VALUES CULTURE
Our Commitments
In business Values, Sustainability and Ethics are too often only used for image reasons but not entirely implemented in the business bible. To make sure we meet our objectives, we always ensure we follow a simple recipe and tick these boxes in every decision we make.
There are 4 main pillars of Commitments we focus on:
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MINDSET
Committed to VALUES
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FLORA
Committed to SUSTAINABILITY
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FAUNA
Committed to ANIMAL PROTECTION
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BELIEFS
Committed to ETHICS
There is no better moment than the very start of a brand, to aim for the best possible standards of sustainability and ethics. Values Culture has been established on these very strong bases.
Sustainability and Ethics are two never-ending pursuits. And no company could ever promote itself as completely sustainable or carbon neutral.
But, based on the values we aim at embodying as a brand, we could not have started that project without making it our priority to strive to always aim at becoming a more Sustainable brand, and a more Ethical brand.
More in Detail
VALUES
Our Promises to be consistent with this commitment are to:
- Base all our Business and Creative Decisions on Values
Always ensure that 100% of the business/brand/creative decisions are driven by our core Values.
- Initiate a unique Project of Empowerment Through Education about Values.
More information on this Project will come very soon!
ANIMALS
Our Promises to be consistent with this commitment are to:
- Only use Animal Cruelty Free components in all products
This one is obvious, being the brand of @dean.schneider 🦁
Caring about our planet also means caring about all the other species we share it with! All our products are, and will always be VEGAN!
- Donations to Animals’ Protection Initiatives
A percentage of the price (not profit) of every Values Culture product sold will be donated The Dean Schneider Foundation.
The Dean Schneider Foundation is a government supervised non-profit organization (charitable foundation) which initiates, supports, and operates worldwide projects for the protection of animals, in particular wild animals. 100% of the donations are benefiting the animals at the Hakuna Mipaka Oasis without any marketing-, flight-, or content production costs being deducted.
The first donations will go straight to the LIVE WILD PROJET, which is a projet that is very dear to our Hearts.
The goal is to renew the parameter fence around the property and build a second NEW fence next to it, so that it aligns with the Lion-Specs demanded by Nature Conservation for lions to be able to live Free and Wild on the Hakuna Mipaka Oasis.
The donations are used to cover all costs including: Fencing material for over 60 hectares, labour workers, rental of machines, administrative fees, permits and much more!
ETHICS
Our Promises to be consistent with this commitment are to:
- Follow our own strict Due Diligence Process to ensure our products are Ethically sourced
The selection of our suppliers is no exception to our commitment on VALUES. All our suppliers are carefully selected based on Values Culture own strict Due Diligence Process. This is our way to ensure that our partners’ VALUES are aligned with ours.
Not any case are we looking for the most economical options. In all situation, we are looking for the RIGHT and FAIR options. Our main objective is to bring some BALANCE back in the whole supply chain: from the factory workers, to the brand’s employees.
Being an ethical brand means respecting each and every person that participates to the creation of the brand and its products.
Social Responsibility, Workers’ Protection, Workers’ Rights of Freedom of Association, Working Environment and Conditions, Discrimination, Inclusion, Diversity, Fair Remuneration, Workers’ Wellbeing, Health and Safety, Child Labour, Protection of Young Workers, Precarious Employment, Bonded Labour, Ethical Business Behaviour.
- Be LOYAL to our Partners
LOYALTY is one of the Values that is at the core of our decision-making process. Through the Values-Culture team members’ experience, we could immediately rely on a small network of suppliers with which we already have long lasting relationships.
This is a way for us to be consistent with one more of our Values, and to ensure that we rely on partners that match our Philosophy. We decided to either work with Small Family Own Companies or Larger Firms that carry Official Certifications (ISO 45001 Certificate related to Employees Wellbeing and Safety).
SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability is a never-ending journey. No business in the World shall claim being perfectly carbon neutral nor 100% Sustainable. We certainly do not claim this either. But we believe that all Business, with no exception, shall now abide to a Sustainability Process.
We are humbly working towards improving all aspects of sustainability and the impact we have with our Brand. For us, Values Culture, it is an even stronger responsibility. As we could never consider releasing products that do not match our initiative as much as possible. Most major brands/corporation set as their goal to be more ecofriendly and reduce their carbon footprint by 2025 or 2030. Being a small team like us enables us to meet most of these goals immediately. And here is what we do to do so. With these promises below, we enable our community to wear fashionable, high quality products without any moral compromises:
- Strive to Reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible
When it comes to Sustainability, being a very small team helps tremendously. At our scale, with controlled resources, small inventory, and the right Supply Chain set up, we believe we manage reducing our carbon footprint to the lowest possible level. Having no retail stores is also a way for us to substantially reduce our consumption of energy, but also the distances on which our products are transported. We have reduced the number of intermediaries in our Supply Chain to the strictest minimum. And have ensured that you could be supplied from different hubs, depending on your location.
When our products must be delivered on longer distances, we use consolidated shipping methods that substantially reduce the emission of carbon. Even though delivery times are slightly increased (up to 16 days), we believe that the Values our customers share with us will make this slightly increase delivery time very acceptable to them, considered the lower impact it has on the environment.
Return Hubs have been set up even closer to our customers so we can keep reducing the transportation of the products. We are humble enough to know that this is far from being enough and we will keep aiming at being completely carbon-neutral as early as possible in the future. However we do believe that these commitments make Values Culture a quite Sustainable option when it comes to Fashion.
- Strive to use Organic or Recycled fabrics only
All the Products of our First drop are made of Organic Cotton ONLY!
This is one most important commitment when it comes to products:
- Only use Certified organic cotton
- Forbid ourself from using newly created plastics (only recycled polyesters)
Certified organic materials are not only best for our environment, but also best for our society! Using organic means that no toxic chemicals are used, hence spread in our Air and in our Soil. Which therefore protect our peers and all the animals and insects we coexist with, and which it is our responsibility to protect.
And we all now how much Plastic waste is being generated everyday. We forbid ourself from being part of this major issue that is affecting our Planet and all its inhabitants!
- Select Suppliers based on Globally renowned Sustainability Certifications
Our suppliers have been selected under the condition that they are GOTS Certified (Global Organic Textile Standard). The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) was developed by leading standard setters to define world-wide recognised requirements for organic textiles. From the harvesting of the raw materials, environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing to labelling, textiles certified to GOTS provide a credible assurance to the consumer (https://global-standard.org/).
Also, for we go even further in the certifications control for those of our products that are Made in China. High quality Chinese suppliers exist, yet they often suffer from the reputation of the least reliable of their peers. In order to guarantee our customer that even their products made in China match our VALUES, we were even stricter in their selection process.
These additional certifications include: Oeko-Tex (OEKO-TEX® standards enable everyone to make responsible decisions and protect natural resources. https://www.oeko-tex.com/en/), Organic Content Standard (OCS), Global Recycled Standard (GRS), Better Cotton Initiative Membership (BCI Members), ISO 14001 (criteria for an environmental management system).
- Forbid ourself from using newly created Plastics
This is our Responsibility, not only to protect our planet from all the ever lasting plastic wastes that are being released in the Nature every day. But also, to be consistent with our Dedication to the Animal Protection Causes. Plastic Wastes keep killing Animals every day and we could not have considered using any newly created plastic component in our products, packaging nor shipping material.
All our products are packed in biodegradable CORN STARCH wraps and shipped in FSC-certified recycled carton boxes.
- Strive to offer the Highest standards of quality | MEANT TO LAST / NO FAST FASHION
All fabrics and components used in our products are from of premium quality. The objective is to obtain long lasting products (in opposition to fast fashion and high consumption habits). The resistance of our products is then thoroughly checked through some strict Quality Control procedures. It is one of our priorities to stand out from all the Fast Fashion options available on the market today.
- Strive to produce only the minimum possible quantities | NO WASTE
Rely on limited edition capsule collections helps us ensure we do not create unnecessary quantities of products, and thus reduce the creation of waste generated by our Brand.