WHAT'S THE STORY
S u s ta i n + A b i l i t y – Ta k i n g C a r e
SUSTAINABILITY IS AN ATTITUDE Excellent working conditions, high quality, and constant process optimisation are topics some companies, family businesses in particular, have always been aware of. For them, sustainable management is not something only to be considered when it’s trendy. Thinking of the next generation is their overriding principle. Text: Isabel Faiss, Martina Müllner-Seybold. Photos: Manufacturers
“F
or me, sustainability begins with talking about terms,” says Marco Lanowy, the Managing Partner of Alberto. “We simply shouldn’t accept a return rate of 10 percent, shouldn’t produce special items, and shouldn’t inject additional or flash collections into the market. We all know that they are only seemingly successful. In reality, these practices waste resources: for the goods, for transport, and even within the company. Ultimately, it leaves us with stock that is no longer marketable – and that harms us all: the brand, the trade, and the environment.” The increased interest in sustainability issues is a serious topic for Alberto, but not a reason to engage in agitative activism. “We are a company that has existed almost 100 years. It is not our mission to paint it as green as possible now, but to ensure it can last another 100 years. It goes without saying that we must and can give answers. But for me, sustainability doesn’t end with upping the percentage of organic cotton in our trousers. Sustainability is in fact about creating a product with which the consumer can, in turn, contribute to sustainability. The rebound rate of our trousers is so excellent that you don’t have to wash them after wearing them once. Or simply put: it lasts, it fits, and it’s a favourite piece.” HEEDING THE MARKET
Particularly in this respect, Alberto has benefitted greatly from the direct exchange with consumers, be it in its own store in Mönchengladbach or at bicycle trade shows. The latter is where Alberto presented its cycling jeans after conventional retailers had only shown vague interest. “The result of this dialogue: around 100 new retailers who were convinced by Alberto’s cycling jeans alone. Of course one could say that 090
style in progress
sustainability and growth are a paradox, but we can proudly say that we’ve always generated our profits in a socially responsible manner. I firmly believe this to be the fundamental responsibility of every entrepreneur,” Lanowy argues. “As a company, we need to keep several factors in balance: the fair payment of workers, the conservation of resources in all finishing processes, and the interests of the market and customers. All this also needs to harmonise with our business interests. We are fortunate enough to be a family business, not a mere investment asset that needs to grow every quarter. This allows us to understand sustainability as what it is: a never-ending process in which you can take small steps every day to improve things.” POWERFUL OR POWERLESS?
“100 billion new garments per year? When I hear such figures, I am incredibly ashamed of my industry,” says Mark de Lorme, who launched the Dutch womenswear brand Penn & Ink N.Y together with his wife Felice. “It’s a mess. In view of such figures it is self-evident that it’s not a matter of making our fabrics a little more organic. God knows I can’t come up with a solution for the industry as a whole, except that I realise that real change can only happen when the big players fall in line too. When they change, things can really change. But will they? Our economic principle would have to change for that to happen. The principle of growth, which towers above everything else, would have to be called into question.” The issue of sustainability makes the owner of the successful contemporary brand contemplative. “I ask myself what we could do better every day. We benefit from the fact that our daughter joined the business. Her generation asks this question more emphatically. My wife Felice and I had a different reason for launching our brand at the time. The reason had a lot to do with sustainability. We still strive to create real icons. Once a woman has found the perfect blue blazer, she doesn’t need ten more. Our ambition is to create such favourite items.” Longevity before trends is a guiding principle at Penn & Ink N.Y. “Trends don’t inspire me much, but vintage inspires me greatly. It requires a lot of class for a piece to remain up-to-date and beautiful years after. With this model in mind, many things rule themselves out automatically – poor quality, for example. Lousy things aren’t vintage, they’re garbage.”
