Honest Sustainability

FRENN is designed in Helsinki and responsibly hand-manufactured locally 100% in low-risk Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from premium quality, eco-certified European materials. All factories work according to EU water waste and recycling regulations. From the very beginning our mission has been to build the most sustainable clothing company in the Nordics by doing, not only talking.

Our value chain is as short and transparent as possible. In every care label we tell where our fabrics come from and where the products are made. We are not perfect, but we are developing our operations every day to make it better.

”There’s nothing wrong with mass production when it’s done properly: responsibly, with attention to quality. The era of sweatshops is over and the future lies in a completely different direction. Yet dressing uniquely doesn’t necessarily mean one-off pieces. Tailoring skills, target group understanding, and industrial expertise are what you need. We believe in personality, sustainability and innovation”, note co-founders Antti Laitinen and Jarkko Kallio.

Read more about our values from our Code of Conduct. We share these values with our suppliers. We go through the code and make sure it is followed at least once a year.

From Design to Product

We aim to long-term relationships with our partners and factories. That means that we develop our products and processes together in order to get the best possible results. 68% of fabric and yarn order volume in pieces is from suppliers where our business relationship has last for more than 5 years. Last year 74% of our garment order volume in pieces was produced in our Finnish owned factory partner in Latvia.

When doing new styles and product, the design and product instructions are made in Helsinki by our designer Antti Laitinen. The instructions will be checked with the account manager to be sure that everything is done right for the production team. Then it's time for pattern making, cutting and sewing in each factory we work with. Everything is done by professionals who have been working in the industry for years or even decades.

European Certified Materials

All fabrics we use are made in EU: in low-risk countries Finland, Germany, Portugal and Lithuania and in medium-risk country Italy (Maplecroft 2018, BSCI Amfori 2022). We buy all materials including fabrics, yarns and trims directly from the manufacturers. 75% of the factories we work with have vertical production spinning yarns and weaving fabrics under the same roof without any unnecessary middlemen ensuring the quality and proper income for themselves. You can find all factory information on every product page on our online store or download the full list about the manufacturers we work with and fibres we use.

Urban Functionality

We select carefully the best possible material for each product and style based on the usability requirements and washing qualities. Good quality materials are durable and keep their shape wash after wash. They are made from premium quality yarns with long fibres in order to keep the surface looking good without pilling for years.

The longer you can use your favourite clothes more ecological they get. For example if you can use your t-shirt 50 times instead of only 4 times, it's carbon footprint decreases 85% (Carbon Trust, International Carbon Flows: Clothing 2011).

Environment and user friendly

94% of all materials we use including fabrics, yarns and trims are Oeko-Tex 100 certified that guarantees that the materials are safe for the environment and for your skin. Oeko-Tex is a globally standardized, independent testing and certification system for harmful substances and chemicals for textile raw materials, intermediate and end products of all processing stages and accessory materials used.

100% of the cotton we use for our t-shirts, jersey shirts and denim products is GOTS certified organic cotton grown responsibly in Turkey. Cotton jersey fabric is knitted in Finland, denim in Turkey. The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is recognised as the world's leading processing standard for textiles made from organic fibres. It defines high-level environmental criteria along the entire organic textiles supply chain and requires compliance with social criteria as well.

All materials and products made and sold in EU have to be manufactured according to REACH regulations (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals in EU). All FRENN products fulfil the REACH chemical requirements.

Future goals

Our goal is that at least 30% of all materials we use will be recycled by the end of year 2023.

Local Production

We produce our clothes locally in low-risk Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Maplecroft 2018, BSCI Amfori 2022). In Baltic countries legislation guarantees human rights and proper wages based on EU legislation. Local production also minimise logistic and delivery risks. You can find information about the manufacturers we work with on every product page on our online store or download the full list about the manufacturers we work with.

Responsible and long-term cooperation

We always want to build long-lasting relationships with our partners and try to find the best manufacturer for each product category to ensure the quality and the best working conditions for both parties. We work directly with the factories without unnecessary agents or middlemen the keep the value chain as short and transparent as possible. Our designer and co-founder Antti Laitinen visits all factories regularly ensuring working conditions and quality.

Quality Control

Our designer Antti Laitinen visits himself the factories we work with. This way we can guarantee that every FRENN product is the highest quality as promised. We also do inspection for all products before sending and selling them to our customers. If there is something wrong with your garment, we repair it, always.

Packaging and shipping

For private customers we use 100% recyclable and FSC certified paper bags at the flagship store. FSC (The Forest Stewardship Council) promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable forest management all over the world. For online orders we use shipping bags made from 100% recycled and 100% recyclable plastic material made in EU.

We always reuse the packing and shipping materials like cardboard boxes for B2B customer deliveries and only white t-shirts are packed to individual plastic bags which is only 9% of our production volume. This way we minimise the packing material and plastic usage to minimum. Read more about our waste and recycling management.

Greener online deliveries

We offer the best possible eco-friendly delivery options to our customers. For online orders there are available Posti Green, DHL GoGreen climate natural shipping services.

Energy and recycling

At FRENN office and store in Helsinki, we use 100% renewable Finnish Kalastajan Ekosähkö electricity made from wind power and/or bio energy, certified by EKOenergy label. We recycle all paper, cardboard, bio and plastic waste according to Finnish waste recycling regulations.

We minimise the cutting waste at our production sites by planning cutting layouts as efficiently as possible. We use the possible leftover materials for accessories like ties, caps and bowties and all the rest is recycled and disposed by our manufacturing partners according to EU environmental legislation. Read more about our waste and recycling management.

Carbon footprint

We have started profound work in calculating our carbon footprint annually. We calculate scope1, scope2 and scope3 including flying, materials and transportation. Work is done with a calculating tool launched by Finnish carbon footprint company Clonet. Read more about carbon footprint results.

Building a better future

As a long term act we believe in true changes that we will do by developing our core production and company processes using more sustainable energy, materials and focusing daily on long-lasting products that look and feel good for years. Our aim is to be truly carbon neutral company by the year 2030.