Lululemon Ethics & Sustainability Report

By Amber Pullinger 2159 Words Excluding Quotes & Citations

(Stick 2020)

(Sweeny 2018)

Business Identification

(Author’s Own Website Screenshot 2020)

Lululemon was founded by Chip Wilson in Vancouver, Canada in 1998 and describe themselves as a “technical athletic apparel company for yoga, running, training and most other sweaty pursuits”, (Lululemon 2020 i&a). The product range includes pants, shorts, tops and jackets, bags, socks, underwear, yoga mats & equipment, and water bottles, (Lululemon 2018a pg.1). During 2018, “Net revenue grew 24% to $3.3 billion and total comparable sales increased 18%”, (Lululemon 2018a pg.1), with around 70% of this revenue comprised of womenswear sales, (Thomas 2019).

The brand is in competition both directly with retailers who specialise in athletic apparel such as Nike, Adidas and Under Armour as well as retailers who include women’s athletic apparel as a small portion of their business e.g. Gap and the L brands, (Lululemon 2018b pg.4).

(The Mann Group 2018)

The ethical and sustainable practices applied to Lululemon’s business through their mission, vision, strategy and objectives are sufficient. They are actively trying to reduce their environmental impact through chemical and energy use and ensure that workers human rights are protected.

Although Lululemon enforces its own ethical policy, the brand has not applied industry recognised initiatives, meaning the company’s activities cannot be monitored externally.

Strategic Plan Hierachy Mission:

Another crucial ethical policy enforced within the supply chain is the Global Code of Conduct and Business Ethics.

This ensures forced, involuntary & child or human trafficking are not tolerated, (Lululemon 2020 o).

To reduce this, Lululemon are introducing processes to deal with more advanced nylon products within their manufacturing operations, such as solution-dye, (Lululemon 2020b).

“We want to be a model for community-led sustainability by

This pyramid outlines Lululemon’s mission, vision, and goals & objectives, in terms of ethics and sustainability. The supporting statements are policies which have been enforced to act as strategies helping to achieve the brand’s objectives.

inspiring and engaging leaders to imagine and achieve the possible and impossible”,(Lululemon 2020p).

Vision: (Lululemon 2020L)

"We are a model for community-led sustainability including our extended lululemon family of ambassadors, vendors, and guests".

"We educate, inspire, and challenge our communities to become leaders in sustainability".

"We expand our collaborations and partnerships to include brands, suppliers, and NGOs that share our sustainability vision".

"We communicate our sustainability efforts with honesty, transparency, authenticity, and integrity".

The brand’s own policy, the Vendor Code of Ethics (VCOE), is “the cornerstone of a responsible supply chain, outlining our legal, humane and ethical standards of production”, (Lululemon 2020 o). Following Rana Plaza, the industryled Accord and Alliance’s principles have been put into practice through this program,

Goals & Objectives: (Lululemon 2020 e,b,r) “By the end of 2019 all of our distribution centres Zero Waste by reusing and recycling more than 90% of their materials”.

“100% renewable electricity for our owned and operated facilities by 2021”.

“60% absolute reduction of GHG emissions in all owned and operated facilities by 2030 (2018 base year)”.

“60% intensity reduction of GHG emissions across our global supply chain* by 2030 (2018 base year)”.

“Continually evolve our traceability requirements of animal-based materials and transition to 100% non-mulesed wool by 2025”.

“By 2025, we will reduce average freshwater use intensity by 50% to manufacture our products”.

“By 2025, 100% of our cotton will be sourced from responsible sources including organic, Better Cotton (BCI), recycled or regenerative”.

In order to maintain raw material industry standards in terms of animal welfare and wool sourcing the brand us partnered with the Sustainable Apparel Coalition and the American Apparel & Footwear Association, (Lululemon 2020n).

This will support the improvement of farming globally, being a member of Better Cotton Initiatives, and reduce water and pesticide use, and provide more traceability, (Lululemon 2020b).

The Climate Group’s RE100 partnership increases corporate demand and supply of renewable energy, aiding in reaching Lululemon’s renewable electricity 2021 goal, (Lululemon 2020e).

Market Drivers

The PESTEL model refers to the macro marketing environment and is outside of the company’s direct control, (Posner 2015, p.66). It has been used to outline the all market drivers within the fashion industry across politics, economics, society, technology, the environment and legal factors. Key issues and their impacts on fashion brands have been detailed.

Issues:

Political

Government stance – strategy & directives EU Parliament stance – strategy & directives

Economic

Impacts: • Circular Economy Directive - The circular economy package, waste-management targets regarding reuse, recycling and landfilling (EU 2020) adopted in 2018, will for the first time require Member States to ensure that textiles are collected separately, (European Parliamentary Research Service 2019).

• Textile Regulation – The currently binding Textile Regulation of 2011 lays down rules for labelling and marking of all textile products, including an obligation to state the full fibre composition of textile products at all stages of industrial processing and commercial distribution, and rules on textile fibre names, (European Parliamentary Research Service 2019).

• European Standards – Some of the standards relate to minimum performance requirements for certain types of textile products, and environmental aspects of textile products, (European Parliamentary Research Service 2019).

• EU Ecolabel – a voluntary certification programme, which establishes ecological criteria guaranteeing limited use of substances harmful to health and environment, reduction in water and air pollution, as well as criteria for extending the lifetime of clothes (resistance to shrinking during washing and drying and colour resistance to perspiration, washing, wet and dry rubbing and light exposure), (European Parliamentary Research Service 2019).

• Green Public Procurement – This facilitates the inclusion of green requirements in public tender documents. It is a voluntary instrument that Member States and public authorities can implement to the extent to which they themselves wish, (European Parliamentary Research Service 2019).

The impact on global and personal budgets

•

The Environmental Price Tag

•

The fashion industry’s contribution to the economy in developing economies

• • •

Social

Overconsumption of garments Less use of garments, leading to increased consumer waste

Globally consumers miss out on 460 billion of value each year by throwing clothes away which they could continue to wear, (Ellen Macarthur Foundation 2020).

The production of cotton alone accounts for almost 7% of all employment in some low-income countries, (Ellen Macarthur Foundation 2020). As a result, it will be difficult to commercially replace cotton with more sustainable materials, since it is likely that not enough workers will have the skills to produce these.

The amount of clothes bought in the EU per person has increased by 40 % in just a few decades, driven by a fall in prices and the increased speed with which fashion is delivered to consumers. Clothing accounts for between 2 % and 10 % of the environmental impact of EU consumption, (House of Commons 2019), which requires large sums of money to recover.

The fashion industry is projected to use 35% more land for fibre production by 2030— an extra 115 million hectares that could be left for biodiversity or used to grow crops to feed an expanding population, (House of Commons 2019).

If fashion continues on its current path, it could use more than 26% of the global carbon budget associated with a 2°C pathway by 2050, (Ellen Macarthur Foundation 2020).

• High demand for frequent changes in style, coupled with reduced living space for many, offers an opportunity for rental models that allow customers to frequently exchange what is in their wardrobes. E.g. peer to peer sharing through UK-based RentezVous, and luxury fashion rentals offered by companies such as Rent the Runway, Front Row, Chic by Choice, and Girl Meets Dress, (Fashion Summit, KPMG 2019). This is supported by the ThreadUp report stating that rental will increase 24% in the next 5 years, (ThreadUp 2019).

• Waste is largely accounted for at the post consumer stage of the supply chain as twice as many garments are being bought, which are being worn for only half as long. The ThredUp report illustrates that in 2000 50 billion units of clothing was bought a year, compared to over 100 billion in 2015 with the clothing utilization figure dropping from 200 to 160, (ThreadUp 2019).

• However, this has resulted in increased growth of the second-hand market driven by generation Z. ThredUp reports that in 2019 37% of this cohort said they would buy second-hand apparel, compared to only 26% in 2017, equating to a 46% growth rate, (ThreadUp 2019). This markets growth is not only within generation z as across all age categories, 51% of consumers plan to spend more on this service, which is 4 times the amount as fast fashion, (ThreadUp 2019). The issue of sustainability within the fashion industry of has clearly been adopted as 40% of consumers now consider the resale value of an item before purchasing, (ThreadUp 2019), highlighting that consumers see second-hand selling as a key stage within the lifetime of their wardrobe.

Technological

New Technologies- AI, VR Increase of e-commerce business Demand for personalization

• True fit uses AI-powered technology to provide exact-fit clothing and shoe recommendations. The platform uses transaction data to determine customer preferences that “better personalize all touchpoints of the consumer journey”, (CB Insights 2019). This provides the appropriate size for each brand. Another company, Virtusize, claims that, by removing uncertainty around size and fit, it can increase average order values by 20% and decrease return rates by 30%, (CB Insights 2019). This supports the result driving this trend, in which to reduce waste.

• 5G could facilitate the technology’s presence on social media in 2020. For example, customers will be able to ”try on” designs on social platforms before checking out in-app, (McDowell 2020). This could also decrease the need for physical stores.

• Technologies are helping to mitigate the release of microplastics. Guppyfriend and Cora Ball use patented solutions, such as a micro-filter washing bag and coral-like ball, that capture between 26-86% of microplastic fibres during the washing cycle that would otherwise be released into wastewater . Consumer awareness is being driven through organisations such as Fashion Revolution and Greenpeace, (Tickell & Williams 2020).

• Blockchain technology is an effective form of managing processes within the supply chain, as it decentralises the infrastructure of record keeping. The journey of a product from sourcing its raw materials to reaching the consumer can be tracked, increasing transparency and proof of authenticity,( Tickell & Williams 2020).

Legal

Legal obligations in line with political stances which fashion companies must abide by

• Circular Economy Directive- Member States are required to transpose the directives into national law by 5 July 2020, (Bourguignon 2018).

• Textile Regulation – Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2011 on textile fibre names and related labelling and marking of the fibre composition of textile products, (Eur-Lex 2018).

• European Standards – Standardization of the following aspects of textiles, textile products and textile components of products: 1) test methods; 2) terms and definitions; 3) specifications, and if necessary, classifications, in terms of their expected behaviour.

Equipment must be relevant for the testing and use of textiles, (Cen 2020).

• EU Ecolabel – products must meet criteria that guarantee limited use of substances harmful to health and environment, reduction in water and air pollution and colour resistance to perspiration, washing, wet and dry rubbing and light exposure, (European Commission 2014).

• Green Public Procurement – the adopted EU GPP criteria aim to reach a good balance between environmental performance, cost considerations, market availability and ease of verification, procuring authorities may choose, according to their needs and ambition level, to include all or only certain requirements in their tender documents, (European commission 2012).

Environmental

Linear supply chains

•

Fast fashion leads to a strain on natural resources such as water due to large production of cotton- 108M tons of nonrenewable resources are used each ear to produce clothing, (ThreadUp 2019).

Waste increases in landfills- £140 million worth of clothing goes to landfill each year, (British Fashion Council 2020).

Increasing carbon footprint – recycling

• • • •

In 2015, the global textiles and clothing industry was responsible for the consumption of 79 billion cubic metres of water, 1 715 million tons of CO2 emissions and 92 million tons of waste. It also estimated that by 2030, under a business-as-usual scenario, these numbers would increase by at least 50 %, (Sajn 2019).

Less than half of used clothes are collected for reuse or recycling when they are no longer needed, and only 1 % are recycled into new clothes, (Sajn 2019). The result is many wasted fibres which build up in landfill.

One load of laundry of polyester clothes (also nylon and acrylic) can discharge 700 000 microplastic fibres, which release toxins into the environment and can end up in human food chain, (Sajn 2019).

More than 1 900 chemicals are used in the production of clothing, of which 165 the EU classifies as hazardous to health or the environment with the wastewater being often discharged unfiltered into waterways in third world countries, (Sajn 2019).

People rely on waterways as drinking water, which if contaminated can cause deaths.

One kilogram of cotton - equivalent to the weight of a shirt and pair of jeans - can take as much as 10,000–20,000 litres of water to produce. According to WRAP, cotton production accounts for 69% of the 8 billion cubic metres water footprint of fibre production for textiles. The Aral Sea, formerly one of the four largest lakes in the world, has almost entirely dried up, in large part due to intensive industrial cotton farming in Central Asia, (Sajn 2019). Again, this acted as a vital drinking water source for many communities.

The largest issues here are waste and overconsumption. These impact various parts of the market’s environment, as discussed above. By reducing things such as waste within the supply chain, it can help Lululemon work towards a more circular business model. As a result, the brand’s contribution to the negative global impacts of the fashion industry would be reduced, in terms of the environment, economy and driving force of unhealthy social trends such as consumerism.

Supply Chain (Cox and Stephenson 2020)

Lululemon’s supply chain has been analysed and presented visually, including key facts and policies in place at each stage.

Therefore, it can be identified where the company is performing well in terms of ethics and sustainability and where it isn’t.

Raw Materials

Lululemon do not own their own factory facilities, sourcing products and fabrics from 64 factories from 28 countries. According to the company’s 2018 annual report “58% of our products were manufactured in South East Asia, approximately 21% in South Asia, approximately 12% in China, approximately 8% in the Americas, and the remainder in other regions, (Lululemon 2018b pg.4). To ensure that vendors share the brand’s company values in terms of ethics a screening process must be completed initially, and the conditions of the facility are regularly assessed. In light of transparency, the brand provides a full list of the names and locations of both the finished goods and raw material supplier list on their website. The most frequent countries listed include Canada, the United, (Lululemon 2020j). States, Peru, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Israel, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Switzerland, (Lululemon 2020).

Factories

Green Inititatives

(Parkinson 2018)

(The Canadian Press 2013)

Downlite provides the company with their down and prioritise animal welfare, as they don’t live pluck or force feed geese, and only supply down which was otherwise a bi product of the food industry. This lies with another industry practice followed by Lululemon- the Responsible Down Standard (RDS), which certifies 100% of the down Lululemon uses in insulation for outerwear. With cotton production being such a driver of employment in developing countries, Lululemon works with the Responsible Sourcing Network to improve our ability to trace where our cotton comes from. They have also signed the Responsible Sourcing Cotton Pledge in 2013, which has a goal to end forced child and adult labour in the harvesting of cotton in Uzbekistan, (Lululemon 2020c&d).

We are celebrating and building on our energy efficiency projects to date including LED lighting in stores and distribution centres, purchasing renewable energy, and implementing an operational energy tracking system. Since 2011, we have reported our carbon footprint to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an international investor facing not-for-profit organization as well as the creation of a Restricted Substance List (RSL) that lays out our standards for chemicals in product, (Lululemon 2020e).

Main selling channels include physical stores and e-commerce, as of 2018, the brand had 440 stores in 14 countries across the globe, located ‘primarily on street locations, in lifestyle centres, and in malls”, (Lululemon 2018c pg.2). With 285 stores, The United States is Lululemon’s primary market, while the brand has 70 stores in Asia Pacific and 21 stores in Europe, (Lululemon 2018c pg.2). Sales from outlets, temporary locations, sales to wholesale accounts, showrooms, through license and supply arrangements, and warehouse sales also contribute to net sales, (Lululemon 2018d pg.3). Direct to consumer selling allows access to more markets where they may not be a store.

Stores/Ecommerce

(Lululemon Athletica 2020)

In terms of recycling initiates, the brand has a box reuse program which “saves more than 1 million boxes every year”. The brand has implemented a sustainable packaging policy so that packaging is minimized and made using conscious materials so that it is fully recyclable at end of life. An example in practice has been transferring to preferred materials such as FSCCertified materials opposed to using paper.

In order to reduce the use of plastic bags, the brand uses ‘shoppers’ which are highly durable and reusable, (Lululemon 2020m).

Recycling Inititatives

(The Mann Group 2018)

As a result of 36 new stores and a successful e-commerce business, in 2018 square footage has increased by 13%, with average sales of $1,579 per square foot, and e-commerce now accounts for 26.1% of the global business- an increase of 45% upon the previous year, (Lululemon 2018e pg.19).

(Duran and Wlder 2020)

In terms of the apparel itself, “over 90% of our damaged and excess products are resold, donated or recycled”. Lululemon has partnered with Debrand, to give end of life product other purposes, such as home insulation; stuffing for mattresses, furniture, and cars, and even in sporting equipment like boxing gloves and punching bags; and our yoga mats are recycled into an equestrian footing product called ReitenRight. The small percentage which remains make use generating electricity at an energy facility since they cannot be recycled., (Lululemon 2020m).

Corporate Social Responsibilty (CSR) Lululemon have been mentioned in several fashion industry transparency reports the first of which if Fashion Revolution’s transparency index. They had a final score of 41%, ranked in the 41-50% category. The brand was then scored across 5 transparency sections in which the results were: policy and commitments- 76%, governance- 67%, traceability40%, know, show fix- 30% and spotlight issues -6%. disclosing more information about human rights, and amongst one of “the only big brands and retailers to disclose how many of their supply chain workers or facilities have independent, democratically elected trade unions”. (Fashion Revolution 2019). Meanwhile, according to the 2019 ethical fashion report Lululemon has been awarded an overall grade of an A-, and score the brand between A+ to B- across 5 sections including: policies (A+), transparency and traceability (A), auditing and supplier relationships (A+), worker empowerment (B-) and environmental management (A-), (Baptist World Aid Australia 2019).

Despite policies, poor ethics has been reported at Youngone’s KSI facility, a Bangladesh factory which produces Lululemon products. Workers would be verbally and physically abused for breaking any rules while forced to work despite ill-health, including overtime, in order to hit targets. Wages are 9,100 taka a month (£85), short of the national living wage, (Marsh & Ahmed 2019). However, the brand investigated this issue and in response enforced a zero-tolerance environment for emotional and physical abuse and harassment, and supervisors who were responsible for the reported actions were removed, (Lululemon 2020s). The safety of workers will be ensured through introducing an independent 24-hour hotline for workers to report any grievances securely and a comprehensive and sustained education program for staff, (Lululemon 2020s).

Profi

People

The company employs the Vendor Code of Ethics (VCoE)protects employees across a number of areas: • “Over 40% of the finished goods facilities listed have independent, democratically elected unions”.

• “All employees must have completed compulsory education and are at least 15 years of age or meet the local legal working age, whichever is highest”.

• “Vendors must pay employees at least the local minimum wage and provide benefits in accordance with all relevant applicable local laws. In regions where there is no legal minimum wage, vendors must pay an industry-average wage (or higher) that can sustain an employee’s needs”.

• “Working overtime must be optional and compensated at the legal premium rate. Regardless of the vendor country’s law, no employee should work more than 60 hours or seven days in a week, on a regular basis”, (Lululemon 2020q).

Lululemon has a Parenthood program which provides global employees at all levels, from Educators to CEO, paid leave of up to six months.

Additionally, gender pay equity was reached globally in 2018, (Lululemon 2020k).

The athleticwear brand has partnered with the United Nations Foundation, providing 1 million U.S. dollars over the next three years to Peace on Purpose, providing access to self-care tools and resources to UN workers who serve on the front lines of urgent global challenges, (Turk 2019). The brand’s CEO states, “With increasing need for international humanitarian aid and peacekeeping, we want to cultivate the long-lasting benefits of mindfulness tools and sustain support for those whose mission is to serve others”, (Turk 2019). This may have been used as a marketing tool to increase the brand’s likeability.

fit

Planet

“Our purpose comes to life every day through our Impact Agenda, which comprises three pillars: Be Human, Be Well, and Be Planet”, (Lululemon 2020p).

Lululemon are working with the Sustainable Apparel Collation, a trade organization made up of brands, retailers, and manufacturers, as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations and academic experts. This partnership aims to reduce the environmental impacts of apparel products, measured using the Higg Index, (Lululemon 2020f).

This diagram highlights the investment, partnerships and yoga mats donated as a result of the ‘Here to Be’ program.

Grants ranging from $2,500 to $100,000 in the form of donations, events, and fundraising are provided to fund non-profit organizations supporting communities.

Local and strategic partners are supported in a number of ways, a few of which include funding teacher’s salaries and scholarships for trainings, donating yoga mats, providing space in our stores for organizations to host trainings, and bringing leaders together to share perspectives and resources, (Lululemon 2020h).

In order to reduce facilities greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030, as stated as a company objective, Lululemon will source more sustainable raw materials and fibres, including recycled and renewable content polyester and nylon and reduce carbon emissions in our inbound logistics. 100% renewable electricity will be achieved by a combination of renewable energy credits (RECs) and a virtual Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) in North America, (Lululemon 2020e).

5P’s of Sustainability In order to evaluate the visual supply chain section, the 5P’s of sustainability model has been used to assess how Lululemon’s are applying product, promotion, processes, project and planning in order to be more ethical and sustainable.

Product

Promotion

Processes

Project

Planning

The brand attempts to be more sustainable in sourcing the raw materials that form their apparel. They describe it as “of the most significant ways that we as a company can make a positive impact globally”, (Lululemon 2020n).

Recent examples include “using recycled polyester in our Metal Vent Tech products and shifting to FSCcertified natural rubber for our yoga mats”, (Lululemon 2020k). This also further supports forest ecosystems and the people, plants, and animals that inhabit them.

The Lululemon business model differs from other athletic apparel brands, centered around community and avoiding marketing through sponsorships.

Community spirit is conveyed through projects such as’ Here to Be’. ‘Here to Be’ is a global social impact program that supports non-profits by creating access to yoga and meditation for wellbeing through a mix of grants, curriculum and other resources. Partners include, Grow Chicago, LoveYourBrain and Ourmala, (Lululemon 2020h). Peace on Purpose is another active project.

As highlighted in the brands objectives, future dates have been set to allow time to accomplish larger scale green issues. The company has already implemented green initiatives which can be done simply, such as switching lighting to LED.

The increasing use of forest-based fabrics, such as rayon, viscose, lyocell, and modal in products has led to a partnership with Canopy. They are a not-for-profit environmental organization, who enforce project to protect ancient and endangered forests through mindful fabric choices. Lululemon states that they are no longer sourcing fabrics from these forests as of 2018, (Lululemon 2020g).

The brand has not listed an overall sustainability target but is continually introducing new policies and strategies which are measurable across the supply chain to work towards a more ethical and sustainable business.

Reccommendations

These ethics and sustainability recommendations for Lululemon have been built on the basis of the SWOT model and expressed in the form of opportunities. These opportunities were developed by identifying the company’s strengths, weaknesses and threats. In order to provide appropriate and realistic recommendations, competitors current activities and published goals have been taken into consideration using information from the Fashion Transparency Report 2019 and the 2019 Global Fashion Agenda.

SWOT is an analytical tool which aims to capitalize upon strengths, using them to develop opportunity or overcome threats in the market, while addressing weaknesses will ensure opportunity is not missed, (Posner 2015, p.101-102).

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

- Score of 76% for policy and commitments within the Fashion Transparency Index covering various topics, a few of which were animal welfare, child labor, restricted substance list, annual leave & public holidays, biodiversity, working conditions and waste & recycling, (Fashion Transparency Report 2019a pg.38-39).

- Score of only 6% for spotlight issues within the Fashion Transparency Index, covering topics such as gender equality, decent work & economic growth, responsible production & consumption and climate action, Fashion Transparency Report 2019d pg.63-64).

- Score of 67% for Governance, consisting of employee, executive and supplier incentives for improving performance as well as outlining who in the company is responsible for environmental and social impacts, (Fashion Transparency Report 2019b pg.45-46).

- Score of only 30% for the know, show, fix section of the Fashion Transparency Report which includes assessing suppliers, publishing information and acting on the assessment results, (Fashion Transparency Report 2019c pg. 57-58).

- Although Lululemon implemented the practices of the Bangladesh accord and Alliance initiative, they did not sign the official policy after Rani Plaza, so the brands suppliers are unable to be cross referenced with inspection reports under the initiative.

- No statement within annual report on working to create a more circular supply chain

Opportunities:

Threats:

Increase their spotlight issues score in the 2020 Fashion transparency Index by: - Joining the UK Prompt Payment Code to publicly disclose that suppliers are paid within a maximum of 60 days.

- Introducing multi-stakeholder initiatives such as ACT membership or the Fair Wage Ladder.

- Further develop recycling initiatives for consumers such as repair/reuse in order to remain competitive with other players in the market such as Gap. Gap have a target to “increase the volume of used garments collected globally through participation in pre-competitive, industry-led collection pilots”, (Global Fashion Agenda 2019b pg.6).

Increase their know, show, fix score in the 2020 Fashion transparency Index by: - Joining industry-wide initiatives surrounding factory conditions- Bangladesh Accord and Alliance.

- Match competitor Adidas by publishing “detailed data on the top 10 labor noncompliances found during their supplier assessments: wages, working hours and lack of standardized record keeping”, (Fashion Transparency Report 2019e pg.61), within the company annual report

- Within the Global Fashion Agenda report 2019 competitor brand Adidas states that ““By 2020, adidas will incorporate key principles on circular economy and guidance on circular design in all sustainable product creation trainings”, (Global Fashion Agenda 2019a pg.1) - Adidas was highlighted as a positive example in solving spotlight issues as they have a “Green Company Performance Analysis report, tracking energy, carbon emissions, water consumption and waste reductions performance at 64 sites per facility”, (Fashion Transparency Report 2019f pg. 72).

- The Global Fashion Agenda commitment reports that “By 2020, 80% of Nike’s products will be scored for sustainability during the product creation process, which will include elements of circularity… and sustainability training, including circular design, for all product creation roles in Footwear and Apparel will be introduced”, (Global Fashion Agenda 2019c pg.12).

- COVOID-19

Conclusion

The s e recommendations will a i d i n low er i ng t he bra nd ’ s glo ba l i mp a c t s i n t e r m s o f e t h i c s a n d s us tainab ility. For example, by i nt r od u ci ng r eu s e a nd r ep a i r r ecycli ng i ni t i a t i v e s t h i s c a n h e l p i n g i v i n g g arm e n ts a new lease of life, a nd a s a r es u lt r ed u ci ng t he a mo u nt o f clo t h i n g w h i c h g o e s t o l a n d f i l l , curren tly £1 40 million annu ally, ( W i lli a ms & Tr i ckell 2 0 2 0 ) . Ot her p o s i t i v e e n v i r o n m e n t a l e f fe c t s i n c l ud e con s e rving natu ral resou rces su ch a s w a t er, u s ed i n t he co t t o n p r od u c t i o n a n d d y e i n g p r o c e ss, t o pre s erve landscapes which com mu ni t i es r ely o n. It a ls o w i ll help t o li m i t c o n sum e r i sm , m ov i n g a w ay f rom the tr end of making twice a s ma ny clo t hi ng p u rcha s es , bu t o nly w ea r i n g g a r m e n t s fo r h a l f a s l o n g , ( Thre adUp 201 9). With introdu ct i o n o f fu r t her s u s t a i na bi li ty p ra ct i ces a t e a c h st a g e o f t h e sup p l y c h a i n L ulule m on can achiev e a circu la r s u p p ly cha i n, p r ov i d i ng a lo ng- t er m s o lut i o n t o sust a i n a b i l i ty w i t h o ut a lim ite d resou rce su pply. In t er ms o f et hi cs , s u gges t i o ns i nclu d ed jo i n i n g i n d ust ry -w i d e i n i t i a t i v e s s uch as the Bangladesh Accord a nd A lli a nce, t o help t o s u p p o r t fu r t her p r o g r e ss i n e m p l oy e e sa fe ty an d rig h ts . T his inclu des prov id i ng s a fer w o r ki ng co nd i t i o ns a nd mo s t i m p o r t a n t l y c a n b e m o n i t o r e d e xte rn ally to ensu re the rand is fo llow i ng r egu la t i o ns . Thi s ca n help t o d e c r e a se h um a n i m p a c t suc h a s th e Rana Plaza incident which “ t o o k les s t ha n 9 0 s eco nd s t o co lla p s e, ki ll i n g 1 ,1 3 4 p e o p l e” , ( Sa f i 2 0 1 8 ) .

In addition to developing opportunities using competitors’ actions, current events affecting conditions in the retail market as a whole have been considered, such as COVOID-19. As a result of this global pandemic, it has caused a shift in the way consumers shop causing people to cut down on purchases of non-essential items. The clothing industry has seen a 35% decrease in revenue in March since the pandemic outbreak due to bricks and mortar stores being closed, (Inman 2020). These short-term hurdles will likely promote sustainability within the fashion industry as people wear the garments they already own more. Although Lululemon are not considered a typical fast fashion company, in response to a changing consumer trend this may direct them to adopt a business model with fewer launches with a focus on increased quality.

This shift towards slower fashion should help to decrease the environmental impact of EU consumption.

The fashion industry previously accounted for 2-10%, (House of Commons 2019), but with fewer natural resources being used this figure is likely to decrease. The company have made the main focus of COVOID-19 cutting senior leadership salaries by 20% to go towards a “We Stand Together Fund” to help employees facing COVOID-19 related hardship, (Gualt 2020). Lululemon may also publicly benefit from contributing to the production of essential resources such as hand sanitizer, and face masks for healthcare professionals.

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References INMAN, P., 2020. UK lockdown sends retail sales to record low, but alcohol sales rise [viewed Apr 27, 2020]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/apr/24/uk-lockdown-sends-retail-sales-to-record-low-but-alcohol-sales-rise LULULEMON, 2018a. 2018 Annual Report. pg. 1 [viewed Apr 23, 2020]. Available from: http://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReports/PDF/NASDAQ_LULU_2018.pdf LULULEMON, 2018b. 2018 Annual Report. Pg. 4 Available from: http://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReports/PDF/NASDAQ_ LULU_2018.pdf LULULEMON, 2018c. 2018 Annual Report. pg. 2 [viewed Apr 20, 2020]. Available from: http://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReports/PDF/NASDAQ_LULU_2018.pdf LULULEMON, 2018d. 2018 Annual Report. pg.3 [viewed Apr 20, 2020]. Available from: http://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReports/PDF/NASDAQ_LULU_2018.pdf LULULEMON, 2018e. 2018 Annual Report. pg.19 [viewed Apr 20, 2020]. Available from: http://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReports/PDF/NASDAQ_LULU_2018.pdf LULULEMON, 2020a. About Us [viewed Apr 19, 2020]. Available from: https://info.lululemon.com/about LULULEMON, 2020b. Better Products [viewed Apr 23, 2020]. Available from: https://shop.lululemon.com/story/product-sustainability LULULEMON, 2020c. Cotton [viewed Apr 23, 2020]. Available from: https://info.lululemon.com/sustainability/responsible-supply-chain/raw-material-sources/cotton LULULEMON, 2020d. Down [viewed Apr 24, 2020]. Available from: https://info.lululemon.com/sustainability/responsible-supply-chain/raw-material-sources/down LULULEMON, 2020e. Energy and Carbon [viewed Apr 23, 2020]. Available from: https://info.lululemon.com/sustainability/our-footprint/climate-energy LULULEMON, 2020f. Environmental Impacts [viewed Apr 28, 2020]. Available from: https://info.lululemon.com/sustainability/responsible-sup-

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References THE CANADIAN PRESS, 2013. Beyond yoga pants: Lululemon concept store in Vancouver offers super-fans limited edition designs [viewed Apr 25, 2020]. Available from: https://financialpostcom.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/lululemon-vancouver-labs.jpg THE MANN GROUP, 2018. WHO’S BRINGING EXPERIENTIAL RETAIL TO MALLS?[viewed Apr 22, 2020]. Available from: https://www.manngroup.net/ whos-bringing-experiential-retail-to-malls/ THOMAS, L., 2019. Lululemon CEO: ‘We have very low brand awareness with men,’ but that business will double by 2023 [viewed Apr 20, 2020].

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