As the exclusive North American representative of one of the most responsible apparel manufacturers in the world, Interloop Limited, we also want to do our part to make this world a better place.

From our Supplier Code of Conduct to the restaurants we choose to cater a lunch meeting, we want to consider the impact on the planet and on people.

Responsible Sourcing

At Interloop North America, we have a multi-level approach to pre-screen factories before we source products from them. Every new and existing supplier must meet our standards and requirements for business, quality, legal, environmental, and social standards. Our Quality & Compliance program includes factory audits, certification, product testing, and inspection. We offer our customers products made from BCI cotton and recycled polyester from GRS approved sources. We have set goals for 3D (virtual) sampling, working with key suppliers and customers to reduce sample wastage in the product development process.

We require our suppliers to comply with all laws in each of the countries where they operate. We also have a thorough Business Code of Conduct, which includes ethical standards such as workers’ health and safety, non-discrimination laws, living wages for workers, and prohibition of child labor.

Responsibility Teams

In 2021, we formed company Responsibility Teams that focus on Environment, Giving, Volunteering, and JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion). This past year, the teams set goals, researched, engaged the surrounding community, and reported quarterly in an effort to meet our lofty goals. Not only does this help serve our community, but it also strengthens our culture.

2022 Efforts

The Giving Team

Our charitable donation practices have evolved over the years. In the beginning, certain members of leadership would determine what charitable organizations would receive the funds we allocated to giving. Then we decided to get input from all employees on which organizations they would like us to support. When the Giving Team was formed in 2021, after careful research and consideration, they selected the organizations for charitable gifting.

In addition to facilitating the giveaway of more than 25,000 pairs of socks, the Giving Team took on the task of researching and implementing a donation-matching program, partnering with the Bright Funds Foundation. Bright Funds makes it easy for our employees to find the causes they care about and multiply their charitable giving with a match from their company using the online platform. The platform also allows employees to find volunteer opportunities and to track their volunteer hours.

Bravo, Giving Team – thank you for doing your part to engage our team and give back to our community!

The Volunteer Team

The Volunteer team has tracked more than 125 employee hours of being the hands and feet for our community in need. Fruit has been packed for food-insecure school children, letters written to soldiers serving our country, and toys are given to our tiniest community members. We also partner with Panera Bread and their ‘Day-End Dough-Nation’ Program. Any leftovers from our local Panera Bread cafes are picked up by ILNA team members and dropped off at the Maple Springs United Methodist Church food pantry to be distributed to those in need.

The team continues to look for more opportunities for us to be constructive contributors to the community.

The Environment Team

The Environment team continues to educate our employees on the importance and proper ways to recycle all waste – from single use plastics to e-waste, like computer cables and cell phones.

The team also politely reinforces our Green Office Policy, which focuses on conservation in addition to recycling and waste management. Here are some great ideas for office conservation and at-home conservation:

• Home energy considerations
• Contact your energy provider to see if you are eligible for a free energy audit
• Use LED bulbs, task lighting vs overhead, and natural light
• Be aware of hot water as a major energy consumer

Thank you, team, for keeping us ever mindful of conservation and the importance of being proactive.

The Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Team

The JEDI team has had a lot of fun educating the company on the issues of DE&I. They organized a company outing to the Reynolda House in Winston Salem that featured captivating 20th-century history. The museum presented “Still I Rise: The Black Experience at Reynolda,” as well as the photography of Kwame Brathwaite throughout the 1960s. Brathwaite used his photography to popularize the transformative idea that “Black is Beautiful” during the height of jazz.

The team also proposed a great read for the company Book Club: The Personal Librarian, co-written by New York Times best-selling author Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. The novel is a fictionalized telling of the lifework of a black woman, Belle da Costa Greene, the personal librarian to J. P. Morgan. We highly recommend it!

The JEDI team also engaged in training on Inclusive Language and Unconscious Bias. We know these issues are important because they teach us how to create a culture of belonging, but it also makes good business sense. Studies show DE&I enhance levels of creativity, innovation, and drive profits. The list of benefits goes on from there! (Source: Linked In: The Importance of DEI)

With all that we’ve accomplished, the needs in our community continue to grow. We can’t wait to see what our teams set out to do in 2023 as we work toward our mission of being agents of positive change.