Impact

Report
2020
 Sustainability at NäAz
03
D ESIGN 04
PRODUTION
05
Transportation & Packaging
10
CARE
15
19
table of content

Certifications

Transparency
20
Activism 27
SDG’''s
28
Our Goals
29
References
31
01
 At Näz we strive to create better fashion for a
mindful tomorrow. We bet you are no stranger to
why we need sustainability in every single aspect
of our lives, so we’ll just start by telling you a little
bit about us.
Try to imagine a whole city that was once the
center of textiles in Portugal, with so much
history on its walls that you could almost hear the
looms echoing in the surrounding valley - that’s
where Näz was created. Our founder Cristiana
believes that tradition can go side by side with
summary
sustainability. While taking the degree in fashion
and textile design in Covilhã she set up the goal of
proving that it was possible to create a brand that
respected culture, people and the planet.
In a traditional industry where the market
wasn’t adapted to small businesses, let alone
02
sustainable and female owned ones, Näz grew
from the beginning with amazing partners that
believed it was possible to bring a new light and
perspective to the industry. Now it is amazing
to see the difference - from an industry where
“ecological’’ was an unknown word we now see
bigger companies showcasing greater concern
and innovation and we are proud to be part of
that change.
Näz is still a small company that started from
scratch and is constantly improving its sustainable
efforts and the quality of its garments. Our team
is composed by three women, Cristiana, the one
behind all our beautiful garments, Marta, the
mastermind behind our marketing and Raquel,
handling our customer services with real care. But
if you’ve been around for a while, you know that
in the end we all do a little bit of everything while
working with amazing partners that are the best
in what they do.
This is our first Sustainability Report and a
stepping stone to our brand and business.
We are excited to share with you our
environmental and social achievements and z w e s t r ive
At Nä e r f a s h i on
bett
to create
challenges we’re facing in the upcoming years.
t o m o r r o w.
r a m i n d ful
fo
 At Näz we perceive sustainability as a balance In a nutshell:
E m p lo y e e s in o u r O ff ice;
between producing something new while —3
1 0 0 % W o m e n a t N a z Team;
doing it without generating more impact in the —
q u a r t e r s is b a s e d in C ovilhã,
environment. To achieve a positive balance, we —Head o f o u r office
w e d e v e lo p m o s t
work on continuous improvement through our Po r t u g a l b u t
three pillar strategy: activities in Lisbon. ld in 2 0 20
0 g a r m e n t s s o
—More than 230 o d u c e d in
p r o d u c t s a r e p r
Social Integration —100% of our
u g a l, fr o m w e a v in g t o sewing.
By working closely with small-scale production Po r t d by 8 main
p ly c h a in is c o m p o s e
partners to develop better, more sustainable —Our sup ers.
a n d 3 t r im m in g p a r t n
products. partners e t h a n 25
s a r e s o ld in m o r
—Our product
Democratic Design s t o r e s a c r o s s E u r op e .
With transparent pricing, and minimalist designs
Sustain--—-ability at Näaz

that are easily adapted to anyone’s wardrobe.

Stakeholders
Sharing Information
About different aspects of our brand and
We work hard and close with all of our
business, production processes and impact.
stakeholders who share our values and vision for
the fashion industry. With consumers we make
sure to always be in contact via mail, social media,
Our mission is to make fashion look good, not
newsletters and events.
only on you, but on the planet too. Thus, our
We make sure to provide our Retailers with
three pillar strategy is aligned with strong values
options that reflect their needs and use their
of Transparency, Responsibility, Respect and
feedback for continuous improvement of our
Sustainability.
brand. With our supply chain partners we work
together to create better products and a better
fashion industry.
03
 At Näz we perceive design as whole, approaching
its responsibility on each one of the products
created. We design clothes to be worn multiple
times and during an extended period of time, thus
we are designing products that have a reduced
impact on the environment when compared to
fast fashion. Being a small brand with reduced
investment we can’t still track all our impact -
this is one of our biggest challenge and goals.
With that in mind, we design for comfort, with a
minimalistic approach and soft tones to create
versatile garments that you can mix & match and
wear on multiple occasions.
design
Most women wear their clothes just seven times,
at Näz we want to be sure you wear your Näz
pieces for a lifetime. And even though post-
consumer textile recycling is still very reduced
we do design with that in mind, hoping that the
04
possibility is in the near future.
For that we take into account these factors:
Garment Construction— from the choice of
threads that make up our garments to design
improvements to create less waste.
Design for wear— not only do we take in account
your comfort while wearing our pieces but we
also think about your physical changes & daily
challenges, that is why we design to adapt.
Raw materials— We always choose the best
available raw materials like linen, organic
cotton and wool - they have less impact on the
environment, are resistant and age beautifully.
Easy Care— a huge part of the environmental
footprint of clothing happens during its care, thus
we created garments that are easy to take care of.
We also focus on sharing information regarding
better ways to care for your garments.
 Surpluses/Deadstock

Deadstock fabrics are leftover fabrics from textile

factories who either overestimated their needs,
needed to produce more than ordered due to
minimum orders of yarn, or due to machinery.
Traditionally, factories would hold on to their
excess fabrics for a few seasons and then send
them to the landfills - we rescue these fabrics
before they are thrown away.

We believe that using what already exists is

always better than producing new - with that in
mind we wanted to better understand the impact
(or lack thereof) we had while using deadstock
fabrics and found out that when using deadstock
that doesn’t need transformation it has zero
impact, e.g “zero burden”. So this line only has an
impact in the manufacturing process of clothing.
Production

The “zero-burden” assumption is commonly used

in Life Cycle Assessment and considers that waste
streams are burden-free, when there’s no need
to process waste and use more energy, meaning
everything that comes from waste is burden-free,
therefore has no impact.
05
 Antartic Yarn serra Yarn

Raw
Materials
Recycled
Raw
Materials
The recycled yarn we use is made from pre-
consumer waste from portuguese factories that
is collected by J.Gomes - our recycling partner.
Cutting /
After this, the waste comes into the factory to be Shredding
selected, both by fiber and color. Their recycling Cutting /
process is 100% mechanical, thus is waterless, Shredding
chemical free and certified by GRS - Global
Recycled Standard.
Color
For this line the “zero burden” assumption can Bacth
Combing
be applied. However there’s always a need to
transform waste into new yarn. It does have more
impact but it’s always lower than harvesting and
transforming new fiber. Mixing
Colors

When the yarns need to be dyed the amount of Spinning

CO2 released is 16.8grams per Kilo, bringing to a
total of 25g of CO2 released per kilo of recycled
Production

wool. By opting for recycled wool we contribute Combing

to a reduction of air, water, and soil pollution, on
average we save 11Kg of CO2 per Kg of fiber when
Yarn
compared to virgin wool, making sure no animal
unfriendly practices take place and there is a
reduction in the need of natural, virgin fibres.
Spinning
06

Dyeing

Yarn
 By using Recycled Cotton we prevent additional linhares cardigan
textile waste and require far fewer resources than 600G

conventional or organic cotton. Our analysis found

we can save up to 1.27 Kg of CO2 per Kg of fiber
just from growing and dyeing stages. Studies also
show that, overall, we can save 26% CO2 and 79%
5 Kg 20 Km
in water acidification and eutrophication, when
of CO2 car ride
compared to conventional cotton.

Using the Antarctic Yarn (50% Rwool, 35%

RPET, 10% RAcrylic, 5% Other Fibers) there’s
no need to use chemicals since it’s color comes 183 liters 2x10min shower
from the sorting of colors from original waste of water (9L/ minute)

batches. By reusing existing colourful fiber waste

no environmentally unfriendly toxic washing of
dyeing processes are required and over 500 litres
of water per 1Kg of yarn are saved.

The Serra yarn ( 60% Rcotton, 40% Rwool) gains loriga sweater
600G
its colors by dying with Oeko-tex responsible dyes
Production

in a factory with water management systems.

Yet it’s the first yarn Jgomes produced with wool
without the need of polyester. In this case, we’re
cutting the burden of using synthetic fibers as
3 Kg 638 phones
a connector fiber and replacing it with recycled of CO2 fully recharged
cotton, and thus reducing our CO2 impact.

Our analysis found we can save up

07

to 1.27 Kg of CO2 per Kg of fiber just 300 liters 3x10min shower

from growing and dyeing stages. of water (9L/ minute)
 Being mostly rain-fed, savings on water can
Ecological
go up to 79% and almost 60% on emissions as
a big part of cotton growing emissions comes
When producing something new we always
from fertilizers and pesticides used. By not
take into account the environmental impact of
using harmful chemicals, organic cotton means
our choices - every fabric we use is produced in
a healthier planet since it reduces the risk of
Portugal.
acidification of water by 79% and the risk of
eutrophication by 93%.

Organic Cotton
Savings compared to conventional fiber:

Cotton, along with Polyester, comprise 25% of the

total production of textile fibers in the world, with
cotton being the second most used fiber after
cotton top
polyester. This overuse of cotton translated into an 400G
awful impact on the environment and societies -
as the industry needed more, more was produced
in a non-natural, faster way.

Growing and dyeing cotton for one single shirt 60% 102 phones
0.8 Kg fully recharged
can produce 1,27Kgs of CO2, the equivalent of
Production

of CO2
driving a car for almost 10Kms. In this stage, the
production uses on average 10.000Kgs of water
but the value can rise to 20.000Kgs in countries
that have little irrigation and technology, which
79% 67x10min shower
sadly is the case for the biggest producers of water (9L/ minute)
cotton worldwide.

Organic cotton has the same (and sometimes

08

even higher) quality as conventional cotton but

performs better when it comes to the impact on
the environment.
 Lyocell

Lyocell is the name of a fiber whose

manufacturing process is much more eco-friendly
than its relatives modal and viscose. It is created
from rayon using a closed-loop system that
recycles almost all of the chemicals used. Tencel®
Lyocell fibers have 72.5%
is the brand name of the lyocell commercialized lower CO2 emissions than
by Lenzing AG. Tencel® is made from eucalyptus polyester - polyester
from PEFC certified forests. Eucalyptus trees grow produces 9.52Kg of CO2
quickly without the use of pesticides, fertilizers per tonne of fiber.
or irrigation having also a great potential on CO2
sequestration while also being an efficient tree
on its use of water. In Europe there’s no need for
irrigation, only rain water. Only 2L of water are
wasted per kilo of lyocell fiber, since most of its
water is used for cooling and the rest cleaned and
re-used.
Lyocell fibers have 72.5% lower CO2 emissions Aguiar Shirt
than polyester - polyester produces 9.52Kg of 400G
Production

CO2 per tonne of fiber.

60% 102 phones

0.8 Kg fully recharged
of CO2
09

79% 67x10min shower

water (9L/ minute)
 Linen
Our analysis shows that wool is mostly fabricated
as a by-product of the meat industry, with an
Linen is a natural fiber which comes from flax
environmental impact of negative 26 Kg of CO2
plant. It uses considerably fewer resources than
per Kg of fiber since it is considered waste. It’s
cotton or polyester (such as water, energy,
also one of the fibers that biodegrades faster and
pesticides, insecticides, fertilizers).
has less impact on its lifecycle. Even if we see
Around 80–85 percent of the flax used for fibers is
grown in Europe, in 90.000 Ha of farms, stocking
the impact as a whole product (and not a waste The use of rain water
of the meat and milk industry) its environmental is the most used in flax
more than 342.000 tons of CO2 greenhouse
impact is between 1.7Kg and 36.3Kg of CO2eq per
emissions - 1k of flax fiber produced absorbs cultivation, needing
Kg of fiber - associated with methane emissions
nearly 3Kg of CO2. 60% less water than
by sheep. This is still one of the fibers with less
impact during care, usage, and discarding, being
conventional cotton.
Flax can grow in poor soil which is not used
often passed through generations, and when
for food production - in some cases it can even
discarded it biodegrades.
rehabilitate polluted soil. When it comes to
water, the use of rain water is the most used
There’s also a social reason why we use wool -
in flax cultivation, needing 60% less water
even though the fiber itself might not be national, Sines Trousers
than conventional cotton, saving 307L of
the yarn and fabric is produced in the interior of 700G
water per Kg of fiber on its production when
Portugal, a region that used to have hundreds of
compared. For these reasons, we consider linen
Production

wool factories, but now is reduced to less than a

to be a sustainable material, even when it is not
dozen, thus the importance of these factories in
organically grown.
maintaining jobs in a rural area, while keeping the
know-how and tradition alive.
Wool 1,5 kg 6Km
of CO2 car ride
How do we try to make a difference?
Wool appears as a fiber that divides opinions
-We try to work with deadstock fabric;
among consumers mostly due to unfriendly
-We encourage our partners to look for
animal practices. At Näz we stand for animal
sustainable, animal-friendly certified wool;
safety and well being at all times, yet when it
-We try to work with non-dyed wool.
10

230 liters 2,5x10min shower

comes to wool, we face a dilemma.
of water (9L/minute)
 However, upon choosing our zippers, we ended up At Näz we use labels produced in Portugal in high
Trimmings
with a difficult choice. We could either produce a quality cotton ribbon, from our supplier Haco
recycled plastic zipper that came all the way from Etiquetas - thus we’re saving, by incinerating
Buttons
Japan or choose a zipper with regular plastic, but cotton tags instead of polyester ribbons, the
made in Portugal. equivalent of 383 fully charged phone batteries
Most of the buttons used in fashion are made
In the end we considered the amount of harmful per Kg of burned ribbon.
from plastic, mostly polyester, making them
emissions the recycled plastic option would
environmentally unfriendly not only in its
generate during its transportation, and decided
production, but also in its incineration, which
for the locally made zipper. To make the zipper
emits even more CO2.
easier to recycle, we also opted for a 100% plastic
Louropel is a portuguese button supplier that
slider instead of the normal metallic slider.
developed a way of creating buttons out of
biodegradable materials, being wood the most
Labels
known, but also other organic materials like
paper waste, coffee grounds and cork. These
Labels, although very small in their impact, have
eco-friendly options only make 25% of their total
a very important role in the garments - it’s the
production, making it clear this is still an issue in
only part of the garment that must comply with
the fashion industry.
regulations - and most of the time this is the
reason why the labels seem to be bigger than
Zippers
some garments.
Production

Since labels must comply with regulations, most

When it comes to zippers there’s absolutely no
brands choose polyester satin ribbons over cotton
question about our choice of supplier.
ribbons, also because of its no-feel characteristics
YKK not only provides excellent quality trims, By incinerating polyester
on the skin.
they’re also at the forefront of sustainability. (and all other petroleum
But the negative impact of polyester doesn’t
They have eliminated hazardous chemicals from
stop in the labels and this is very important when based fibers) 3Kg of CO2 are
their manufacturing processes and created “YKK
we consider the end life of our garments. By emitted per Kg of material.
RSL”, a seal referenced from OEKO-TEX. They also
incinerating polyester (and all other petroleum
developed a dyeing technology called ECO-DYE
based fibers) 3Kg of CO2 are emitted per Kg of
that, by utilizing supercritical fluid dyeing (“SFD”)
material.
technology, allows the reduction of the amount of
11

water used in the zipper dyeing process to almost

zero.
 Packaging
The European average Kraft paper bags releases
46% less CO2 equivalents per 1Kg of kraft bags
We can segment our packaging into two
produced when compared to normal bleached
areas - our BusinessToBusiness (B2B), and
paper. By using kraft paper mailers we are saving
BusinessToCustomer (B2C).
on average 134grm of CO2 per mailer when
compared to normal paper.
When it comes to B2C, we’ve opted for the use of
a Kraft Envelope.
Transportation & Packaging

Regarding the water usage, although the paper

industry uses a large amount of water during the
production, more than 90% is returned to the
source and the total intake volume of fresh water
has dropped by 20% over the last twenty years.

The reason why we opt for kraft mailers instead of

lighter poly-bags is because when looking at the
end of life of paper packages, 83% of paper and
board packaging is recycled, with a further 7%
In 2014, an average of nearly 163Kg of packaging
collected for recovery of some of its value through
waste was generated per inhabitant in the EU28
other means such as incineration (Eurostat, 2015).
being most of the consumer packaging single-
To help with the recycling process we use paper
use, and likely to remain in the supply chain for
tape to close our envelopes - making all the
less than a year, thus implementing a solution that
disposal and sorting process easier. 134 grms
allows for the reuse and environmental friendly of CO2
disposal of packaging is essential.

In Europe, the paper industry as a whole uses 86%

90% is
renewable raw materials and when it comes to re-used
the source of raw materials, 90% of the new wood
used comes from countries within the European
12

Union.
Paper is
recycled
 When it comes to B2B, we’ve opted for the use of Looking at the end of life at plastic packaging,
recycled plastic mailers. 15.8 million tonnes of plastic packaging waste was
generated EU28 in 2015, with a recovery rate of
71%.

In order to lower our impact on this area, all our

plastic mailers are produced in Portugal, and we
opted only for recycled and recyclable plastic
Transportation & Packaging

mailers.
We’re also developing a return system with our
partners to allow for the reuse of these mailers.
One of the primary purposes of packaging is
to protect the product it contains preventing However, reducing our environmental footprint
the product and all the resources that went into in our B2B packaging is of the most importance
making it from being wasted. Our decision to use to us and we’re focusing on a plastic-free
plastic mailers to our retailers is based on the solution that is viable for our products and the
premise that the product is not for immediate environment until 2025.
need, and may need to be stored for long periods
of time in conditions not favourable for keeping
the quality and durability of our products,
and where kraft and compostable mailers are
still below average performance - being the 33 grms
compostable ones also usually produced outside of CO2
of Europe.
The key raw materials to produce a regular plastic
Produced
mailer bag in Europe, come essentially from fossil
in Portugal
feedstock (90%). Only a small part comes from
recycled feedstock (9%), and renewable feedstock
(1%). This industry accounts for 5% of Europe’s oil
Plastic is
and gas consumption.
13

recycled
According to Time for Change, an 5.5 grams
plastic bag generates about 33g of CO2e
 We’ve also implemented a cookie bar that Which has allowed us also to review and improve
Delivery
is activated when a customer has 4 or more in different areas pointed by our customers.
products in their cart: Looking at the “Size is too small”, we’ve managed
When it comes to delivering our products,
“We’ve noticed that you’ve added more than 4 to make the proper exchanges in the affected
unfortunately we still don’t have the full picture
products to your card. Take into consideration the products and reduced the number of returns due
regarding our ecological footprint. This is due to
environmental impact of potential returns - shop to this factor in just one season.
the fact that our orders are delivered together
mindfully.”
with other businesses packages, and the route
In 2020, returns represent only 9% of our total
each driver makes to the final destination may
Transportation & Packaging

orders, which is 50% less than the usual return

differ.
During our return process, we’re able to also rate on clothing products in Europe. This means
At the moment we’re working with UPS Carbon
gather information about the reasons why our that if we take the shirt example into account
neutral to offset the carbon emissions of all
customers return their products: we saved 21.75Kg of CO2 for every shirt, the
European Union’s orders, and according to their
equivalent of a 86Km car ride.
2019 report, since 2010 they have compensated
over 60 million orders annually, which is
equivalent to more than 100 thousand tons of
CO2 per year. This option follows the Carbon
neutral Protocol of Natural Capital Partners and is
certified by the Société Générale de Surveillance.
)
i s t o o s mall 35 (43.8%
Si z e
When looking at the CO2 impact, a single shirt
)
produces over 87Kg of CO2 in its distribution, and Size is too
big 18 (22.5%
more than 50% of this value comes from returns. )
ected 19 (23.8%
The average return rate for clothing products Not what I exp
in Europe is around 19%, and our strategy to 3 (3.8%)
y mind
decrease our impact during distribution happens Changed m
right here. m
Faulty ite e) 6 (7.5%)
scrib
We have a dedicated person to review customers (please de
messages and requests during the purchase Other 9 (11.3%)
process, which has received great feedback from
14

our customers. 0 10 20 30 40
 You might be wondering why we’re saying that we
are saving so much emissions and resources used
in the production of our garments only by opting
for better fibers without addressing one of the
biggest causes of the impact of fashion - The care
phase. With this in mind we decided to address
this topic with some in-depth insights regarding
this subject.

Aggregate Clothing — Life Cycle GHG Emissions

(Clothing retailer: all clothing types)

40%

% of Total Clothing GHG Emissions

17%

(multiple clothing types)

30%
Ironing

20% 18%
16% 9%
Drying
10% 7%
5% 3% 5% 4% 13%
care

2% 1% Washing
0% g
it on in ng id ng it i n ih ng a l s
gu
p
th
er rt s e
c i is ri po U
d u Sp lb en Kn n te k in & o s
r o & & fi ma M a g r an
p p g w in T
er Pr
e in ra a g
Fib Dy he
r ck
15

P a
Ot
 Caring

Consumer behaviour is more important than Use Phase Care Options:

energy efficiency. So, more than creating efficient
machines or creating easy-to-care garments,
Comparative GHG Emissions Per Event
companies need to incorporate consumer
education as a part of their efforts to minimize the
400
impact of clothing, emphasizing air-drying and

Grams CO₂e/kg cotton clothing / event

cool washing.

Even though the change between an older or

300
newer machine doesn’t alter much its impact
there are features that make a difference in our
impact. Side loader machines are known for
having less than half emissions than top loaders, 200
and how we set the temperature can have a huge
impact, varying from 11Kg of CO2 on a cold water
side load to 64Kg CO2 for a warm water in a less
efficient top load.
100

In Europe the lowest average washing

temperature is 43º, which has a greater impact on
0
d d y in ng in ng
CO2 emissions, when compared to cold loads.
d d a a r
oa oa Lo Lo d
eL L ih ne Iro
An estimated 75 to 90 percent of all energy used a
p id e op l e
id To T c C
care

/S
by the washer uses goes to warming up the water,
/ S / / a r y
so an important question arises - Why do we need ld old rm rm M D
to wash our clothes with warm water? C o C W a Wa
Again, consumer behaviour plays an important
role here as most of our clothes are washed
16

because of our washing habits, and not because

Source: Apparel Industry Life Cycle Carbon Mapping
of stains and smells.
 Studies show that the average person washes
their clothes after just one or two wears, and
this is not because humans sweat. In most cases
cold water will do just fine to take odours and
small stains. Cold loads also extend the life of our
garments since they are less likely to shrink or
fade in colder temperatures. Warm temperatures
should be used if sterilization is the goal, for
normal washing cold water is enough.
To lower the impact of washing Näz pieces, all our
care labels include a “wash less” recommendation.
By washing less and with lower temperatures,
we’re not only saving money, we’re helping the
environment.
Drying clothes also represent a huge impact.
Even though here in Portugal is not widely used,
in countries like Germany, due mostly to weather,
it is a common practise. Unfortunately, drying
machines are generally the largest consumer of
energy in the house, thus generating more CO2
emissions during the garment life cycle. Most
garments that do need to be often washed dry
rather quickly and well inside too, mostly when
closer to a heater (the air gets needed moisture,
clothes dry and the house is warmer, three in
care
one!).
Ironing plays an important role as well, there’s
a lot of time/energy saving on improving our
drying technique, like hanging the clothes
without wrinkles, or switching to a steamer since
17
it’s usually quicker and therefore less energy
consuming.
When choosing fibers, we consider not only their
impact during production, but also focus on easy-
to-care fibers that have a great resistance to wear
and wash while also looking for fibers with lower
impact during use.
Having a larger impact on their production, wool
garments have the smallest footprint when it
comes to care, not only because they are washed
a lot less but also on lower temperatures. These
garments have also a higher lifetime when
compared to cotton garments, being less likely to
be thrown in the trash in their end-life, and more
likely to be given to charity and 2nd hand stores.
Moreover, wool has self-cleaning properties that
allows this fiber to restore its odor and shape just
with moisture.
Both linen and tencel are great quick-to-dry fibers
that need almost nothing to air dry - a great tip is
to flat dry them or hang them (never for knits!) so
they don’t get tough wrinkles, then a quick steam
and ready for another day! Being also praised by
its quality they are also garments that are less
likely to be thrown away.
In Europe the lowest average
washing temperature is 43º,
which has a greater impact
on CO2 emissions, when
compared to cold loads.
 Fabric
Re-use it; recycle;
Zipper biodegradable
100% Reciclable
Microplastics plastic (no metal)

At Näz we try our best to choose non-mixed

fibers yet it is quite common to use polyester as Botton
Save it for a project
a connecting fiber with recycled fibers. Weighing
and re-ue it
everything we still choose to use the yarn, trying
to create garments that need less, or no washing.

A single polyester fleece garment can produce

more than 1900 fibers per wash, with acrylic
being even worse than polyester, the microplastics
release worse in the first wash and subsequently
By extending the life of a
stabilize, being even 3.5 times worse during garment by only 9 months
tumble-drying than during washing. of active use we can reduce
its footprint by 20-30%.
We advise to reduce the washing of plastic fiber
garments to as little as possible, and when doing
so to use a microplastic filter bag during wash.

Until then we design for a mindful tomorrow and

Discarding the possibility of recycling is always present in
our garment creation, like opting for a 100% fiber
Wearing a garment as much as possible is the composition other than mixed fibers.
best way to reduce its impact. By extending the
care

life of a garment by only 9 months of active use
we can reduce its footprint by 20-30%.
We still don’t have a good way to dispose of post-
consumer textile waste as it is still very hard since
18
Emissions regarding garment disposal of natural
fibers are very small and usually result in small
amounts of methane during its decomposition
while also being used in waste-to-energy
incineration. On the other hand plastic fibers

there’s still a lack of legislation on textiles and it like polyester do have CO2 emissions on its
is very hard to create a textile recycling facility. incineration.
 60% of our supply chain has at least one
In the end of 2020, we
certification, and 25% has five or more. Below
there’s an overview of all certifications used by
submitted our application
our partners. for the B-Corp certification,
which is now under
assessment!
GOTS:
All our organic cotton

GRS:
25% of our partners

ISO 9001:
37% of our partners
certifications

Oekotex
(standard 100 e STeP):
37% of our partners

Näz:
PETA “Vegan approved”*

*This certification excludes all our products made

with recycled wool and recycled cashmere, as you
19

would expect.
 The different costs we take into consideration in
Transparent Pricing
our cost breakdown are:
Garment Production from design to buttons —
Some believe that transparency and honesty
this cost makes around 48% of the total cost of
makes us vulnerable - we believe that it makes us
our garments.
strong!
Marketing from our website to photographing
— this is around 9% of the total cost of our
Understanding the cost breakdown of our pieces
garments.
is fundamental to explain the decisions we make
Customer Service Our beloved Raquel helping
along the process of producing a garment. From
you with all your doubts — make a total cost of
the fiber choice to the final price of the garment
5% of our garment
itself while keeping in mind that no one in our
Taxes make a total of 38% of the cost of a
supply chain is retaining most of the profits.
garment.

Some believe that transparency and Final

Costumer
Cost
honesty makes us vulnerable - we 49,47€
Price
99,80€
believe that it makes us strong!
transparency

Taxes
18,66€
Costumer
48% service
Garment 2,60€ Content
Production Creation
Marketing 1,32€
3,00€
Transportation
Trimmings 1,62€
0,18€
38% Sewing
Taxes 13,50€
20

5%
Costumer Yarn
9%
1,09€
Marketing Service Design
1,09€
 Transparent Supply Chain

More than being suppliers they are partners that

grow at our side - it’s a long term relationship of
sharing knowledge.
They bring a huge traditional know-how while we
try to bring to the table innovation and design
- developing new products without the need of
huge investments.
We also share knowledge of eco-friendly and
socially fair practices, connect them with
other partners and share with them funds and
certifications that help them be more competitive
and add value to their products.
transparency

More than being suppliers they

are partners that grow at our side
- it’s a long term relationship of
sharing knowledge.
21

Country: Portugal
Address: Estrada Nacional 1, S/N,
Km 33.3 S/N, Carambacha, Lisboa
Product Group: Zippers
Relationship since: 2019
Visited in 2020: No
Nº of Employees: 114
Gender Split: 75 female/ 39 male
Percentage of Women
in leadership positions: 20%- 40%
Fair Paid Level: All workers earn
above the minimum wage
transparency
22
Country: Portugal
Address: Av. da Riopele 946,
4770-405 Pousada de Saramagos,
Vila Nova de Famalicão
Product Group: Lyocell & Cupro Fabric
Relationship since: 2017
Visited in 2020: Yes
Nº of Employees: 1025
Gender Split: 410 female/ 615 male
Percentage of Women in leadership
positions: 40% - 60%
Fair Paid Level: All workers earn above
the minimum wage.
Country: Portugal
Address: Parque Industrial de Mire Country: Portugal
de Tibães - Ruães 4700-565 Mire de
Tibães, Braga.
Address: 4755-539 Várzea, Barcelos.
Product Group: Linen Fabric
Product Process: Dyeing
Relationship since: 2019
Relationship since: 2019
Visited in 2020: Yes
Visited in 2020: Yes
Nº of Employees: 13
Nº of Employees: 49
Gender Split: 7 female/ 6 male
Gender Split: 8 female/ 41 male
Percentage of Women
in leadership positions: 20% - 40% Percentage of Women
in leadership positions: 0% - 20%
Fair Paid Level: All workers earn
above the minimum wage. Fair Paid Level: All workers earn
above the minimum wage.

Country: Portugal
Address: Tv. do Vinagreiro 261,
2410-532 Leiria
Product Process: Cut, Make, Trim.
Relationship since: 2018
Visited in 2020: Yes
Nº of Employees: 7
Gender Split: 7 female/ 0 male
transparency
Percentage of Women
in leadership positions: 0% - 20%
Fair Paid Level: All workers earn
above the minimum wage.
Activities carried out in 2019:
Formations.
23
Country: Portugal
Address: Cruzamento de Maçainhas,
6250-076 Belmonte
Product Group: Coats
Product Process: Coat making
Relationship since: 2018
Visited in 2020: Yes
No. of Employees: 260
Gender Split: 230 female/ 30 male
Percentage of Women
in leadership positions: 80% - 90%
Fair Paid Level: Some workers earn
above the minimum wage.
Activities carried out in 2019:
Formations.
Country: Portugal
Address: R. do Regato 3B, Loriga, Seia
Product Process: Straight Knitting
Relationship since: 2019
Visited in 2020: Yes
Nº of Employees: 38
Gender Split: 19 female/ 19 male
Percentage of Women
in leadership positions: 0% - 20%
Fair Paid Level: All workers earn
above the minimum wage.
Activities carried out in 2019:
Formations.
Country: Portugal
Address: Rua de Roças 284, 4750-403,
Cossourado Barcelos, Braga.
Product Process: Straight Knitting
Relationship since: 2018
Visited in 2020: Yes
Nº of Employees: 10
Gender Split: 10 female/ 0 male
Percentage of Women
in leadership positions: 0% - 20 %
Fair Paid Level: All workers earn
above the minimum wage.
Activities carried out in 2019:
Formations.
 (a)
Supply Chain Workers

Impact in Supply Chain 50

and Underserved Communities
40
Our supply chain mainly consists of small-scale
factories with less than 50 workers, especially in
the sewing process. Our biggest suppliers are the 30
trimming partners. To obtain a more accurate picture
of our supply chain workers we’ve decided to use the
20
Median, instead of the average, as it reflects better
the number of workers each of our suppliers have.
In every 50 workers, usually 35 of them are men and 10
15 are women. (a)
0
The average wage of the employees on our supply Median Nº of Employees Median Nº of Men Median Nº of Women
Supply Chain 2020 Supply Chain 2020 Supply Chain 2020
chain is 14% higher than the Minimum Wage in
Portugal.
When compared to other transforming industries,
(b)
the employees of our supply chain receive less 16% €1,250.00
transparency

of average wage. It’s important to take into account

that transforming industries include other areas €1,000.00
besides textile production, like civil construction and
the food industry.
€750.00
But we did find that in 2020 it is estimated that more
than 70% of employees in the textile industry in
€500.00
Portugal receive the minimum wage. (b)
€250.00
24

€0.00
Average Income Avarage Income Average Income Avarage Income Portugal
Men Supply Men PT Transf. Women Supply Women PT Transf. Minimum Wage
Chain 2020 Industry 2018 Chain 2020 Industry 2018 2020
 Considering gender wage equality in the workplace (c) (e)
in our supply chain, women earn, on average, less
than 22% than men. From our survey, we consider €1,000.00 Food
this difference to be based not on gender roles, Allowance
but on professional qualification, and position in
€750.00 Vacation
the company. In most of our suppliers, the lower
Allowance
paid workers, usually seamstresses, are women, and
the management positions, which require higher
€500.00
qualifications, are still dominated by men. (c) Health
Insurance

50% of our supply chain has between 0-20% of €250.00

Women in management positions, and only 12% have Bonus
more than 60%.
€0.00
In terms of employee benefits, all our partners
Avarage Income Employees Avarage Income PT
comply with Food and Vacation Allowances, that Supply Chain 2020 Transf. Industry 2018 0 2 4 6 8
even though are standard in most portuguese
companies, they’re not mandatory by law. The (d) (f)
vacation allowance is, by general rule, the equivalent
25
(d) 4
transparency

of a month’s salary.

20
25% of our supply chain partners offer more than the 3
industry standard, with health insurance and bonus
15
benefits. (e) 2
Regarding the average vacation days, all our supply 10
chain partners comply with the minimum mandatory 1
vacation days, and 12% of them give more than 22 5
days. (f) 0
0-20% 20-40% 40-60% 60-80% 80-90% 90-100% 0
Average Vacation Days Minimum Mandatory
Women in
Management Supply Chain 2020 Vacation Days
25
 Their workforce is 90% women, a very important
Impact in the Community and Region
statistic for a region and industry so deeply affected
by gender inequality when it comes to the workplace.
According to AICEP Portugal, an independent public
In 2020, their average salary was 33% higher than the
entity of Portugal’s government, the textile industry
country minimum wage, which translates to a higher
represents 3% of the total GDP, representing 10% of
quality of life, when compared to the benchmark for
the total exportations of the country, and employing
the fashion industry in Portugal, and the standard for
more than 152 thousand workers. Most of the textile
the region.
industry is located in the Center and North of
Portugal, two regions that have the lowest GDP per
capita of the country, meaning these factories play
a very important role in their communities, and have
direct impact on the quality of life of its residents.
Our production is based mostly in the Center of
Portugal, and in 2019 it represented 42% of all our
production costs. In this region we work closely with
two partners that play a very important role in their
communities: Malhas Pinto Lucas and Grasil.
1053 Population
Malhas Pinto Lucas, our knitting partner, is located
transparency

in Loriga, a very small municipality in the Guarda

District, with only 1053 inhabitants, and in a region
where the average family has 4 people, employing
38 means they’re impacting indirectly more than 150 38 Workers
people, almost 15% of the total population of Loriga.
Also, their workforce is gender equal, with the same
amount of women and men working.
Grasil, our coat manufacture partner, is located in
Belmonte, in the district of Castelo Branco, with a
1 Family
population of 6859 inhabitants. They’re responsible
for 260 employees, meaning they’re impacting more
26

than 1040 people in their community, more than 15%

of the total population of the region.
Impacts 15%
of the total population
 Our newsletter and social media platforms represent
two of our main channels to talk and share details
about our products, how they are made, and their
sustainability benefits, but as a sustainable brand
with a large focus on social impact, we believe that
our positive footprint should be also represented in
social causes.

In 2020 we’ve managed to help two organisations

tackling different problems.
In September we’ve donated more than 100 pieces
from our old collections to a charity in Lisbon which
helps families in need.

In December we partnered with Just a Change,

a NGO fighting housing poverty in Portugal, and
launched a new set of products - beanies and
scarves - made from surpluses of our recycled yarns,
where 10% of all sales went directly to the project.
We’ve also engaged influencers and bloggers into
the campaign, and made Lives on Instagram and
giveaways too.
From direct sales, we’ve donated more than 350€,
activism

and gathered more than 1523€ through donations.

Until 2025 we aim to be member of 1% or the Planet

Organization and partner up with more social
initiatives that are aligned with the sustainable
development goals.
27
 Goal 5
Achieve gender
equality and empower
all women and girls:
Our code of conduct prevents any type of
discrimination both on our supply chain and
company. The fashion industry in Portugal is still
an industry where the gender split in management
positions is unbalanced. We look always to partner
with companies where there’s equality and there’s a
strong percentage of women working – that’s why
our biggest partners in manufacturing are small
factories run by women and with a gender equal
workforce.
All our supply-chain partners accepted and signed
our code of conduct as their own – to ensure no
discrimination happens whether based on gender,
marital status or sexual orientation.
Goal 11
Make cities and human
settlements inclusive, safe,
resilient and sustainable:
SDGS
By 2022 our goal is to measure the carbon offsetting
of our deliveries to consumers and retailers, and
by 2025 have a carbon neutral supply chain by
collaborating with reforestation associations
28
to ensure we do so in a way that respects the
surrounding fauna and flora and is healthy for our
environment.
Goal 8
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable
economic growth, full and productive
employment and decent work for all:
Based on our Code of Conduct, we always work to
ensure fair, safe and healthy working conditions.
Everyone at our team is encouraged to have an active
voice in every part of the company – we give them
tools to grow, learn and develop new ideas inside the
company.
We regularly try to help our partners to become
more eco-friendly by creating synergies between
our manufacturing and recycling partners, sharing
support programmes to pursue greener power
sources, among others.
Goal 12
Ensure sustainable
consumption and
production patterns:
The design team at Näz strives to create products
with their life-cycle in mind. When our products
are not properly recyclable (due to fiber mixes) it’s
because they are already from recycled sources or
even deadstock from factories. We always create to
ensure that our garments not only last long due to its
fabric quality but also are 100% made from the same
fiber and able to be recycled with quality.
Circular economy is our bigger goal as a brand – to
develop products made from recycled fibers and are
themselves recyclable – circular is the new black.
Goal 9
Build resilient infrastructure, promote
inclusive and sustainable industrialization
and foster innovation:
Our goal as a brand has always been to add a
two-sided value through our partnerships – by
collaborating with factories with a great know-how
we add value and quality to our products and by
working alongside our partners gives them a new
vision regarding sustainability and design – market
and trends insights, new certifications that might add
value to their business and with them create new
products – integrating in new value-added markets –
because when they thrive we thrive along!
Goal 13
Take urgent action to combat
climate change and its impacts:
Reliable information is of the utmost importance,
only through knowledge and access to information it
is possible to create awareness and change. Creating
information through the form of video content or
reports shows that everyone can do better, and when
buying you can choose products that generate
the least environmental impact while creating a
positive impact on the society. Our communication is
transparent to raise awareness to this problem that
we face - it is urgent to take action and change our
minds when it comes to fast consumption but also to
regain rights as consumers and producers to make
other brands change and stop exploitation of people
and the environment.
 End End End End
of of of of
2021 2022 2023 2025

Certified B-Corp Measure CO2 Transparent collection Plastic-free solution for our B2B
impact of our B2C + measure CO2 emissions packaging and carbon neutral supply
deliveries and offset of our supply chain chain + offset CO2 supply chain
our goals

All period Activism

29
 This is our first Sustainability Report and a stepping
stone to our brand and business.
Doing this research and report allowed for a time of
reflection, to understand how we wish to continue to
do business as a sustainable brand.
It was important to understand that even though
we work our best everyday, there's still so much to
improve. Thankfully, we're not alone we're proud to
say we have amazing partners, a hardworking team,
and great customers and followers who support us
every day. This report wouldn't have been possible
without the support of all our stakeholders.
thank you
30
 Environmental impact of Recover cotton in textile
industry, 2016
Preferred Fiber Material Market Report of 2019
Carbon Footprint of Textile and Clothing Products,
2014
Ecological Footprint And Water Analysis Of Cotton
Hemp And Polyester, 2005
Environmental impact of Recover cotton in textile
industry & Ecological Footprint And Water Analysis
Of Cotton Hemp And Polyester, 2016
Environmental impact assessment of man-made
cellulose fibres, 2010
Open-loop recycling: A LCA case study of PET
bottle-to-fibre recycling, 2010
A spatially explicit life cycle inventory of the global
textile chain, 2008
Environmental impact of textile fibers – what we
know and what we don’t know footprint, 2019
Apparel Industry Life Cycle Carbon Mapping, 2009
Does Use Matter? Comparison of Environmental
references
Impacts of Clothing Based on Fiber Type
Accumulations of microplastic on shorelines
worldwide: sources and sinks, 2018
31
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ve-worn-just-seven-times-Items-left-shelf-buyer-feels-ve-weight-ve-
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