House of Baukjen: Carbon Negative Circular Leaders in the Fashion Industry | United Kingdom

House of Baukjen is a London-based fashion house, focused on environmentally, ethically and socially conscious style for a sustainable future. House of Baukjen's business and operations follow in every way the circular economy ideal, from production to materials being cycled, and does so while being carbon negative. The company is an industry leader with its innovative circular and sustainability model, and it takes full accountability for its environmental footprint.

Whilst the company has been growing very fast, it has reduced its relative carbon footprint by 25% from Q2 2019 to Q2 2021, with a 40.3% drop in the first quarter of 2021. As of December 2020, House of Baukjen became carbon negative across its entire supply chain and operations (Scopes 1, 2 and 3) including logistics. It sources its materials from ethical suppliers, opting for mostly natural fibres that are renewable and a growing percentage of recycled fabrics.

House of Baukjen is proud to be a Zero Waste company, meaning that across its operations less than 10% of waste goes to landfill. Waste has been reduced across production sites and most material waste created in production is recycled.

Key facts

At the start of this project, House of Baukjen set a Science-Based Target to reduce its GHG emissions 20% by 2025 in line with the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5ºC. It has already achieved and surpassed this goal and continues to work on reducing its CO2 output.
The company is working with SupplyCompass to shorten its supply chains and gain further insight into the materials it uses. This has resulted in a 43% shortening of its lead times by going modular which has reduced waste and carbon output.
House of Baukjen is also actively working with its suppliers to help them become more sustainable, namely tackling inefficiencies and switching to 100% renewable energy.

The challenge

The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report highlights the urgency and scale of action required to keep the planet safe. On the brink of dangerous climate change, immediate action is required for the fashion sector too, to be aligned with the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement and move towards net-zero emissions by 2050.The fashion industry has an important role to play in reducing climate emissions resulting from their operations, with an awareness that most of the climate impact within the industry lies in manufacturing of products and materials.

The solution

As of December 2020, House of Baukjen became Carbon Negative across its entire supply chain and operations (Scopes 1, 2 and 3) including logistics. It sources its materials from ethical suppliers, opting for mostly natural fibres that are renewable and a growing percentage of recycled fabrics. The company is actively replacing its highest impact natural fibres with more eco alternatives. For example, it has reduced the amount of conventional cotton in its range by 71.2% from 2019. This conventional cotton has been replaced by organic and recycled alternatives.

House of Baukjen works closely with its manufacturing partners to ensure that their practices are not harmful to the environment and that they adhere to a strict code of conduct. Waste has been reduced across production sites and most material waste created in production is recycled. This model allows House of Baukjen to closely predict demand, as a result it never overproduces garments.

The quality of its garments is of the utmost priority to House of Baukjen, not only on principle but because it is important for the company that its clothes are made to last and customers can keep them for many years. House of Baukjen actively fights "Fast Fashion" and campaigns for better practices in the industry. The company supplies Care & Repair advice for its garments, encouraging customers to extend the use and usable life of their clothes, which results in further carbon and water savings. Customers can reuse packaging for returns or to send back old clothes to be recycled.

Helping people

House of Baukjen has a take back schemes for clothes to be recycled, and rewards its clients for recycling old pieces from the company’s brands Baukjen and Isabella Oliver. With Isabella Oliver, customers can take send maternity clothes from any brand to be mechanically recycled, a project that has been on Pilot for two years and has received UK Government funding for scaling.

In this way, House of Baukjen is closing the loop and disrupting what has come to be considered a wasteful industry. Its maternity brand, Isabella Oliver, is also the first to offer a conscious maternity collection, including rental and pre-loved. The core womenswear collection also offers a rental scheme and pre-loved collection, which aim to offer customers further flexibility in use and lower the footprint per wear of each piece. This has been developed in conjunction with Kellogg University, to ensure that such a scheme does result in environmental gains.

In addition, House of Baukjen is proud to be a Living Wage Employer and extends this commitment to all areas of business. Its warehouse promotes sustainable growth in a low-income community, and its facilities comply with a rigorous code of conduct.

Spillover effect

House of Baukjen has an ambitious goal to not only be an industry leader but showcase a completely different way of existing within fashion. The company is tackling carbon emissions at every level. Its model has the potential to become a carbon sinkhole that cycles not only its own materials, but those that have been produced by other companies too.

In the future, House of Baukjen aims to have a larger impact both by growing its operations and by having a ripple effect on the industry, enabling others to follow in its footsteps and lessen their environmental impact too.