Manifesto · Marques Almeida Foundation

A commitment to engage, empower and honour the communities we exist in.

To make a meaningful difference in fashion by making conscious choices and being a motor for change in how and what we produce.

To do continuous research on how to improve our products and actions for a positive impact on the environment and the planet, protecting it for future generations.

Social

Equality in the workplace - everyone is given equal opportunitues; equal work = equal pay and practice a diverse recruitment. Review and   publish a new Equality in the workplace policy and tools to monitor it, as well as start conducting audits on external collaborators.

Fair pay - commit to paying living wage vs minimum wage internally and conduct audits on fair pay on external collaborators.

Zero Tolerance for non-transparency on decent working conditions and pay on sub-contracts. Conduct audits on external collaborators’ sub-contracts and their working conditions.

Partnership - Not squeeze, not overcut collaborators; know each other, understand each outher, engage with all partners and build fair, long lasting relationships that are beneficial for both parties.

Good working conditions - confortable workplace with appropriate light and air and temperature conditions with eating and resting areas and adequate equipment. produce h&S and working conditions report.

Transparency - Produce tier based Supplier Disclosure Reports.
Tier 1 - manufacturers of finish goods;
Tier 2 - dyers, printers weavers;
Tier 3 - Fiver spinners, recycled fibres transformers;
Tier 4 - raw material suppliers.

Duty of Care - Produce report analysing risk to employees and creating a duty care prevention, planning and communication plan.

Practice Community - Engage with communities where we act on or relate with to create partnerships, volunteer work, raise awareness, empower and donate.

Be a platform for positive change - Constantly be midful of the duty we have, given our platform, to break harmful stereotypes of the fashion industry, promote diversity, empower individuals, and raise awareness to issues that matter to the survival and thriving of present and future generations.

Continue Researching and improving and publish twice-yearly reports on the pledges of this manifesto plus any changes or new developments or learnings.

Product

Only use recycled petroleum-based fibres.

Only use sustainable raw materials that have legitimate certifications

Adopt a sustainable silk supplying.

Progressively eliminate raw material waste: refuse MOQ, produce on demand, and upcycle waste raw materials and deadstock into new collections through the internal initiative reMade.

Sourcing local materials and maitaining 100% local Manufacturing.

All animal products used at M’A having legitimate Animal Welfare Certifications.

Reduce water consumption and pollution: replace traditional water-based denim washes with environmentally friendly alternatives, work with factories with internal water treatment and circular water use and only work with factories that can legitimately assert their methods and results in terms of water consumption and treatment.

Move to vegetable and plant based dyeing techniques.

Educating our consumer into prolonging the life cycle of each M’A Product through incentivizing resale, “pass on” and “fix and repaiR” mentality, including, but not limited to, through the M’a PRE-OWNED initiative.

Day to Day

Create and implement clear and effective guidelines on waste and recycling/upcycling for the studio.

Engage the team through
seminars and trainings on sustainability as well as open forums to employees to give suggestions or feedback.

Focus on digital marketing to avoid producing excess material and if not possible commit to only conduct zero waste marketing or promotional activities.

Upcycling and Sharing - upcycle and share used equipment in the office or promotional activities by dontating, reselling it and
repairing it.

Appoint a responsible to manage the delivery of this manifesto in cooperation with ceo producing twice-yearly report.

Conduct internal audits on the pledges of this manifesto and start planning all necessary external audits.

Reducing M’as emissions and carbon footprint by minimizing traveling and waste.

Re-think warehousing and distribution to optimize space and reduce energy and carbon footprint.

All packaging b2b and d2c being recycled, recyclable, compostable or sustainbly sourced including lables, swing tags, boxes, wrapping paper, protective paper and garment bags.

Continue researching and improving and publish twice-yearly reports on the pledges of thos manifesto plus any changes or new developments or learning.