If I had to pick one company to illustrate my Agenda, Saitex would be a great choice.

Billed as the world’s cleanest denim factory, their innovation and values drive towards being gentle on the planet by considering their impacts on the environment, people, and communities.

Better business for a better world.

New Zealand menswear retailer Barkers source denim from Saitex for their range of Eco Jeans . Their ads highlight some of the key environmental benefits Saitex achieves including less water and energy use and novel and valuable reuse of its waste stream.

On top of their environmental philosophy Saitex are Fair-Trade Certified, publish workforce diversity stats, and support a range of positive community initiatives.

Clearly, Barkers have identified a great supply partner that aligns with Barkers’ own values.

I expect Barkers’ customers had very little idea about clean denim – it was certainly news to me. However with that knowledge I’d be interested to know how they’re responding. Hopefully the Eco Jeans are flying out the door.

By the way, just in the last couple of days, ahead of the G7 Summit, 32 companies, including some of the biggest names in fashion, signed the ‘G7 Fashion Pact‘ to help reduce the global environmental impact of the fashion industry. Perhaps they could benefit from looking at companies like Saitex and Barkers as positive exemplars.