In recent years, we have increasingly focused on environmental concerns, such as global warming and increased energy consumption. As available resources become scarcer, society and stakeholders have put increased pressure on the fashion industry. However, only a handful of fashion brands truly commit to sustainability.

We as Øko Amsterdam are aware of the expectation from the planet, society and stakeholders. We see our brand as a contributor to sustainable development and a chance to increase green efforts in the fashion industry. We are tired of complaining about harmful, unsustainable, greedy and ugly fashion and as a brand, we only have one choice, do a better job ourselves.

Our aim is to continuously improve our positive impact on society and the environment by fostering organic production and fair labour conditions in environments where fast fashion giants are still dominating. Thus, the goal is not only to minimise the negative impact but also to contribute to positive change in the industry. By offering affordable and fair fashion, we try to safeguard rather than exploit the planet’s resources and people and make sustainable products available for everyone.

When defining our understanding of Øko Amsterdam, we decided to aim beyond the common characterisation of sustainability, suggesting that sustainability focuses merely on three dimensions (environmental, social, and economic sustainability) which can be referred to as the triple bottom line of sustainability or Business Sustainability 2.0.

The triple bottom line only extends to minimising the negative impact and does not include efforts to have positive repercussions. Øko Amsterdam’s understanding goes further in the description of “true business sustainability” aiming to achieve Business Sustainability 3.0. Øko Amsterdam adopts the definition that…

“truly sustainable business shifts its perspective from seeking to minimise its negative impacts to understanding how it can create a significant positive impact in critical and relevant areas for society and the planet” – Dyllick and Muff (2016)

Øko Amsterdam employs an outside-in perspective. We create textile to provide significant positive social and planetary value and not make profits based on the exploitation of scarce resources. Øko Amsterdam creates fashion as a proactive response to environmental and social concerns. In our vision, societal and ecological concerns replace the traditional customer-centric focus. Mother nature and local societies are our primary stakeholder.

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