Sessùn

Sessùn cooperates with manufacturers from different countries, both inside and outside Europe. In order to monitor the social conditions at these manufacturers, the brand is a member of the ICS (Initiative for Compliance and Sustainability). This is an organization that conducts audits of manufacturers to check both working conditions and compliance with imposed environmental conditions. Currently, 70% of Sessùn’s final stage manufacturers have been audited. Unfortunately, this means that there is no information on working conditions at manufacturers who carry out earlier stages of the production process.

All shoes are made in Portugal and France. Even the socks are produced entirely in France. Due to the strict labor rules and legislation in the European Union, we can assume that this takes place in ethical conditions.

To a large extent, the leather producers that Sessùn works with are members of the Leather Working Group (LWG). This is an organization that certifies tanneries on the basis of strict social and environmental conditions. Currently, 45% of the tanneries with which Sessùn cooperates are certified; in the future, they intend to increase this number until all tanneries meet the conditions.

Different materials are used in Sessùn’s collection. A large part of the collection consists of natural materials such as cotton, linen and viscose. Unfortunately, these materials are not always sustainable. For example, growing cotton requires a lot of water and chemical pesticides. More sustainable alternatives for this are organic or recycled cotton. 

Viscose is also not a sustainable material due to the chemicals used in the production process. Moreover, Viscose is made from wood pulp, so it is important that the wood comes from sustainable forestry. When the designation Ecovero or Tencel is used, this is the case. For example, all of Lenzing’s materials (Tencel and Ecovero) are produced with a closed-loop process, which means no chemicals are released into the environment. Other lyocell or viscose materials that have the FSC label are also made with wood from sustainable forestry. Read more about the sustainability of viscose and lyocell here.

Synthetic materials are used in a smaller part of the Sessùn collection. Some garments, for example, require polyester for strength and ease of use. Here, Sessùn uses Repreve, a recycled polyester made from old PET bottles. This material is of high quality and water- and energy-saving techniques are used during the production process.

Sessùn uses vegetable tanned leather as much as possible, namely for more than 40% of the leather products in their collection. In a vegetable tanning process, chemicals such as chromium are replaced by vegetable tannins derived from tree bark. This process gives a different look to the leather, which unfortunately makes it difficult to use in certain applications, which is why it is only suitable for part of the collection.

For almost all garments, you can find a ​‘Clear Fashion score’ on Sessùn’s site. This is a score between 0 and 100 that represents the durability of the product. 

Because Sessùn uses many natural materials, this makes the clothing more circular. 

Synthetic clothing is often more difficult to recycle. Sessùn therefore uses as few synthetic materials as possible in their collection. Still, a portion of the clothes are made from a material blend, which brings down the brand’s circularity.
When they do need to, the brand chooses recycled polyester from the Repreve brand. Repreve makes textiles from old PET bottles and uses water- and energy-saving technologies in the production process.

Sessùn also wants to focus more on circularity. That is why they have an annual circular capsule collection. Each year they work on one type of textile, for example jeans or knitwear. A collection campaign takes place each time; everyone who brings in an old garment then gets a discount on the upcoming collection. Sessùn then uses the collected fabrics to design unique and circular garments.

Unfortunately, Sessùn does not have a short supply chain. The brand has producers in France, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria, Tunisia, Japan, China and India. The distance a product travels does depend on the garment itself. For example, all sandals and socks are produced in France and shoes are always from Portugal.

Several of Sessùn’s products are made from animal materials. Nevertheless, the brand considers animal welfare very important. Therefore, all merino wool is mulesing free. Mulesing is a very animal-unfriendly practice in which skin is cut away from the sheep without anesthesia. Read more about the impact of the wool industry on animal welfare here.

To ensure animal welfare, Sessùn has banned several materials from their collection, such as fur, exotic leather and angora. Also, all feathers and down used are ​‘non-live plucking’ certified to ban more animal-unfriendly practices.

The longevity of the products is very important to Sessùn. The garments are made with care and attention to detail. The quality materials also ensure a longer lifespan. Sessùn creates cheerful clothes, colorful and with vibrant prints. The designs are classic and feminine, with a typical French casual-elegant style.

On some product pages of the Sessùn collection you can find information about the country where the product was made. The fabric composition and instructions for use are also mentioned.

In their 2022 Impact Report, Sessùn does share the countries where all final production steps take place. Unfortunately, this leaves much of the production chain undisclosed.