LK Bennett — how inclusivity can advance the ESG agenda

Last year, we met with a range of retail industry leaders to find out how they are advancing the ESG agenda.

As a brand that has always championed slow fashion and ‘wear forever’ quality, LK Bennett is a shining example of ESG done right. Here, its Global Product and Design Director, Thomasine Jordan and COO, Claudia Nappo explain LK Bennett’s laudable approaches to company culture, supplier networks and packaging.

Culture and inclusivity

ESG is very important across all parts of our business. When we think about how we build our culture at LK Bennett — particularly in the realm of ESG — the key word is inclusivity. Having a great and diverse spectrum of people that we work with helps to ensure that every customer who walks through our doors has a great experience. We actively look for suppliers and partners that share this same value.

While our focus is on creating beautiful products that inspire people, we want to do this in a responsible way. Our core values — quality, respect, authenticity and the ability to inspire — are not just something that we teach to our people during their inductions. They are fundamental to the way that we work and we truly live them every day.

No matter how beautiful and inspiring our products are, we always want to touch on where they have come from and how they are made.

Building the right supplier networks

We are trying to make big steps to be more responsible as a brand and to show our customers what this means to us, we made a commitment to Positive Luxury — a future-facing sustainability council that helps us to drive meaningful change in policies and practices.

We also launched LKB Conscious for customers to learn all about our materials, suppliers and more to be sure they are making a conscious decision.

We felt strongly about joining the Leather Working Group and demonstrating our brand commitment of shared sustainable goals with the suppliers and tanneries with whom we work. Our membership highlights the importance of collaboration in addressing complexities across the leather industry.

With 50% of our business in footwear, it is hugely important to be part of a multi-stakeholder community, ensuring traceability as well as social and environmental compliance through our leather supply chain to protect people and our planet.

Sustainable packaging and recycling

We have tried to think through our sustainable approach to packaging at every level. All our carrier bags are fully recyclable (with no nasty chemicals on the outside) and their handles are made of paper and fully compostable. We use recycled plastics in our clothing packaging and even our labels

We also work with First Mile — a waste management company that helps to improve our approach to recycling and waste removal — and have introduced LK Borrowed — a clothing rental subscription service that gives customers unlimited access to our styles for a flat monthly fee.

Brabners supports ESG in retail

For many retailers, building ESG into their business is a long journey. While some aren’t in a position to make wholesale changes immediately, making a start now is critical. At Brabners, we strongly believe that business has a social purpose. We know that many retailers want to work with partners that share their values and whose practices align with the expectations of their clients.

To find out more about how we can support you, talk to our retail team today.

Learn more about our approach to sustainability and B Corp status.