Wall's Ethics

WALL'S ETHICS

Staying Socially Responsible

Before social responsibility was a buzz word Wall was founded on the principal that every decision in the business should take into account all its 'stakeholders'. This means considering employees, community, the environment, suppliers and customers as well as the needs of the business.

Why this is important to Wall

When Wall was founded in 1997 by Hernán Balcázar (Peruvian) and Judith de Balcázar (British), the business idea was underpinned by the very personal experiences of the couple living and working in Peru. Whilst they were very active in supporting charities focused on children and women, in particular the Puericultorio orphanage in Lima, they were aware that the lack of education and lack of employment in Peru makes it difficult to break the cycle of poverty.

We bring employment to much needed areas

An important decision in starting the business was to do something that could create more employment in Peru, in particular for mothers. "From what we saw charity could not create the same benefits as work. Job opportunities and education are very important. It was about working with the parents so that less children were put in the position of being so disadvantaged." Says Hernán.

We work with independent, small manufacturers

We work as much as possible with cottage industries. By supporting these small family owned businesses we aim to give the owners and their employees a sense of pride in their work and enable them to educate their children.

Because we are passionate about luxury fibres sometimes we have to look world wide for the best suppliers. If for instance our only alternative to source the best cashmere in the world is to source it from China, we make sure that our suppliers abide by the Wall code of conduct.

All of our suppliers must abide by the Wall code of conduct

Our aim is to improve conditions in the supply chain and to be responsible for our role in that chain. All of our suppliers abide by a "code of conduct" that requires high standards of health, safety and pay. As part of this code employers agree to ensure that the conditions for workers are safe, that they are paid a living wage and that they can work free from harassment. Wall will never use suppliers who are unwilling to meet these standards for their employees.

If you would like more information on the Wall code of conduct please contact us at enquiries@wall-london.com

We are not interested in making disposable fashion

The changing trends and technologies in fashion mean that it is cheaper to mass produce clothes that imitate catwalk design. However these clothes do not last long and their production comes at a high environmental and often social cost. Wall's clothes will not be found on the 'high street'. From our inception we have not been interested in making disposable fashion. We use fabrics and design that endures. Our knitwear in particular is something that cannot be imitated cheaply on the high street, because of the quality of the fabrics and more importantly because of the skill of the weavers who make them.

We use paper from sustainable forests

In order to minimise the impact on the environment of printing our catalogue we ensure that our printers are environmentally aware and hold all the correct environmental certifications.

We never kill animals for their fur

The alpaca fur that we sell only ever comes from animals that have died naturally. In Peru the life of an Alpaca can be up to 12 years and as the shaved fur brings in a steady income to poor farmers there is little logic in killing an animal for its pelt. For this reason Alpaca fur is only ever used once the animal has died naturally. Wall will never support the killing of animals for their fur.

Working with the community

As Wall became successful the Balcázars have been committed to giving back to the community. These are some of the projects we have supported over the last nine years.

Internship Program Wall/British Community Trust Peru 2007/2009

Wall has participated and initiated community programs designed to help local communities in Peru since our inception. We gradually became aware of problems facing children, especially girls, who had lived on the street before being placed in care homes. At 18 their time at the care home is over and often they must find their own way, without family support, in a world that does not have any of the welfare cushions we have here. In order to give some of these young people a chance we have started a program that will train them to use professional knitting machines. As most factories cannot afford to pay trainees many must work for years before they are able to learn how to fully use a knitting machine. By creating a special course that covers learning how to use all the standard machines in two years, and paying for their salary whilst learning, these girls are able to learn a skill that will give them employment for life. To ensure they have a good start we give the trainee her own industrial knitting machine at the completion of her course. This means wherever they are or however many children they have they will always have the means to make an income.

For more information please visit: www.britcommunitytrust-peru.co.uk

Happy faces (Caritas Felices) 2006

This self funding home outside Lima has been created to house girls removed by the courts from their homes because of sexual abuse. The orphanage aims to offer a home to these girls as well as reconstructive therapies, primary education, legal fees and medical attention. Money from Wall and our customers has helped towards these as well as more basic provisions such as food, school equipment, blankets and towels.Wall has completed two fund raising projects so far for the Caritas Felices.

Patakancha Community, Cusco, Peru 2003-2005

Through our boutique and mail order customers we raised funds for the support of members of this community. The Patakancha community live 4,000 metres above sea level in Cusco. The harsh environmental conditions of this area mean that it is very difficult to farm or to find employment and the poverty of the diet means that many people in the community suffer from protein deficiency. Some of the things Wall and our customers helped the Patakanchans do were to buy and and plant 300 eucalyptus trees in order to try and create a better micro-climate. We also bought 250 chickens to improve the quality of their diet, particularly in terms of protein and helped them to buy essential medicines.

Royal College of Art, London, UK 2000-2001

We’ve arranged for students from the RCA Fashion School to visit Peru to develop parts of our knitwear collection. This has led to a wonderful exchange of knowledge in which factories in Peru are being updated on the latest techniques of design and production while British students benefit from the best of 3,000 years of knowledge of a culture of knitters.

Category Navigation: