Dear JOYN customers,
For FASHION REVOLUTION week we wanted to share with you, our 2020 pledge. This is a public commitment first to ourselves and our artisans, then to you our customers.
We don’t say this lightly; we are IN on the Fashion Revolution. Because we live and work with our artisans; many of whom have grown up in challenging and vulnerable communities, we have seen firsthand the potential for abuse and mistreatment of humans and the world’s resources. We would like to be at the front of the wave that is pursuing change.
We can say with 100% clarity that our hearts are in this. The road ahead is not easy. We have encountered hurdle after hurdle in the quest to be more ethical and more sustainable. We are committed to staying on that track; to changing what we can, to finding out more about what the word “sustainability” means, and to not just using it as a catchphrase for marketing.
We are committed to going beyond sustainability with a view that business practices can start degeneratively, move towards sustainability as a minimum or a base, and then grow towards regeneration. We are on the path to sustainability but we want to meet you at regeneration.
Degenerative Sustainable Regenerative
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This year, we commit to:
- Using what already exists. We’ve been doing the remnant thing for years, but we want to commit to diving headfirst into this. We are aware that this can be difficult to do. We may not get the exact same colors twice, we may not get the same leathers twice. We will use what we have, and then when that is done, we’ll use something else that already exists. We will reuse, upcycle, recycle.
- Loving humans. We commit doing as much of our work in-house, so that we have visibility to how our artisans are paid and treated. And if for any reason we have to use third-party partners, we will do our due diligence to make sure they adhere to our values and hold up the same high-standard we do. This goes for the hardware and the zippers we purchase, even down to where we buy our thread. This can be challenging to track in India, but we commit to wanting to know. We commit to searching. We commit to asking the hard questions about wages, and working environments and women to men employment ratios.
- Choosing Transparency. We commit to being transparent about where the money we earn is going. We will answer any questions asked about wages, working conditions, and employment.
- Pursuing Redemption - We commit to wanting to pursue things that are good for the world and good for people. We will explore our options, stretch open our horizons, and together, with like-minded people, forge a new future for the fashion industry.
- Loving the Earth. We commit to learning more about what the world needs from us and to slowly, but surely, make our way there with integrity and due diligence. We will use materials that are recycled, upcycled, remnant and we will reuse anything we can find to recreate beauty with what has already been. We will aim to save hundreds of remnant hides from going into landfills.
This has been and always will be a complicated dance, for the past years, and we think we can speak for many companies in saying that sustainability is a hard journey to travel as a company and brand. We have by no means arrived, but we are genuine in our search for answers. We invite you to JOYN us on this journey to regeneration.
With love,
JOYN