelresources.com Sustainability strategy: In this regard, the brand functions primarily on three pillars: social, ecological and product responsibility. While ODLO’s sustainability management system follows the membership principles of Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) and Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), ODLO’s supplier code of conduct (most restrictive code) for