erlich textil exemplifies a profound commitment to both sustainability and the welfare of people involved in its manufacturing processes. This commitment is evident in their respectful, strong relationships with manufacturers, underpinned by a strict Code of Conduct, regular assessments, dialogues, and visits to production facilities. These efforts ensure adherence to high social and sustainability standards.
To maintain and improve their ethical practices, erlich textil conducts annual internal assessments on sustainability and transparency. These evaluations, employing a scoring system, scrutinise ecological and social standards, including emissions, resource conservation, chemical management, complaint management, wages, and working conditions. This process also involves reviewing certifications and supply chain management, ensuring ethical sourcing and transparency, especially for materials like organic cotton imported from the Global South.
erlich textil’s approach to supply chain management is deeply ethical. The brand maintains close contact with its producers, communicating and evaluating the requirements for a complaint management system in annual assessments. A whistleblower system is also in place for anonymous reporting of concerns, reflecting their ongoing commitment to responsible manufacturing.
Beyond their internal processes, erlich textil is actively engaged in community and environmental initiatives. The brand recently introduced the “social day”, where each company team member is given one day off to support a community project. They offer 100% remote working, job tandems during parental leave, and workations to increase worker wellbeing.
Their team has also participated in global climate strikes and environmental clean-up activities. In addition, they also responded to the 2021 floods in Germany with material donations and hands-on volunteering.
Their global social responsibility extends to generous annual donations to Femnet, (amongst other organisations), a partnership with the human rights organisation SAVE, which addresses child labour, gender-specific violence, and working conditions in South India. Through these multifaceted efforts, erlich textil champions sustainability in materials and processes and upholds a holistic approach to ethical practices and social welfare.
Furthermore, erlich textil’s operational model minimises intermediaries, allowing fair pricing for producers and cost savings. This approach makes sustainable underwear accessible to a broader audience.
erlich textil is an innovative driving force in the underwear industry, harmonising eco-conscious practices with stylish design. Their commitment to resource-saving and sustainable materials is evident across their range, including:
Lenzing Modal: This fibre, featuring Eco Clean technology, epitomises erlich textil’s sustainability ethos. From raw material extraction to production, every step is energy and resource-efficient, conducted at a single location in Austria. The Modal fibre, spun, dyed, and knitted into fine jersey in Turkey, is then sent to Germany for cutting and sewn into final products in Romania.
Organic Cotton: erlich textil exclusively uses cotton from controlled organic cultivation (kbA) or Cotton in Conversion (CiC). This cotton adheres to strict ecological agriculture standards, enhancing soil health and prohibiting artificial fertilisers and toxic chemicals.
- Crop Rotation in Cotton Farming: Integral to organic cotton cultivation is crop rotation, which reduces pest pressure, boosts soil fertility, and lessens erosion. This practice also allows farmers to diversify their crops, fostering greater self-sufficiency and market opportunities.
- Cotton in Conversion (CiC: This transitional cotton marks the switch from conventional to organic farming, a process that takes three years for soil recovery from artificial pesticides. Farmers grow organic cotton during this period without receiving organic premiums until certification.
European Linen: In their home textile products, erlich textil employs European linen from Belgium and France, processed in Portugal into items like dish towels, kimonos, and linen-cotton blend beddings. The linen is not certified organic.
EVO from Castor Oil: As a plant-based and renewable alternative to nylon typically derived from petroleum, EVO is made from castor oil, a resource-efficient crop that does not compete with food crops.
Recycled Nylon: They use Q‑Nova® by Fulgar, an Italian company, for their lace collection. This delicate recycled lace, combined with soft Modal, creates enchanting lingerie produced in Albstadt, Germany, and Romania.
Elastane and ROICA: Recognising the challenge of finding sustainable elastane alternatives, erlich textil has begun incorporating recycled and biodegradable options. Their Cradle to Cradle Silver certified Smooth Seam collection showcases ROICA™V550 and Tencel™ Modal, ensuring biodegradable cycle compatibility.
Cosmetics: The brand recently launched its first range of natural cosmetics, including four basic products: soap, shampoo, shower gel and body lotion. Their products are manufactured in Portugal and Germany. However, no further information is given on their raw material origins, including almond oil, soy extract, coconut oil, shea butter and aloe vera.
Take-Back System: To close the product lifecycle loop, they’ve developed a take-back system, allowing customers to return used items for recycling or upcycling in collaboration with a selected textile recycler. This move drastically reduces the environmental burden by keeping discarded items from landfills and ecosystems.
Emissions Offset: erlich textil counterbalances its emissions through its partnership with ConClimate. The brand contributes to cleaner power generation and community development by funding projects like landfill gas utilisation in Istanbul, converting escaping gases into electricity, and solar energy projects in Jaloya, India.
Packaging: erlich textil has been diligently refining its packaging for two years, aiming to conserve resources and eliminate unnecessary use of plastics. A significant achievement in this journey is the shift to flat, uniform-sized grass paper packages, replacing the earlier cube-shaped ones for better reusability. After extensive research, they chose grass paper, a material made from renewable and recycled resources that mix grass with conventional paper-making processes, thereby reducing the need for fresh wood fibre and saving trees. Another initiative is replacing polybags, used for protecting products during transport and storage, with more sustainable hangtag labels.
These labels, tested in a 2022 colour drop pilot project, are made from recycled paper from certified European sources and use organic cotton strings. Despite facing unexpected challenges in this improvement process, the brand remains committed to continuing its work on sustainable packaging solutions.
erlich textil offers a circularity program where customers can return their used erlich items every six months at no cost. Participants can request a return slip via email and receive a 20% discount on their next purchase as a thank you.
This initiative is part of erlich textil’s commitment to sustainable practices, focusing on reusing and recycling textiles. Their six-month Take-Back Pilot Project, in collaboration with I:Collect, received positive feedback, leading to its continuation with SOEX/I:Collect. This effort, aligning with their goal of long-lasting, timeless products, has successfully diverted 62kg of textiles from landfills and incineration.
Although the brand is at the forefront of sustainable fashion, a notable challenge is that its products are not made from monomaterials, making recycling difficult.
Additionally, including synthetic materials in their items poses a sustainability concern, as these components often complicate the recycling process and impact the overall environmental footprint.
erlich textil maintains a carefully managed and transparent supply chain, emphasising ethical practices. They have detailed knowledge of their material sources and production processes, relying on Tier‑1 production partners in Europe. However, they don’t own these production facilities. The supply chain spans several countries, adhering to international standards like GOTS, particularly for materials sourced from the Global South.
The brand sources raw materials globally. Organic cotton comes from the Global South, including India, Tanzania, Pakistan, Egypt, and South Africa, with Turkey as another provider. They procure linen from Belgium and France, elastane from Japan and Thailand, and Modal from Lenzing in Austria.
To enhance supply chain transparency, erlich textil collaborates with Retraced, which helps track their supply network. They meticulously document suppliers’ transaction certificates, delivery bills, invoices, supply chains, materials, and certifications. The brand is working on achieving 100% traceability for its raw materials. Although they have been able to fill knowledge gaps, they have achieved around 70% of their two-year target of 100% traceability.
Their production partners adhere to strict safety and work standards, guided by erlich textil’s Code of Conduct, which covers social and ecological criteria. Partnerships are formed after thorough assessments, and compliance with this Code is mandatory.
Key production partners include:
Gebr. Conzelmann in Germany and Romania: producing underwear and kids’ collections.
Vianatece in Portugal: known for high-quality home textiles.
Comfort & Innovations: a second-generation family business in Portugal specialising in organic cotton and linen home textiles.
DIOGO F.C. Silva: a small family-owned business supplying organic cotton socks in Portugal.
Free Season: producing organic cotton T‑shirts in a small-scale facility in Portugal.
SUSA: with over 160 years in lingerie production in Germany and Hungary.
Textilmanufaktur Seifert: responsible for soft nightwear from organic cotton muslin since 2019 in Germany.
The brand is 100% vegan and certified by PETA.
erlich textil’s underwear is crafted with a timeless design ethos, ensuring it remains stylish and relevant beyond fleeting fashion trends. The combination of size-inclusive, simple design and high-quality materials extends the lifespan of these foundational garments, offering enduring elegance and functionality.
While typically preferring natural materials, erlich textil recognises the necessity of a small percentage of elastane in certain items like lingerie and socks. This synthetic addition is essential for enhancing flexibility and comfort, contributing to the longevity of these pieces.
However, the brand offers sales and participates in Black Friday, which may promote unnecessary purchases and perpetuate less-mindful consumption patterns.
erlich textil emphasises transparency in its business model and production process. Initially questioning why high-quality lingerie is often expensive, they identified that customers usually pay for unwanted costs like license holder fees, retailers, and complex distribution structures. To address this, erlich textil chose a direct-to-consumer (D2C) online model. This approach allows them to ship products directly from production, reducing environmental impact and extra costs. They acknowledge their prices can’t compete with fast fashion but emphasise the importance of understanding the true cost of fashion when all parties are fairly compensated.
Transparency is central to their philosophy. They strive to shed light on their supply chain, pricing, production, and materials and are committed to honest communication about their sustainability journey, including acknowledging their mistakes. This approach contrasts with popular greenwashing tactics some companies use to enhance their image superficially. erlich textil aims to clearly understand their production’s social and ecological aspects, showing their current position, goals, and occasional challenges. They ensure fair compensation for everyone involved in the manufacturing process, from yarn production to the final product.
Understanding that the sale price alone doesn’t determine fairness, they plan to progressively reveal the pricing structure of more products to their customers, keeping them informed and involved in the process. In addition, the brand’s impact reports clearly and transparently detail all challenges, goals and achievements and an in-depth risk assessment of their supply chain, pricing, factory partnerships and employee welfare.
Zaključak
In conclusion, erlich textil stands out as a forward-thinking brand in the fashion industry, distinguished by its commitment to sustainability, ethical practices, and transparency. Their innovative approach to supply chain management, from sourcing eco-friendly materials to implementing a direct-to-consumer sales model, exemplifies their dedication to environmental responsibility and fair trade.
By continuously refining its processes, such as optimising packaging and ensuring fair labour practices, erlich textil sets a high standard for ethical production and encourages a shift in consumer behaviour towards more conscious purchasing. Their efforts in transparency, particularly in revealing the true costs and impacts of production, further solidify their position as a leader in sustainable fashion.
Overall, erlich textil’s brand index reflects a successful synergy of ethical business practices, environmental stewardship, and consumer engagement.
