What is the WECARE program?

The WECARE Program is the ETAM Group's responsibility pact for a more responsible and sustainable industry. It comprises all of the brand's initiatives whose aim is to reduce its environmental impact and improve its social impact. It rests on six key pillars related to our business: our products, sourcing, supply chain, stores, marketing and human resources.

What are the criteria for a product to be included in the WECARE program?

To be part of the WECARE program, our products must meet at least one of the six criteria defined by our CSR policy. These criteria have been defined because they enable us to reduce the environmental impact of clothing production. They are as follows:
- Use of an eco-friendly or upcycled fabric such as organic cotton or recycled polyester,
- Use of innovative & responsible processes,
- Development by a fair-trade certified company,
- Made in France

What fabrics are included in the WECARE program?

The fabrics included in the WECARE program are fabrics that contribute to reducing the impact of the textile industry on the environment. At Etam, we have divided them into three categories:
- Organic or recycled natural fibers, such as organic cotton, linen and wool.
- Responsibly produced artificial fibers derived from the chemical transformation of natural plant or animal fibers, such as viscose or cupro.
- LRecycled synthetic fibers, such as recycled polyester, produced from recycled plastic waste, recycled polyamide, which is made from recycled production waste, etc.

The fabrics used are certified by independent standards such as GOTS, GRS or RWS; labels that guarantee total traceability from the raw material stage.

How can you ensure that your products are free of toxic substances?

In order to offer high quality products, we apply the European REACH regulation on the use of chemical substances to all our products. In addition to this, as a precautionary measure, we have chosen to add to the list of prohibited substances those currently being studied by organisations, such as the substances listed in the Greenpeace Detox report. We also favor Oeko-tex 100 certified suppliers and our products are regularly tested by independent, external laboratories.

How can we maximize the life of our clothes?

Maximizing the life of our clothes also contributes to more sustainable fashion. We are committed to helping you take care of your garments and are currently working on a comprehensive care guide that will be available by summer 2021. In the meantime, please follow the care instructions on the product labels.

Do all your collections respect animal welfare?

Animal welfare is one of our priorities and we have an internal policy that determines the use of certain animal-derived fabrics and prohibits others. We do not allow the use of exotic leathers such as crocodile or python. We do not use animal furs or fabrics derived from endangered species. Cruel practices such as skinning, plucking or mulesing are prohibited at Etam.

What do you do with unsold or defective products?

Product end of life is a subject that is particularly important to us at Etam and it is a WECARE program issue. Please note that items that are in saleable condition are never destroyed or thrown away. On-line & in-store returns are systematically examined and returned to stock whenever possible. And defective items are passed to a service provider that specializes in the circular economy and repairs, reuses or recycles them. Since 2018, the operation has given a second life to 13 tonnes of clothing.

What do you do to reduce your energy consumption?

We have put a number of initiatives in place to reduce the environmental impact of our energy consumption:
- Our store network uses LED lighting
- The lighting systems are automated to avoid wasting energy
- We no longer use logistical hangers for ready-to-wear items, which is a reduction of 100 tonnes of plastic per year. And for display hangers, we have set up in-store collection. These hangers are reused in our production centers in the Mediterranean basin, creating a circular economy, or recovered by a French service provider that specializes in material recovery.
- Bags are now payable in order to limit their use; we now offer Mixed FSC paper bags and reusable organic cotton tote bags.

How do you manage your waste and packaging?

We have introduced a number of initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of our waste and we are working on optimizing the packaging of our products.
- Waste is sorted in accordance with local regulations
- lThe main waste in our stores comes from packages, that's why we are working with our suppliers to reduce packaging as much as possible. In this regard, we have established management rules, such as an optimized filling rate for each package prior to shipping.
- Also, as a signatory of the Fashion Pact since 2019, we have committed to eliminating single-use plastic in B2C by 2025.

How do you reduce the environmental impact of freight transport?

The Etam Group uses maritime transport in the vast majority of cases (over 90%) to ship its goods. In terms of freight transport, this is still the least polluting option when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, ahead of rail, road or air. Air transport is used in the event of delivery delays. And since 2019, we have opted for rail freight wherever possible to replace transport by air.

In which countries are the products manufactured?

Our products are produced in Europe, Asia and Africa, in countries such as China, Portugal, Italy, Bangladesh, Turkey, Tunisia and Morocco, which have expertise in our lingerie and ready-to-wear products. We have known the partners we have been working with for many years and we carefully monitor the production of our products through our local teams. Our employees’ social conditions are the focus of an extensive social audit program managed by our dedicated teams.

How do you monitor working conditions in your partner factories?

We pay particular attention to working conditions in our partner factories and we apply firm sanctions in the event of any failure to comply with the human rights requirements stipulated in our “Supplier Social Policy”, which is signed by all suppliers and which they commit to abide by. In order to ensure compliance with these undertakings, audits by independent accredited organizations in partner factories regularly validate the compliance of working conditions, as per international standards BSCI, SMETA, SA8000, and ICS.Furthermore, our local teams, and in particular the “Social Audit” team, also visit the factories in person to ensure that they are complying with our social policy. An alert system has been set up to allow workers to report practices that do not respect employees’ working conditions.

What chemicals are prohibited by our brand?

Find our specifications mentioning the substances prohibited by the various brands of the ETAM Group by clicking here..