Tapestry announces 2025 corporate responsibility goals

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Apr 24, 2019

Tapestry Inc, the parent company of Kate Spade, Coach, and Stuart Weitzman, has outlined its 2025 corporate responsibility goals via a 2018 Corporate Responsibility Report.

Highlighting several objectives - such as building diversity in its North American and brand leadership teams; reducing gender and ethnicity differences in the company’s Employee Inclusion Index scores; and establishing a global core benefit standard for self-care, parental and family care leave policies - the company’s goals for 2025 place a particular focus on its supply chain.

In the report, the company said it aims to attain 95% transparency and mapping of  raw materials within supply chains by 2025, and a 10% reduction in water usage across the company.

Tapestry’s increased concentration on its production, distribution and contracted manufacturers comes as corporate ethical responsibility within the fashion industry continues to make headlines and draw concern from consumers. As public scrutiny grows, preemptive strategies like Tapestry’s could avoid ethical controversies - like that seen at PVH, which recently announced plans to investigate reports of verbal abuse and 12-cents-per-hour-pay for Ethiopian workers who make clothes for their brands - before they can begin.

According to the company, each of its suppliers currently must agree to its Supplier Code of Conduct. Moving forward, Tapestry will now request more information from suppliers on their emissions, water consumption and waste generation in order to exceed legal standards.

Other goals detailed in the 2018 report include giving 50,000 people who contribute to manufacturing for the company’s brands access to empowerment programs during the workday by end of fiscal 2025 via partnerships with local NGOs. Tapestry will ensure that 90% of its leather is sourced from Silver and Gold-rated Leather Working Group tanneries, and achieving 75% recycled content in packaging and 25% reduction in North America corporate and distribution center waste, among other objectives.

The published report corresponds with the launch of Our Social Fabric, a microsite dedicated to Tapestry’s sustainability and social governance program.