FRENN SCORED BEST AT EETTI'S ANNUAL SUSTAINABILITY RANKING
Pro Ethical Trade Finland aka Eetti ranked Finnish clothing companies’ sustainability efforts and communications for the second time. This year’s best score 29/34 was achieved by FRENN, a Helsinki-based menswear brand launched in 2013 by Jarkko Kallio and Antti Laitinen. Eetti’s “Rank a Brand” report evaluates the climate, environmental and human rights efforts as well as transparency of 35 Finnish clothing brands. FRENN got full marks for its climate efforts.
Sustainability and transparency have been the cornerstones of FRENN’s business since the brand’s very beginning. With years of experience in the textile and clothing industry, Antti and Jarkko wanted to contribute to building a better, more sustainable future with FRENN. Each clothing item’s country of origin has been stated openly since the launch of the brand, and these days the factory, too.
Sustainable Finnish Design
The basis for the brand’s design and product development lies in premium quality, eco-certified European materials and ethical production in low-risk Baltic countries. Designer Antti Laitinen masters combining structure and material into items that are comfortable to wear in any occasion during the day. Sustainability, longevity and versatility are important factors in FRENN’s lifecycle approach. The FRENN clothes are designed easy to modify, repair and recycle. When a clothing item feels like a friend, we will want to take good care of it for a very long time.
“Success at Rank a Brand feels fantastic. When Eetti’s first report was published in April 2019, we saw headlines about how poorly the Finnish clothing brands were doing in terms of sustainability. This was partially because the companies did not communicate their sustainability efforts even if their operations were on a sustainable level. I decided to do something about it. I entered the public discussion, and we were included in this year’s reporting. Consumers are clearly increasingly interested in sustainable business, so we should embrace it without greenwashing. We are working hard to pursue both sustainable action and related communications. Our long-term, consistent work has now borne fruit,” says Jarkko Kallio, CEO and co-founder of FRENN.
Sustainability efforts continue by seizing new circular-economy opportunities
In the future, too, FRENN will take the lead regarding sustainable business by testing new more ecological recyclates and innovative models.
The brand’s Autumn 2020 collection includes overcoats made of recycled wool, and the buttons of the new products are made of recycled paper. In the spring of 2021, the brand is to launch a coat concept entirely made of recycled materials, and all the cotton used for the collection will be of high quality GOTS-certified organic material. All FRENN’s online store deliveries use the Finnish recycled and trash-free RePack packaging.
The FRENN flagship store is located in Helsinki at Fredrikinkatu 24. Online store at www.frennhelsinki.com
Read more about FRENN’s sustainability programme here: www.frennhelsinki.com/pages/sustainability
The Rank a Brand 2020 report can be found at www.eetti.fi
For more information, please contact Jarkko Kallio, +358 50 3412887, jarkko@frennhelsinki.com
For press photos and information, go to www.dropbox.com/sh/yn1fsivv3d4kvjc/AAC5iP7DsQnP9MrFj6rqTHhSa?dl=0
