EILEEN FISHER has developed a multi-level approach to sustainability, involving changes big and small — from using more conscious materials and investing in renewable energy to innovative recycling programs.

Ever since starting her company in 1984, Eileen Fisher has been focused on simplicity, beauty and systems-thinking applied to fashion. The line started with four basic shapes and quickly expanded to a whopping eight pieces — featuring beautiful colors, great fabrics, shapes and proportions that worked together. Today, EILEEN FISHER employs 900 people and has 58 stores across the US, Canada and the UK.

Environmental initiatives are a major priority for the company, which has developed an impressive multilevel approach involving changes big and small, including developing eco materials and supporting renewable energy to recycling clothing. “It’s a commitment to our belief in honoring the earth and its connection to our well being,” Fisher states. “By seeking the best practices throughout the lifecycle of our products, we are creating healthier environments for farmers, supply chain workers and future generations.”

As part of that environmental push, the brand’s Ampersand collection consists of pieces that are sustainably made either in a domestic factory, by artisans, or using Fair Trade and organic materials. Whenever you see an Ampersand on the label, that means there is a sustainability story behind that garment.

The commitment to a healthy work environment starts right in the corporate offices in Irvington, New York, where cubicles have been replaced with open work areas that inspire collaboration and ample natural light shines through the windows. Happy workers are important on the home front, but no more so than in the factories that produce the clothing. EILEEN FISHER’s Social Consciousness team is dedicated to keeping track of human rights issues at the label’s factories — there are seven in China, one in India, three in New York and a few others around the globe — ensuring that real life conditions meet SA8000 workplace standards.

The label also emphasizes long-term relationships with suppliers, giving them further incentive to deal with problems in the factories. “I’ve come to realize that we are unusual in the industry,” says the Social Consciousness Team’s Luna Lee. “Many brands shift suppliers all the time.”

Although frequent audits are necessary, they are not perfect (as we’ve seen in the far too many deadly tragedies in overseas factories lately). EILEEN FISHER aims toward building factory rights from the ground up by training workers to be aware of and exercise their rights in vulnerable situations. Ten years ago, the brand began working with Verité, a nonprofit specializing in human rights, to hold workshops for workers at three China factories. “The first year was rocky,” says Amy Hall, EF’s director of Social Consciousness. “Managers were highly skeptical about letting Verité into their factories. Appointments were made and cancelled repeatedly. But once the trainings began, the workers began asking for them and we instituted separate ones for managers. We’ve expanded to all seven of our Chinese factories.”

Bobby Ahn, one of EILEEN FISHER’s domestic denim manufacturers

As part of a push for domestic production, EILEEN FISHER manufactures all jeans in the United States — 80 percent in Los Angeles and the rest in New York City. On the label’s Ampersand site, you can read about Bobby Ahn, the owner of an LA denim factory, who drives a plug-in Prius, eats organic food and has a family story that mirrors the ups and downs of the US garment industry.

The benefit of not following trends–something Fisher has never done, is that the garments never go out of style. Recognizing this, the brand launched its first GREEN EILEEN store in 1997, reselling gently worn clothing. Today, there are four stores, where you can find everything from archive pieces like a knit motorcycle jacket to simple tees. The proceeds, which have added up to $1.3 million in the last three years, are all donated to nonprofits that work toward empowering women and girls.

EILEEN FISHER introduced this piece in 1997. It’s not available today, although you might find one at GREEN EILEEN.

In April (for Earth Month), EILEEN FISHER announced the start of their new GREEN EILEEN Collection Program, a recycled clothing initiative of the EILEEN FISHER Community Foundation whose proceeds will support women and girls. Bring back your gently worn EILEEN FISHER clothing to one of the company’s stores and receive a tax receipt and $5 in Recycling Rewards to spend at any EILEEN FISHER store or at eileenfisher.com.

Funnel-neck top, originally from 2002, still looking good ten years later. It’s paired here with a straight skirt introduced in 1997.

It’s not easy for an established company to implement sustainability initiatives across the board. It’s never perfect right away, but the important thing is that things move in the right direction. EILEEN FISHER shows us a multitude of ways it can be done.

Images courtesy of EILEEN FISHER

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Eileen Fisher shows off its company’s commitment to sustainable and ethical business practices. 

Thumbing through Eileen Fisher’s fall eco collection is an intensely tactile experience. There’s thick organic wool knit into a slouchy sweater, hung next to blouses in lightweight textured sheer hemp, fluid bluesign®-certified silk, and an unbelievably soft cashmere from Outer Mongolia, made even more sensuous from a lack of chemical dye.

On another rack, you’ll find stiff, organic, made-in-NYC denim jeans and an organic version of stretch French terry, one of the company’s trademark fabrics. On the accessories front, wrap yourself in a hand-tie-dyed Japanese shibori scarf or try on a pair of vibrant striped wool glovelettes, naturally dyed with plants from designer Cornelia Blümli’s garden.

Eileen Fisher has long been known for producing simple but sophisticated womenswear, and the fall line is no exception. But what most customers don’t know is that the fashion brand also operates with a strong sense of social responsibility. That’s about to change this fall, with the launch of the Eileen Fisher Ampersand campaign, a new marketing initiative that highlights the company’s commitment to sustainable and ethical business practices.

The purpose of the campaign is to give customers a look at what’s “behind the label” of Eileen Fisher items, an idea that is literally translated through new garment hang tags featuring a checklist of the item’s eco-credentials.

In many ways, the name of the campaign embodies the company’s approach to its industry accomplishments. Though Eileen Fisher has long operated under the dictum of “business as a movement” – a phrase coined by Eileen herself – it has been hesitant to shine a spotlight on its social responsibility efforts.

“Subtle is who we are,” explained Candice Reffe, a member of the Core Concept Team at a recent Eileen Fisher breakfast. “What’s bold about the Ampersand campaign is that we’ve decided to actually speak out about things that we’ve been doing for decades, but that no one knew about.”

The hallmark of the campaign is an elegant ampersand symbol (&) used throughout marketing and advertising material to indicate additional information about an item’s production.

“It feels like us,” says Claire Whitcomb, who worked on the campaign. “It’s ‘by the way, here’s a bit more about what we’re doing. Here’s more of the story.'”

The company dives a bit deeper into those stories in a new newsletter available online and in retail locations. It is a refreshing break from typical CSR publications, with a fresh design and creative approach to product storytelling. Reffe, for instance, contributed a poetic image recap of a sourcing trip to China in the last issue, while other articles explore the process of sourcing sustainable denim and provide practical advice on how to hand wash a sweater.

The new hang tags are another key element of the campaign, letting customers know off the bat if the product consists of organic fibers, recycled fibers, or sustainable fibers; whether it is undyed or certified dyed; and if it is Fair Trade or made in the United States.

Highlights of the collection include:

• A nubby organic cotton sweater that is hand-knit by Fair Trade cooperatives in Peru.
• Silks certified by the strict bluesign® standard, which considers both inputs and outputs in the dying process.
• A sensuous “undyed” cashmere sweater, woven from five different types of “dyed by nature” cashmere yarns from goats in Outer Mongolia.
• Naturally-dyed wool glovelettes produced through a collaboration with Barcelona-based designer Cornelia Blümli.

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