A desire to look good is nothing to be ashamed of, but the damage that some fashion is doing to our environment is.
OMNES exists to create clothing that is considered, so that you can have great style, without damaging the planet or your wallet.
The Role We Play
We understand that the responsibility is on us just as much as the consumer.
You’ve probably read that the fashion industry is one of our world’s worst polluters. There are many reasons why, but the biggest - and the easiest to change – is decided at the design stage.
Eighty Percent of a garment’s environmental impact is determined at the design stage.
At OMNES our goal is to avoid any of our garments ending up in landfill so, from the outset, when our expert designers are still sketching the latest pieces, we’re thinking about the right choice of material, how we can make sure you’ll be able to wear it for as long as possible and what will happen to it when you can’t do that anymore.
We’re also committed to eliminating the waste that is usually created when making clothes. Right now, we’re trying out new ways of upcycling fabric off cuts into accessories.
But we also know that behind every item of clothing are the human hands that make them, and so being able to trust that the factories OMNES works with treat their workers fairly is crucial. All of those producing clothes and accessories for us are fully audited to ensure they meet our high standards when it comes to Health and Safety, Environment, Business Ethics and Labour Standards.
You can view our Sustainability Report here.
As a result we have partnered with the climate organisation Earthly to measure our carbon emissions per head, and have invested to offset them. To be certified as a Climate Positive Business, Earthly asks that you contribute at least 110% of your footprint to go beyond just carbon neutral. Our total impact comes to 72.80 t CO2e, so we have removed 80.08 t CO2e to officially become carbon positive.
In a direct response to these emissions, we are supporting REDD+ Brazil Nut Concessions, a world-class project run by Bosques Amazonicos SAC (BAM). This project aims to reduce deforestation in over 300,000 hectares of the Peruvian Amazon and reduce millions of tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere due to illegal deforestation. We have invested to offset 110% of our carbon footprint by supporting this cause - going beyond just carbon neutral.
While we know that carbon offsetting isn't the whole answer, it is a step in the right direction as we continue working to consume less, and consume better.
Our Producers
Creating clothes for us is a partnership with our suppliers and factories and when you work in partnership there is a mutual trust and respect for everyone involved.
We are dedicated to ensuring our work does not impact the environment or the people we work with in a negative way.
That is why everyone we work with is fully audited and has signed our partnership policy, which outlines our very high standards under the categories of people, planet & the greater good. OMNES will never work with anyone that doesn’t treat their employees fairly.
Learn more about our producers here.
Our Materials
We only use quality fabrics that are grown, sourced and manufactured responsibly, prioritising natural, recycled and deadstock materials. This has included FSC® (The Forest Stewardship Council) certified viscose and LENZING ECOVERO viscose fibres, Organic Cotton, BCI Cotton, Linen, Recycled Polyester, and Wool.
We’ve also thought about the recyclability of every garment at the end of its life, and so wherever possible we choose to use fabrics that are 100% one fibre over blends.
But we don’t stop there. Our fabric mills are audited and advised annually on their energy, waste, water and emission management as part of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, through which members commit to measuring and improving social and environmental sustainability impacts. And for our eye-catching prints, as much as possible we use OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and Global Organic Textile Standard approved digital printers to digitally print our designs, saving water and energy and ensuring no harmful, chemical substances are used in our printing process.
Learn more about our materials here.
Our Sustainability Credentials
- FSC® Certified FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification means that where the raw material for the fabric or packaging is derived from wood, this has been harvested from forests that are responsibly managed, socially beneficial, environmentally conscious and economically viable.
- OEKO-TEX Certified Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX verifies that a finished fibre has been tested for and contains no residual chemicals which may be harmful to health.
- REACH Standards REACH is a regulation of the European Union, adopted to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals. Our fabric mills carry out proactive chemical management in line with REACH Standards to eliminate hazardous chemicals in the production process.
- Digital Printing Wherever possible, we choose to digitally print our textiles, if the fabric allows for digital printing.
Our Packaging
Producing and disposing of plastic accounts for nearly 14% of the world’s oil and gas use.
That’s why the OMNES packaging that your fashion purchases will arrive in is made from recyclable card that is made from a mixture of waste paper and wood pulp, which has been sourced from a man-made regenerated forest - our boxes are FSC mix and FSC recycled certified. And while the material items are sent in is an obvious issue, have you thought about what the labels in your clothes are made from?
OMNES labels are all from recycled plastic that has been removed from the ocean.The OMNES labels have been woven with a yarn whose life was once a plastic bottle. The PET plastic is cleaned, crushed and recycled into a new recycled polyester having been certified by Control Union. Trust us, we don’t take shortcuts.
Living Wage
We are a Living Wage employer, meaning we pay all staff the living wage rate for their region. We are proud of this commitment, and we encourage all our suppliers and contractors to implement the Living Wage in their respective region. Although not all companies pay this, at OMNES we ensure all our producers outside the UK are audited by independent third parties so even those that are indirectly employed by OMNES are also earning a fair, liveable wage for the country that they live in.
Our producers are audited by Sedex, one of the world’s leading ethical trade membership organisations, working with businesses to improve working conditions in global supply chains.
Animal Welfare
We are committed to never using materials that induce the suffering or killing of animals, educating our community on the realities of the treatment of animals in fashion supply chains, and supporting the practice of forging farm-level relationships and allowing domesticated animals to live their full natural lifespans in comfort.
We believe in treating animals with respect and compassion and are committed to never using materials that cause their suffering or killing. We do not use animal skins, silk, fur, or horn buttons in our collection.
Animal welfare is a key concern when sourcing animal-based materials such as leather and wool, and the traceability issues linked to the industry can make difficult to identify animal welfare breaches in supply chains. Although there have been some strong industry-wide efforts over recent decades relating to animal welfare in fashion, it was reported in 2020 that as few as 38% of brands appear to consider animal welfare risks to some degree in their supply chains, and just 25% of fashion bands have a formal animal welfare policy. The industry has some way to go if it is to mitigate animal welfare issues in it supply chains, and to drive this forward, brands should systematically address animal welfare through policy, material selection and prohibition, timebound targets, and cross-company collaboration and information sharing.
