Long-term partners
We consider most of our manufacturing product suppliers as long-term partners. Our DE599/DE600 trousers are produced at a supplier we have been working with since 2006.
The benefits of long-term relationships are invaluable, as it allows us to develop together in the same direction. Mutual to all our suppliers is that we have a code of conduct that has to be signed, and our suppliers must confirm to live up to local law and international labor standards. On top of this, they are audited according to amfori BSCI by a 3rd party to continuously improve social performance in their production.
Once the fabric is finished, it is distributed to the manufacturer where it is cut in the different pieces a trouser consists of (pockets, legs, fly, waistband etc.) and afterwards sewn together, sent off to be washed and then ironed. This is a very labor-intensive process, as one worker typically has the responsibility of only one part of the trouser such as stitching back pockets or zippers onto the trouser etc. Often the same operation repeatedly to maximize efficiency.
Up to 30 workers sit in a single production line, where a pair of trousers travel through before it is completed. The necessity for controls and quality checks are obviously quite immense despite the skill of the craftmanship among the workers being very high.
The pressure in the industry is often high due to short and strict deadlines to complete productions. Apart from setting reasonable deadlines, we always check and arrange visits to the production sites to ensure that we do not bring business to a company that disregards social responsibility in any way. As mentioned above, our security for this, apart from our own experiences, lies in the audit from 3rd party organizations, which heavily contributes to the pride we have in the products we offer our customers.