We are LANIUS / Fashion Revolution Day
Behind the Scenes · Reading Time: 2 Minutes
Fashion Revolution Day
Responsible Action at LANIUS
Every year on April 24th, Fashion Revolution Day commemorates the tragic and preventable factory collapse of a textile factory in Bangladesh 11 years ago. More than 1,100 people lost their lives because they were working in a dilapidated building that was no longer safe and showed huge cracks in the masonry. This event still highlights today the urgent need to improve conditions in the fashion industry.
On the occasion of Fashion Revolution Day, Cornelia Westfehling (Sustainability Manager LANIUS) and Annabelle Homann (COO LANIUS) report on their daily work: What does responsible action look like at LANIUS?
Annabelle, at LANIUS, what do you mean by “responsible action”?
As a slow fashion label that produces and distributes clothing, we take responsibility along the entire value chain of our products. For us, this means ensuring social and environmental standards and supporting our customers beyond the sale by offering repair and resale services.
Has this always been the case with LANIUS?
Yes, sustainability has been an integral part of our corporate culture since LANIUS was founded in 1999 - and thus for a quarter of a century. We meet annually with the entire LANIUS team and exchange ideas on how we can develop sustainably. We form working groups and get to work. For us, sustainability is not a status quo, but an ongoing process that requires and promotes precisely this constant development.
Cornelia, from your perspective as Sustainability Manager at LANIUS: What distinguishes you from fashion labels that produce clothing using conventional methods?
In my opinion, the biggest difference lies in the consistent assumption of responsibility along the value chain. When developing a new collection, a fair fashion provider not only considers fashion trends and price, but also focuses equally on material origin, durability, recyclability, supplier relationships, supply chains and CO₂ emissions. This naturally makes the production process much more complex. All the more reason to advocate for slow fashion. Because sustainable fashion takes time.
And how do you implement responsible action in your day-to-day business?
All new employees receive a "Sustainable Onboarding" where we take plenty of time to discuss our values, the importance of certificates and our measures in the supply chain with the new colleagues in detail. The textile supply chain is complex and each department makes its contribution to value creation. There are also regular sustainability days. In general, there is a collective awareness in our team that it is important to conserve resources. We use waste paper as scratch paper and turn off our screens and lamps during our lunch break.
Annabelle, looking to the future: What does it take to continuously pursue a sustainable path?
We work particularly with natural materials from controlled organic cultivation or organic livestock farming. This way, we can ensure that raw material production has the lowest possible impact on the environment. This is the first step. What follows is the monitoring of energy and chemical use, as well as ensuring social standards along the entire value chain. However, that is not enough. In the future, we face the challenge of producing less clothing per capita – more demand-oriented and durable. An important topic for the future is, in any case, the circularity and recyclability of our products.
We are LANIUS / Fashion Revolution Day
