2023 Sustainability Report

 

Table of Contents

  1. About Latimmier
  2. Our Approach to Sustainability
  3. ESG Highlights
    3.1 Social Impact & Our Communities
    3.2 Environmental Impact
    3.3 Latimmier Governance
  4. Statistics Breakdown
    4.1 Diversity Statistics
    4.2 Production Transparency
    4.3 Production Statistics
    4.4 Material Statistics
    4.5 Annual Electricity Consumption Statistics
  5. Sustainability Objectives 2025 Progress

1. About Latimmier

Latimmier is a Helsinki-based ready-to-wear label designed for anyone who wants to express masculinity with their clothing. Our design language is rooted in the legacy of ballroom and in the dissection and subversion of Nordic and Eurocentric masculinity.

We challenge both who can perform masculinity, and what kind of clothing can be used to do that.

Our mission is to uniquely combine the queer history of gender performance with social and ecological sustainability in collections that generate better practices of producing, consuming, and working with fashion.

Our vision is to expand the notion of masculinity through design and creativity, and redefine how we approach gender in everyday life.

2. Our Approach to Sustainability

Our approach to sustainability is guided by a philosophy of restraint and responsible growth. We view the notion of having to choose between economic prosperity and ecological restraint as a misconception. Our goal is to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve both objectives, even within the constraints of being an independent fashion brand.

We practice responsible growth under four pillars: 

  1. More sustainable sourcing and production
    See sections 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 of this report for detailed data of our sourcing and production
  2. Holistic transparency
    See section 4.2 of this report for our transparency tiers and data
  3. Circular economy principles
    See our Circular Economy Principles here
  4. Community engagement
    See section 4.1 for diversity statistics of our operations and chapter 3 to see how we engage with our local communities, support social initiatives and give back to causes that align with our values.

These pillars not only ensure that we minimize our negative impact on the environment, society, and economy while maximizing positive contributions, but they also establish limitations and guidelines for us as we grow as a company. We believe in setting clear boundaries to prevent negative impacts rather than reacting after they occur.

Finally, 'Sustainable fashion' should not be the sole reason for a fashion brand's existence. It should be considered a fundamental requirement, a prerequisite. While we acknowledge the significance of ecologically sustainable materials and design, we believe that, in today's age of excessive consumption, fashion must serve a deeper purpose to justify its presence.

3. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Highlights

3.1 Social Impact & Our Communities

Collaboration with director Anton Tammi and production company 066 Studio to create a visually stunning short film for our Collection No. 4

The video received hundreds of thousands of impressions on social media, quickly spreading among industry professional accounts and receiving features from the likes of Dazed. We would like to thank the entire production team and models for their generous pro bono efforts on the creation of the short film. See the film here.


Collaboration with Finland based Swiss-Haitian artist Sasha Huber

Huber’s creative practice spans a variety of media, which include painting, installation, video, photography, and performance-based interventions and publications. For our Collection No. 3 we featured artworks by Huber’s Drawn to Music series, which features abstract, distinctively graphic artworks painted and drawn to music by artists from Black diaspora.


We carried out our first-ever diversity questionnaire for all models

Similar to 2022, we also administered the same questionnaire to all staff, interns, and freelancers. Our aim is to conduct and present the results from these questionnaires separately to emphasize the equal significance of what could be referred to as public diversity (models) and non-public diversity (staff, interns, and freelancers).

Lectures on anti-racist practices and design in fashion

In 2023 we were kindly invited to lecture on our approach to design and questions of Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at the following institutions: Parsons Paris, Aalto University, European Culture and Creativity Days as well as several local Finnish arts and culture organizations.

We became signatories of the Danish Fashion Ethical Charter

The Danish Fashion Ethical Charter which aims to safeguard the well-being of individuals involved in the fashion industry in Denmark and to promote relevant and appropriate information regarding eating disorders, as well as negative beauty and body standards that the fashion industry contributes to.

Ballroom support and drag events

In 2023 we launched our drag bingo concept in Helsinki in collaboration with local restaurant Harju 8 to extend our values and cultural impact for local queer communities and audiences. We also continued to sponsor local ballroom events by providing product prizes for Finland’s largest ballroom event, Evolution Ball.

3.2 Environmental Impact

We successfully completed our three season tenure (SS23, AW24, SS24) with COPHF NEWTALENT Programme

CPHF NEWTALENT Programme is a support scheme that seeks to nurture, develop, and promote emerging Nordic talent on a global scale. According to Copenhagen Fashion Week, their vision is to be an agenda-setting platform that uses its voice to accelerate sustainability efforts in the fashion industry. They approach sustainability holistically by focusing on environmental and social challenges and by acknowledging cultural and behavioral aspects that are crucial to reinventing and innovating business models in the long run.

Picture by Tonya Matyu

We received a stipend from Kuopio Academy of Design

The stipend was received to develop our slower design and production techniques and manufacturing methods. Thanks to the stipend we were able to introduce natural dyes in our collections, such as silk fabrics dyed with post consumer waste coffee.

We published our Circular Economy Principles on our website

These principles support our responsible growth goals and implement circularity to the core of our operations. See them here.

We introduced two new guidelines on our website

the Material Guide, designed to educate our community about the materials we use, and the Garment Care Guide, offering tips on how to properly take care of our designs. In 2024, we plan to expand the Garment Care Guide further.

We updated our prohibited materials list

It now includes prohibiting non-recycled synthetic materials in larger quantities than 30%. See the full list here.

We took new initiatives at our studio in Helsinki

1. We have started to recycle our in-house textile-waste, meaning we currently recycle 100% of our waste (currently divided to textile, paper, cardboard, plastic, metal, glass and bio waste)

2. Our studio’s electricity provider was switched to more sustainable hydropower

We updated our supply chain transparency tiers

We added internal operations as a tier to our supply chain transparency tiers to ensure we govern our operations on all possible levels.

3.3 Latimmier Governance

In 2023, a total of 156 stories, interviews and features were published of Latimmier

In total, there were over a thousand placements across online, paper and social media of Latimmier. We had features on platforms such as: Vogue Runway, Vogue Scandinavia, Vogue Business, The Cut by New Yorker, T Magazine by New York Times, i-D, Dazed, Financial Times, Wallpaper, the Guardian and many more. See more of our press here.

By the end of 2023 we had 1 full-time staff member and 2 part time people working on a freelance basis

During 2023 we had a total of 22 people, mostly freelance, who were paid to work with us. Their job descriptions varied from design, sewing and photography to consulting and other operative work. This number does not include runway models or other people related to show production. In addition we hosted 1 intern who received monetary compensation, due to the level of independence required by their work on natural dyeing processes

We also worked with leading local PR agency Juni Communications on our international PR efforts and received mentoring from international and local industry professionals.

Lastly we'd like to recognize that we received extremely generous free support, help and guidance from various industry professionals and other individuals.

 From left to right our core team at the end of 2023: Vilma (social media & PR), Ervin (creative director & founder), Atte (sales manager)

4. Statistics Breakdown

4.1 Diversity Statistics

The goal of this section is to offer information about our diversity initiatives and, more importantly, to track the evolution of these statistics. To summarize, in 2023 our staff, collaborators and models were mostly people of color and mostly members of the LGBTQ+ community.

The data was gathered through two voluntary questionnaires. One questionnaire was sent to all staff members, freelancers, and interns who had collaborated with us in 2023, while an identical questionnaire was sent to all models who had worked with us in 2023. We received 17 answers out of 22 recipients for the staff questionnaire and 14 answers out of 34 recipients for model questionnaire. You can review the questionnaire form here.

As previously mentioned, we intentionally administered separate questionnaires for staff and models to underscore the significance of diversity across all facets of a fashion company, not just models.

It's important to acknowledge that questionnaires of this nature are never flawless, and there are always challenges regarding sensitivity and terminology when gathering data on racial identity, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Additionally, there are cultural disparities in the collection of such data. For instance, in our home country Finland, it is relatively uncommon to pose more detailed demographic questions to staff members, whereas in countries like the US, such questions are more common. We will always respect any individual's decision not to answer these types of questions.

Please note that in question 3, individuals were given the opportunity to select multiple options. As a result, the total percentage exceeds 100% as some people identified with several racial identities.

We welcome any feedback you might have or any suggestions for questions that you think should be included in future both in terms of content and methodologies.

Statistics for models:

Statistics for staff:

 4.2 Production Transparency

Recognizing one’s suppliers is significant for addressing and tracking environmental sustainability and social responsibility. Our approach is holistic, which will enable us to identify and possibly eliminate unethical actors and unsustainable practices that we might otherwise unintentionally endorse. Most commonly supply chain transparency reporting is divided into three tiers:

  • Tier 1 – Suppliers that execute the final assembly of products i.e. factories
  • Tier 2 – Suppliers where Tier 1 suppliers get their materials, such as fabric and buttons  i.e. fabric mills and hardware factories
  • Tier 3 – Suppliers of raw materials that Tier 2 suppliers need in order to manufacture their products i.e. cotton farms or sheep herders

However, at Latimmier we wanted to report our transparency in more detail by dividing our supply chain into five tiers. For the 2023 Sustainability report, we reevaluated our tier system to more accurately represent the stages of the process and enhance visibility. We introduced internal operations as a new tier post final product assembly. Additionally, we merged the previous tier 2 (fabric mills) and tier 3 (hardware production) into a consolidated tier 3 covering all material processing. The new tiers are outlined below:

  • Tier 1 – Internal operations (new for 2023)
  • Tier 2 – Final product assembly
  • Tier 3 – Processed material assembly (updated for 2023)
  • Tier 4 – Raw material processing
  • Tier 5 – Raw material production and/or extraction

In 2023 our knowledge of our sampling tiers are the following:

 

In 2023 our knowledge of our bulk production tiers are the following:

 

4.3 Production Statistics

We have divided this section into two parts: statistics of sampled products showcased on the runway and in lookbooks, and bulk-produced products sold to clients. We consider this distinction important for transparency. It also includes the percentage of production sourced from each country. For more detailed information of suppliers, see our supplier list.

In 2023 we designed and sampled a total of 67 SKUs (stock keeping units). 11 of these SKUs (16%) were carried over from previous seasons without changes.

In 2023 we sampled products in the following countries:

  • Finland 57%
  • Romania 16%
  • Lithuania 10%
  • Italy 8%
  • Holland 4,5%
  • Portugal 4,5%

Map of all countries where Latimmier products were sampled in 2023

In 2023 we produced bulk in the following countries:

  • Romania 73%
  • Finland 27%

4.4 Material Statistics

We have divided this section into two parts: statistics of sampled products showcased on the runway and in lookbooks, and bulk-produced products sold to clients. We consider this distinction important for transparency. For more detailed information on our materials, see our Material Guide.

Included is the percentage of a given material from the total amount of SKUs (stock keeping units) produced. This statistic has each fiber quality grouped together, regardless if they were in a monomaterial or in a mixed material. 

Here we also provide data of the sustainability of our materials. When we say "more sustainable materials" we refer to: certified yarns and fabrics such as BCI cotton (BCI is merely a bare minimum, we will set goals for replacing BCI with GOTS cotton completely in our Sustainability Objectives for 2030) or EcoVero™ viscose, GOTS certified organic yarns and fabrics, new generation sustainable yarns and fabrics, natural dyed yarns and fabrics, upcycled or deadstock yarns and fabrics, and recycled yarns and fabrics.

In 2023 our sampled products had the following materials

  • Cotton 33% (of which GOTS certified organic cotton 24% and BCI certified cotton 9%)
  • Wool 32% (of which virgin material wool 24,0% and recycled wool 8%)
  • Upcycled, deadstock or recycled mixed materials 14%
  • EcoVero™viscose 6%
  • Silk 6%
  • Polyester 4,5% (of which recycled polyester 3,0% and virgin polyester 1,5%)
  • Leather 4,5% (of which regular leather 3% and vegetable tanned leather 1,5%)
  • Polyurethane less than 0,01%
  • Elastane less than 0,01%
  • Polyamide less than 0,01%

Types of material in sampled products:

  • Natural materials (plant or animal based) 75%
  • Upcycled or recycled mixed materials 14%
  • Synthetic materials (oil based) 6%
  • Regenerated materials (cellulose based) 5%

Sustainability of the materials in sampled products:

  • More sustainable materials 65%
  • Non-certified natural materials 33%
  • Non-certified synthetic materials 2%

Country of origin of the materials in sampled products:

  • Portugal 44%
  • Italy 29%
  • 2nd hand / Deadstock: N/A 14%
  • Finland 7%
  • Austria 6%

In 2023 our bulk products had the following materials:

  • Cotton 73% (GOTS certified organic cotton 49% and BCI certified cotton 24%)
  • Upcycled, deadstock or recycled mixed materials 15%
  • Wool 12%

Types of material in bulk products:

  • Natural materials (plant or animal based) 85%
  • Upcycled or recycled mixed materials 15%

Sustainability of the materials in bulk products:

  • More sustainable materials 88%
  • Non-certified natural materials 12%

Country of origin of the materials in bulk products:

  • Portugal 73%
  • 2nd hand / deadstock: N/A 15%
  • Italy 12%

In 2023 our products had the following types of sustainable hardware:

  • 100% biodegradable shirt, blazer and coat buttons made from corn starch. Made in Italy
  • 100% recycled polyester neck labels. Made in Italy
  • Snap buttons and metal eyelets made from a metal alloy mix that can be melted and upcycled into new hardware. Made in Italy

4.5 Annual Electricity Consumption Statistics

In accordance with our Sustainability Objectives for 2025, we switched our studio electricity source to hydropower while moving to new premises in April of 2023. For this reason this year’s annual figures are from April to December 2023 and do not fully reflect our annual consumption. From 2024 onward we’re able to provide a full 12 month report. Our energy consumption between in April-December 2023 was as follows:

  • Our total hydropower consumption was 924 kWh
  • As a result of utilizing hydropower, we were able to save 435 kg of CO2.
  • This amount is equivalent to the amount of CO2 produced by driving 2836 km with an average passenger car

5. Sustainability Objectives 2025 Progress

In 2023 we achieved the following sustainability objectives for 2025. See full list of objectives here.

  • On average, minimum 20% of our bulk and sample production materials are made in Finland

  • We will add the following garment care sections on our website:
    • Detailed care instructions for each type of material available in our collections 
  • We will pilot and successfully implement natural dyeing processes in at least one product
  • By end of year 2025 we will have information of the following:
    • 50% of Tier 4 production
    • 50% of Tier 5 production
  • Minimum 65% of our collection is either certified sustainable, new generation sustainable materials, upcycled, recycled or made of deadstock 
  • Our studio is powered only by wind, solar or hydropowe
  • We will hire a person (part-time or freelance) to focus on our company's sustainability efforts in order to make sure we are actively receiving the latest information and setting ambitious objectives and standards

      This report was compiled by Latimmier with assistance of external advice. All data, infographics and written content produced by Latimmier. Should you have any feedback or questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at contact@latimmier.com

      This page was last updated April 8th 2024