More than 50% of our carbon impact comes from the production of our products. To reduce our carbon, water and waste footprints, we need to look at our fabric selection and the way we use materials.

To keep things on track, Ted Baker has signed up to be a member of SCAP, BCI, the Leather Working Group and the Textile Exchange. Since 2012, Ted has been a signatory of the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP) and is part of an industry-wide initiative to bring about positive change within the sector. Together, with over seventy UK based fashion brands, we’re working to reduce the carbon, water and waste footprint of clothing sold in the UK. The most significant impact we can make on our footprint, as outlined above, is through choosing more sustainable fibres.

We are proud signatories of the WRAP Textiles 2030, a new voluntary agreement for the UK textiles sector.

Through this initiative, we are making commitments, together with other big industry players, to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and water footprint of our products over the next 10 years. We will do this by swapping our conventional materials to more sustainable options, while also working with our suppliers to improve their manufacturing practices. We are also committing to putting in place circular business thinking to promote the reuse of materials and products, while increasing the recyclability of our garments.

Ted Baker pledges to ensure 100% of our collections will be made from responsibly sourced materials by 2030.

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This means finding a fibre or material which has a reduced environmental impact and using it to replace a more conventional material or process. By choosing alternative materials and processes, we’re using less water, less energy and fewer chemicals and resources.

Don’t Just Take Our Word For It...

One important thing to note is that all sustainability claims need to be backed up with certification. Everything in our Sustainable Shop has third-party certification to prove its sustainability credentials, which is currently the only way to prove something is truly more sustainable. At present Ted is not itself certified to a third-party standard, but this is something we are considering for the future.

To reach our target, we’ve identified the materials we hope to replace with more sustainable alternatives. This is an ongoing discussion, being helped along by life cycle-assessment data and reports. Some of our most-used materials include cotton, wool, polyester, leather and regenerated cellulosics (a fancy name for fibres like viscose and lyocell). To meet our targets, we’ve set our sights on sourcing leather from Leather Working Group (LWG) certified tanneries and switching our cotton to organic, recycled or Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) cotton. We also pledge to source recycled polyester as well as organic, recycled or responsible wool.

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Responsibly Sourced Cotton

When we say responsibly sourced cotton at Ted we are referring to cotton that comes from more sustainable and responsible sources. This means the water and chemical use is reduced from farm to manufacture and the farmers benefit from improved working conditions. Responsible cotton includes organic cotton, recycled cotton or cotton sourced as part of the Better Cotton Initiative.

Better Cotton Initiative

The aim of Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) is to make global cotton production better for the people who produce it, better for the environment and better for the future of the cotton industry. Through education and training, farmers learn more about sustainable production methods, helping them to reduce their environmental impact, use less water and fewer harmful pesticides, and increase their yields and profits.

Better Cotton is not physically traceable to the end product. However, BCI Farmers benefit from the demand for Better Cotton in equivalent volumes to those we source.

Organic Cotton

Unlike conventional cotton, the organic cotton farming process does not use synthetic pesticides, insecticides, fertilisers or GMO crops. The crops are predominantly rain fed too, which means the negative environmental impacts of growing cotton are minimised.

Recycled Cotton

Recycled cotton can either be sourced from pre-consumer or post-consumer textile waste. By using recycled cotton, we’re able to eliminate the farming, harvesting and ginning processes. In turn, this helps to reduce the use of raw materials, water, chemicals and energy.

Alternatives to Viscose & Lyocell

Conventional viscose and lyocell are made with wood pulp, which has been linked to deforestation. The pulp is treated with solvents and therefore has associations with chemical pollution. By choosing alternative fibres sourced from sustainably managed forests (e.g. FSC certified) and processed in more sustainable way, these impacts can be reduced and eliminated.

Leather Working Group Tanneries

The Leather Working Group (LWG) is the leather industry’s most acknowledged environmental standard. We joined as a brand member in 2020 to aid the mapping of every tannery in the world, through the LWG Environmental Audit Protocol. The LWG is a multi-stakeholder initiative involving brands, suppliers, manufacturers and NGOs around the world.

Their audit protocol assesses the environmental compliance and performance capabilities of tanners, giving LWG the information it needs to promote sustainable environmental business practices in the leather industry. 26% of our leather now comes from LWG-certified tanneries, putting us on track to meet our 100% target by 2025.

Recycled Polyester & Nylon

Virgin polyester and polyamide (aka nylon) are made from crude oil which is a limited resource. Large amounts of energy and water are required to convert crude oil into a synthetic fibre. By using recycled alternatives, the raw materials and energy needed to produce them are reduced. Recycled Polyester and nylon are made from plastic waste, most commonly water bottles. The plastic waste is cleaned, crushed and melted to then be spun into recycled polyester and nylon yarn. This process uses less energy and helps stop plastic waste from ending up in landfills.

Responsible Wool

Wool is an important material to Ted so it’s important we source it as responsibly as possible. Responsible means that at farm stage the animal welfare of the sheep has been respected and the land where the sheep graze has been effectively managed. Less chemicals and energy are used in the farming and production of responsible wool compared to regular wool. Responsible Wool at Ted includes preferred options of organic wool, recycled wool or mulesing free wool.

Mulesing Free Wool

Mulesing is a cruel practice that can still take place in the farming of sheep to prevent flystrike, mulesing free wool ensures this practice has not taken place and the health of the sheep has been protected. Instead of carrying out mulesing the farmers take a progressive approach to farming and land management as a prevention. At Ted we are working with our suppliers to phase out the practice of mulesing in our collections.

Organic Wool

Wool can be certified as organic if the sheep are farmed in humane conditions and not exposed to synthetic chemicals used on the land. With organic wool, the process of turning fleece into yarn uses fewer chemicals than conventional wool, meaning the overall environmental impact is decreased.

Recycled Wool

Wool production requires land for grazing sheep, as well as energy, water and chemicals to convert the wool into a finished and useable fibre. By using wool waste collected from factories or woolly jumpers at the end of a products life, we can eliminate these processes and minimise the environmental impact along the way.

Manufacturing

We know that the responsibility doesn’t stop with the raw materials that make our products; it extends into all aspects of the products life cycle and includes the manufacturing processes too.

We keep a close eye on how our products are produced, working with our suppliers to reduce the impact from dying, printing, tanning and washing. Rethinking our manufacturing processes can also help reduce our carbon, water and chemical impact. One way we do this is by using digital printing instead of other methods of printing. Digital printing creates beautifully vivid images and uses less water and ink to do so.

Click here to read our Restricted Substance list

Animal welfare is incredibly important to us at Ted. We have a strict Animal Welfare and Responsible Material policy (link to policy) which specifies the minimum requirements we set for our suppliers when sourcing animal derived fibres. There are also some materials that we simply won’t use. By this, we mean a list of banned materials including those that are not sourced or used under any circumstance, in any of our products. All our suppliers must comply with the banning of these materials.

Uzbek and Turkmen Cotton

Ted Baker insists that no cotton sourced from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan finds its way into our products. This is because of documented reports of industry-wide, systematic human rights violations, including the use of child labour and forced labour in the harvesting of cotton. No ifs, ands, or buts: we do not, and will not, tolerate these practices.

Alpaca, Angora and Mohair

We don't use angora in any of our collections. This is due to the unethical treatment of angora rabbits on some farms.

From AW21 Ted will start sourcing Alpaca and Mohair through responsible means. For Mohair, this is through the Responsible Mohair Standard, and for Alpaca, through the Responsible Alpaca Standard.

We are also stopping the use of alpaca in new developments due to unethical treatment of alpacas in some farms. Ted collections will be free from alpaca fibres from AW21 and onwards.

Fur

Due to issues concerning animal husbandry and fur extraction, it’s difficult to guarantee that animals raised on fur farms are ethically treated. Because of this, we do not use real fur in any of our collections

Endangered Species

In accordance with the CITIES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) and IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) list, Ted Baker prohibits the use of materials from endangered species

Down and Feathers

Due to multiple reports of unethical treatment of birds, we are no longer using down and feathers through any of our direct suppliers in Ted owned collections.

Our third-party partners are permitted to use responsibly sourced feather and down products, providing they have been certified to the Responsible Down Standard (RDS) or have been certified as recycled by GRS or RCS.

Restricted Materials

Our restricted materials list is comprised of materials that will only be used if they reach a certain ethical standard.

Leather and Hair on Hide

No animals will ever be slaughtered solely for use on a Ted Baker product. All skins on our products, for example, must be by-products of the meat industry. We do not use any skins from animals that have been boiled or skinned alive. As well as this, we do not use Karakul, Slink or other leathers that are from unborn animals.

Wool

Sheep used for the production of wool are susceptible to a parasitic infection called fly strike. A common but unethical remedy for this is ‘mulesing’, which involves removing strips of wool-bearing skin from the rear of the sheep. We are working with suppliers to phase out wool from mulesed sheep within all collections.

Cashmere

Cashmere production has its ties to unregulated animal welfare standards and land degradation. We continue to work hard to ensure all our cashmere is eventually traceable, with increased visibility leading to better working practises.

Conflict Minerals

Tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold, collectively known as 3TG, are major drivers of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and surrounding countries. Because of this, we do not tolerate the use of 3TG materials sourced from these regions.