Responsibility & Engagement
LATER… is about respect for the planet and the people on it. In an effort toward the planet, we focus on recycled materials, we limit our ecological impact through minimizing our consumption and offsetting what we do consume. For the people, we partner regionally with those who share our values, who pay living wages, and who are committed to seeing a more responsible approach to fashion.
There are many initiatives labeling themselves sustainable. We aim for responsible. Responsibility towards the environment and our planet, but also towards people, groups, this community that surrounds us and forms the society that we all live in, together.
Some of the questions we ask ourselves:
What are the ecological & social impacts? Can we continue like this indefinitely? Can our business grow this way? Who are we helping, who are we hurting, and how do we find the best balance in our action?
These are not easy questions and the answers are often not pretty, but we try to keep asking them and keep working for better outcomes than we find today. Looking for a way to get the greatest benefit from the thoughts & means available to us. We hope to show that another way of doing things is possible.
We live in the cities
A responsible future is going to be an urban one. At 7 billion people and counting, there is just not enough room for us to all have our own mountaintop. And beyond that, to make it work we will need to cooperate.
Cities are part of the answer, and an inspiration. In cities goods and services can be efficiently delivered to larger numbers of people. The distances are shorter, the interactions are more dense, and the impact on our world is lightened.Cities are often seen as forbidding spaces, a place where people & ideas could get lost. Beyond the impersonal and the individual, we want to see life in a city embraced, and cooperative.
An urban future does not need to be ugly or sad. It does not need to be the last option.
We can build something together that works.
Doing better
Responsible fashion is an elusive goal. But the current predatory approach of the textile and fashion industries is changing.
We’re looking for a new, more responsible way to do it. We believe it is possible, especially as a new brand in the market, unburdened by the less responsible habits of the past.
Out of time
We are out of step with our world. We produce too much, we consume too much, we cannot keep it up. On some level, we know this – each one of us that listens can hear and feel that this is not an existence that can be maintained.
We need to break this cycle of frantic production & consumption, of an item becoming obsolete before we even unpack it. And it needs to happen now. We’ve been putting change off for too long: “someone else will take care of it”, “we can do it later”.
For us: LATER… is now.
Financial engagements
1% for the Planet
Through our 1% for the Planet membership, we take responsibility for our planet by supporting organizations that do important work to create positive environmental change.
Learn more at onepercentfortheplanet.org
Carbon Offset
Although we are doing our best effort to minimize our carbon impact we still generate a footprint. We have decided to track this impact and offset it through the United Nation carbon offset program. It is also a key indicator we consider in our business development, because for us progress as a business means reducing our absolute carbon footprint.
Learn more at unfccc.int
