How does COSH! make social impact?

At COSH! we are committed to fight for a better fashion industry, in which social justice, a cleaner earth and social entrepreneurship are the norm. In this article you can read how we do this.

Social impact starts with ourselves: within our team we focus on equal opportunities

Making social impact is one of our top priorities. And the only way to positive change is to start improving yourself. That is why we focus on equal opportunities and inclusivity within our own COSH! team. In our internal team, approximately half of the employees have a migration background. They are first or second degree migrants themselves and have roots in two or even three continents. As a result, there is a mix of different beliefs in our team in terms of religion. We also offer fair opportunities in terms of age in our company. With an oldest employee of 52 years and a youngest employee of 20 years, we have a good dynamic within our team, where everyone is welcome.

Social impact through raising awareness and supporting local entrepreneurs

At COSH! we believe it is not only important to make a social impact within our own team, but also on a larger scale to make a positive and inclusive impact on society internationally. For us it’s not only a trend, we have been doing this for several years already: since 2021 we have been informing our community about the importance of representation and inclusion.

Through COSH! we actively encourage buying, borrowing or renting from more sustainable entrepreneurs with a migration background or who combat cultural appropriation. The exploitation of cultural heritage by the fast fashion industry is a growing problem that requires well-considered and concrete actions. By sharing transparent and understandable information about topics like this and proposing concrete actions, we create awareness among consumers who – ideally – will make more conscious and better choices as a result.

In addition to cultural diversity, we at COSH! also encourage gender diversity. For example, we do this every year during Pride month, in which we openly support the LGBTQIA+ community and inspire by highlighting leading, inclusive fashion designers in our network.

Gender equality is unfortunately still not the norm in 2024, so we are actively committed to equal opportunities and women’s rights. We support female entrepreneurship and regularly put female entrepreneurs in the spotlight. Because we not only have our own female founder – on average, around 60% of the impact-driven fashion brands in our COSH! network are women. Female entrepreneurs improve the lives of women throughout the entire production chain (which is very much needed!) and act as​‘role models’ for new generations. At COSH! we are proud to have so many inspiring, more conscious, independently entrepreneurial women in our network.

In addition, 25% of the impact-driven retailers in the COSH! community offer social employment themselves. For example, by setting up small-scale and inclusive workshops in their own country, such as New Optimist in Amsterdam-West, Oxious in Rotterdam and Fraenck in Arnhem. Or by offering employment to local people with a distance to the labour market, as is done at various thrift stores. For example, by sorting textiles locally or involving them in the organisation and sales in the thrift stores themselves. Examples of this are Reshare Store in various cities in the Netherlands, De Lokatie in Amsterdam, Het Goed in Rotterdam, La Poubelle in Tilburg, the Kringwinkels Stroom in Aalst, other Kringwinkels in Flanders and the Oxfam shops throughout Belgium. Together, this group provides employment to approximately 5000 people with a distance to the labour market.

We also have unique entrepreneurs in our network who are committed to society in an inspiring and distinctive way. For example, BLEND Bloemhof in Rotterdam has a second-hand concept store with a hairdresser who offers free haircuts to homeless people in the neighborhood. And in Tilburg you’ll find a non-government-funded day care for people with Down syndrome, called Snuist.

And last but not least – in our network we see that about 50% of entrepreneurs are sole proprietorships. As a sole proprietorship, all tasks within the company are on the shoulders of one person or a small group of employees, which brings a lot of pressure. That is why at COSH!, in addition to all the technology we develop, we also offer networking events and international retail opportunities. Examples of this are a pop-up store in Berlin or participation in a trade fair where more sustainable shops from Germany come to buy.

COSH! fights social injustice and raises awareness among citizens

Within the fashion industry, a lot of improvement is needed when it comes to injustice. The entire production chain is affected, from modern slavery to the impact of climate change on society. At COSH!, we have no choice but to speak out in public about this. Our own research team regularly dives into controversial topics to get to the truth. Such as the ongoing forced labour of the Uyghurs, North Korean refugees and other minorities in China and the intentionally intricate business structures and terrifying connections between European fashion markets. When the​​“Tail­o­ring Res­pon­si­bi­li­ty Report” showed that modern slavery is still in fashion, we were one of the first to write about it.

We write about various topics to bring social injustice to the surface, so that citizens become aware of the problem. Such as the consequences of climate change and the social inequality that this further causes, with vulnerable communities, low-income countries and marginalized groups being mostly affected by the negative consequences. Or in 2020, when factory workers were left out in the cold without replacement income during the COVID-19 period, partly due to the cancelled orders from European and Belgian companies. Later on, some of these companies made other and better choices, but unfortunately many have not, which meant that workers had to recover from this financial impact for years – or did not recover at all.

But not only in other continents social injustice is a huge problem, we also see it in our own country. During the period of COVID-19, entrepreneurs were first forgotten in Belgium and the Netherlands, with COSH! being the first to take action with a call to support local entrepreneurs. We made this call immediately the day after the announcement of the lockdown, long before the government made financial measures. Together with Mode Unie, we have joined forces to support local entrepreneurs in this difficult period.

Paying attention to inclusivity in our own country

At COSH! we believe it is important that as many people as possible have access to information. That is why our platform can be read in five different languages: Dutch, English, German, French and Spanish. In contrast to other sustainable shopping platforms that can only be read in English. By only communicating in English, a large group of people is forgotten: people who only process information in their native language.

Furthermore, we strive to offer a more sustainable alternative for everyone – in as many different styles as possible and in every budget. To really make an impact, more sustainable fashion should not only be accessible to people with a bigger wallet. In addition to highlighting leading and innovative fashion brands, we also promote more low-budget alternatives such as buying second-hand, thrift stores, exchanging, swapping, repairing and renting clothes.

One of COSH!‘s most recent collaborations is with the Digital Wardrobe app, where we show that creating a more sustainable wardrobe and choosing more conscious outfits is also possible without spending any money.

Social impact in the supply chain

At COSH! we work every day to encourage consumers to buy more ethical and fair trade clothing. In doing so, we aim for a shift in which more ethical and slow fashion brands will grow and the growth of fast fashion will be limited. The effect of this is that retailers will buy more of these more sustainable brands and the number of these fashion brands will increase. This pull effect creates more jobs in the supply chain, garment and textile factories, and other partners in the chain that operate in a fairer way