Madewell collected nearly 1,000 pairs of jeans to reuse or recycle through its partnership with online resale destination ThredUp in 2021 and resold more than 2,900 pre-loved Madewell pieces ranging from jeans to outerwear via its circular popup in Brooklyn.
These circular economy gains and more are outlined in Madewell’s third annual “Do Well” report. The report includes the results of Madewell’s first-ever materiality assessment, guided by the GRI 3: Material Topics Standard.
The assessment process was led by a “cross-functional steering committee overseen by senior executives” and supported by external ESG experts. From this process, the J.Crew Group-owned brand identified 16 priority ESG topics based on their importance to its business and its stakeholders, ranging from climate, emissions and energy, corporate governance business, from water and chemicals management, sustainable raw materials to circular economy and biodiversity and regenerative agriculture.
Madewell is getting closer to its goals. In 2021, 60% of essential fibers came from sustainable sources, up from 38% the previous year. The brand is committed to sourcing 100% of key fibers (cotton, polyester, nylon, cellulosic, leather and wool) from sustainable sources by 2025. Fibers make up more than 90% of the materials it uses for its products.
Being a denim-based brand, cotton is the largest of Madewell’s key fibers, accounting for 60% of its total fiber footprint by volume. In 2021, 65% of Madewell’s cotton was Certified Organic, Certified Recycled, or from the Better Cotton Initiative, up from 49% in 2020. Madewell estimates its 2021 Better Cotton sourcing saved 357 million gallons of waste. water and avoid 1,892 lbs. of pesticides from entering the soil.
Madewell also became an early member of the US Cotton Trust Protocol’s Consumption Management Solution Pilot, which leverages blockchain technology to provide full supply chain transparency by recording and verifying the movement of American cotton lint throughout the supply chain.
“We aim to expand our range of factory partners in the coming years,” the brand said.
Madewell works closer to the source of the cotton. In 2021, the company began piloting regenerative agriculture programs for cotton and wool to “actively mitigate the effects of climate change.” The brand is working with Crossland Consulting and Textile Exchange to help US cotton farmers in Texas and Louisiana transition from conventional farming practices to regenerative agriculture with the ultimate goal of achieving Regenagri regenerative certification.
Madewell pays growers an economic reward it calls “impact incentives” for transitioning to regenerative agriculture. Incentives are paid directly to farmers.
For the 2021 cotton crop, Madewell reports that it has “positively impacted” over 600 acres of land and committed to 968 bales of cotton that will be used in produce in 2023. The work took an impact on approximately 24 farming families on 21 farms.
Doing its part to contribute to climate action, Madewell conducted a Scope 3 Footprint Review in 2021 to better understand its impact throughout our supply chain in addition to its annual measurement of greenhouse gas emissions. greenhouse effect of scope 1 and scope 2.
“We assessed our business against fifteen categories, and it was determined that as an apparel manufacturer and retailer, the largest source of emissions comes from our purchased goods and services (the materials we use and the suppliers we work with) and our upstream travel and distribution logistics. This foundational work allows us to develop a roadmap to reduce emissions throughout our supply chain,” the brand said.
With this, J.Crew Group is working towards a 33% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across the value chain, in line with the Paris Climate Agreement. The aim is twofold and impacts Madewell’s goal to be carbon neutral for its own operations, Scope 1 and Scope 2 by 2030 and to reduce Scope 3 emissions by 30%.
Madewell’s partnership with Fair Trade USA to strengthen worker protections in global factories takes root. In 2021, 52% of Madewell’s denim came from Fair Trade Certified factories, meaning the brand is more than halfway to its goal of having 90% of its denim certified Fair Trade by 2025.
A typical fair trade journey for a pair of Madewell jeans begins at the Italian denim factory Candiani, from where Madewell sources its organic cotton and recycled spandex denim, and continues to the factory in garments from Saitex in Vietnam, which received its Fairtrade certification in 2019. Fairtrade workers in commercial factories receive a premium from Madewell on the cost of the jeans that goes directly into a community fund. The Fair Trade Committee then votes on the projects to be implemented with these funds.
In 2021, Madewell paid $575,452 directly to workers at its fair trade factory. Since 2019, the brand reports that it has contributed more than $1.2 million to community development funds at nine certified factories in Asia and Central America and has “protected and empowered” approximately 10,000 workers.
“Employees are empowered to organize democratically and vote to invest funds in projects they consider most important to their unique local social, economic and environmental needs,” the brand said.