RDS: the eco-friendly down standard

To fully enjoy this playground, one must-have piece of kit is the puffa. And to date, no one has found an ingredient with the same warmth, compressibility and weight characteristics as down – which is very light and a natural insulator. At this time of year especially, down and hybrid jackets take center-stage in our collections. But conditions apply: we like to ensure they’re manufactured in a way that respects the planet and its population. 

When a garment is made, 60% to 70% of its impact is generated by the raw materials and the supply chain. Which is why, to be true to our convictions, we must constantly strive to improve our practices in this area. 

The down supply chain is extremely complex: it involves many stages and players. As a result, it is hard to monitor the whole chain and ensure that, at every stage, our environmental and ethical criteria are satisfied. So how do we check that our down fully meets these criteria?
Have you noticed that most of our down jackets carry a label with the letters RDS? Certification to RDS– or Responsible Down Standard – ensures that a down is produced in a responsible way. Managed independently worldwide by a non-profit body called Textile Exchange, it guarantees the duck’s traceability and welfare at each stage in the supply chain: from its breeding farm – whether a smallholding or large-scale facility – through to its use in making the jackets that will keep you warm all winter. We can thus be satisfied that the birds whose down we source have not been live-plucked or force-fed.

After thinking carefully about how to make our products more responsibly, we decided to adopt RDS certification for our down. The result? Sixty per cent of our winter 2017-18 collection is RDS certified. Our target? 100% by 2020 at the latest – which is basically tomorrow!

Think that responsible design and production shouldn’t be limited to our down supply? Well, we totally agree – and our preference for RDS down fits into a wider eco-design program.
LOW IMPACT™ standard, PFC Free products, use of recycled materials – our teams are expanding our push to minimize our impact. Protecting our playground is a long-distance race – so we’re innovating, moving forward, and will continue to update you about our progress. Stay tuned!