Our commitment

Paloma’s Code of Conduct forms the principal part of our commitment to social responsibility throughout our supply chain. It guides us in conducting business to the highest standards of business ethics and respect for human rights. We require each of our factories to comply with the Code as part of their contracts. In this way we ensure they adhere to standards that meet or exceed internationally acceptable good labour practices found in law, regulations and treaties (especially those from the International Labor Organisation). This helps to set out our expectations for conducting business and is part of our effort to encourage the continual improvement of local standards in all the areas we work.

From the conception of Paloma “doing the right thing” has been important to our team and customers. We believe it is the responsibility of every individual to be a good citizen, and while being a small player in a global market can at times be daunting, we believe our impact on human rights can be just as significant as larger operations and that we can all make a difference.

For this reason, we are continuously developing our Responsible Sourcing Strategy and this year have made some amendments to our Code of Conduct to reinforce our zero tolerance position around bonded labour which unfortunately is inherent in some sourcing countries. We have also revisited our Child Labour Remediation protocol and worked to reduce the risk and vulnerabilities of women in the apparel supply chain, particularly in the lower tiers.

Supply Chain transparency continues to be a priority and this year we have made significant progress, achieving 100% transparency of our fabric sources and 95% transparency of yarn sources and raw cotton agents. Further work needs to be done regarding building direct relationships with these tiers, which is ultimately necessary to achieve full transparency of our cotton farmers. However, this is becoming closer to reality with conversations initiated with our Australian Cotton Shippers Association, BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) and growth of our Organic Cotton Program.

While this year has been an important one for fast-tracking our Responsible Sourcing Program, we acknowledge we still have much to do and a lot to learn. Training and raising awareness is a vital part of our strategy as well as communicating with the broader team and our customers who are encouraged to bring ideas and challenge us moving forward.