The quality and durability of Sessùn’s products are ensured by the rigorous selection of materials and extensive quality testing. The resistance and longevity of the pieces is guaranteed and that resonates with one of the four values so dear to Sessùn: the love of work well done. At the same time, we set great store by the timelessness of our designs, preferring refined styles and revisited classics, designed to transcend seasons and stay in fashion over time, especially with our timeless collection.

The Oeko-Tex Standard 100 label guarantees the harmlessness of products for health and the absence of toxic substances. For a product to be eligible for certification, all its components (fabric, sewing thread, buttons, zippers, elastic, labels, etc.) must be covered by a valid certificate. Sessùn is Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified and around 25% of our collections are certified, as are 40% of our permanent finishes.

To extend the lifespan of your Sessùn products, we recommend the following practices:

• Care: Our products’ designs involve quality materials and rely on specific expertise to ensure maximal longevity. However, regular care is essential to preserve the materials. Consult our care guide which offers specific advice and tips for all our products.
• Repairs: In the event of damage or deterioration, we would encourage you to repair your item rather than replacing it with a new one. Repair can often significantly extend the lifespan of your product and it certainly reduces environmental impact linked to overconsumption and waste.
• Alterations: Make alterations to adapt the product to your requirements which may change over time (taking the waist in or out, adjusting hem length, etc.).

We are working on reducing the impact of the packaging we use through its composition, recyclability, and use.
 
Poly Bags:
Poly bags are still essential for preventing products getting damaged (from humidity, impacts, etc.) during transport. To limit the impact of this plastic packaging, we have opted for a material which is 100% recyclable and 50% recycled for our near-shore import products and 100% recycled for products coming from Asia, which helps reduce its carbon footprint and limit the use of virgin resources. Eventually, all our poly bags will be 100% recycled. We would also like to explore the viability and efficiency of bio sourced alternatives, which would reduce the environmental impact even further. Additionally, we are looking into the feasibility of reusing poly bags as a way of extending their lifespan and reducing waste.
 
Shopping Bags:
These bags are currently 100% recyclable and made from 40% recycled materials. The inks used are solvent-free and compostable.
 
Pouches (shoes, leather goods, swimwear):
Our pouches are made from recycled cotton, which reduces their environmental impact.
 
Jewel Pouches:
Our jewel pouches are made from leather offcuts from partner factories.

The production of Sessùn clothing is spread between Europe and Asia, and North Africa and the Middle East (29.2%, 33.8% and 37% respectively in 2023). A map showing a breakdown of our production locations is available here.

The controversial image of Chinese manufacturing, which was admittedly well-deserved at one time, no longer holds true today. Environmental and social standards in China are now considerably better. Working conditions in Chinese factories and their management of environmental impact have greatly improved. Obviously, risks still exist, and this applies not only to China but also to European countries. That is why we audit our factories to ensure the respect of human rights and that social practices meet our requirements.
 
Just as working conditions have improved, Chinese standards of living are also now higher. That has an impact on production costs which are currently comparable to near-shore imports (Morocco, Turkey, etc.). Choosing to manufacture in China is not a question of cost-saving.
 
We continue to manufacture in China because we have built up relationships with longstanding partners and holders of unique skill sets.
 
We try to minimize our Asian production for reasons of transport (even if we use maritime transport for the vast majority of our flows). China, however, is a significant producer of raw materials (cotton, viscose, etc.). Chinese production, close to the supply source of raw materials, is a responsible and coherent choice which avoids transport and therefore greenhouse gas emissions.

Our commitment to responsible practices and ethical working conditions is solidly anchored in our relationship with our suppliers, above all through monitoring, auditing, and collaborative mechanisms:

• Ethics Charter: All our suppliers are required to sign our ethics charter, a document that clearly sets out our expectations in terms of working conditions, workers’ rights, and ethical practices. The charter forms the basis of our collaboration with our suppliers and defines the standards upon which we insist.
• We have been a member of the ICS since 2021: We use their monitoring platform which lists all our suppliers. The platform allows us to organize regular audits so that we can ensure compliance with ethical standards. The audits are programed regularly, usually every two years, to guarantee continued surveillance. The ICS enables us to combine auditing efforts and thus to avoid the over solicitation of manufacturing facilities.
• Social Audits: Audits are vital to assess the working conditions of our suppliers and contractors. They give us the opportunity to check compliance with ethical standards, to identify any shortcomings and to work in collaboration with our suppliers to improve practices where necessary. We believe in support and guidance as an approach, which promotes positive change, rather than punishment.
• Long-term Working Relationships: Over 50% of our products are made by longstanding partners with whom we have maintained a trustful relationship for more than 10 years. These long-term working relationships boost our ability to have a positive influence on working practices, since they are based on mutual trust and the continued understanding of the needs and expectations of each party.

Committed to limiting our environmental impact and conscious of the impact of the transportation we use in the production of our collections, and in the shipping and delivery of our products, we are working to reduce it through several strategies. We prioritize shipping by land and sea, which are less polluting than air travel, and we favor companies that develop alternatives such as electric vehicles or bicycle deliveries in urban areas. Additionally, we have implemented a "ship from store" initiative, allowing us to ship online orders out to the customer from their nearest store, thereby reducing journeys and CO2 emissions.

Environmental labeling is a system that informs consumers about the environmental impacts of a product, indicating its recyclability level and the main manufacturing stages when traceability allows. This labeling will be made mandatory from 2025 by the AGEC Law, but we have chosen to implement it systematically starting with the Winter 2023 collection.
This labeling is accessible through a QR code on our in-store product labels. Jewelry is not covered by the law.

Eventually, it will be presented in the form of a score (for example, a scale ranging from A to E or from 1 to 100), making it easier to understand. This will enable consumers to place the product on a quantified scale of environmental performance, compare it with other products in the same category, and therefore make better informed purchasing decisions.

Traceability is the ability to trace the product's value chain back to the raw material, from Tier 1 (finisher) to Tier 4 (producer, farmer, or breeder who produces the raw material).

Tier 4: production of raw materials
Tier 3: transformation of raw materials
Tier 2: production of fabrics
Tier 1: assembly of garment

Recyclability indicates how easy it is for a product to be recycled, and depends, in particular, on the number of components in the material, as well as the presence of contaminants (buttons, zippers, soles). Thus, the more complex an item is, the lower its recyclability score will be, even if the raw material used is sustainable. That is the case for shoes and bags, for example, which always carry a recyclability score of 1/5. On the other hand, a product composed of just one material can be recycled more easily because the recycling does not involve having to separate different fibers.

Gathering information from our suppliers and their suppliers is a time-consuming and complicated exercise. It requires responsiveness and strong involvement on the part of our suppliers, who do not always have the human resources or time necessary to assist us with this process. We make every effort to encourage them to cooperate further in this traceability project so that eventually, all our products can carry full traceability of all the materials used.