Annabelle, what do you understand by “responsible action” at LANIUS?

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 it always been like this at 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 is the consistent assumption of responsibility along the value chain. When developing a new collection, a fair fashion provider not only considers fashionability and price, but also focuses on the origin of the material, durability, recyclability, supplier relationships, delivery routes and CO2 emissions. This of course makes the production process much more complex. One more reason to support 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 continue to move towards sustainability?

We work in particular with natural materials from controlled organic cultivation or organic animal husbandry. This allows us to ensure that the production of raw materials has as little impact on the environment as possible. That is the first step. What follows is controlling the use of energy and chemicals and ensuring social standards along the entire value chain. But that is not enough. In the future, we will face the challenge of producing less clothing per person - more in line with demand and more durable. An important topic for the future is definitely the circularity and recyclability of our products.