Sustainability
Our approach to sustainability
Initially designed as multi-functional pieces for women who like to integrate cycling into their daily lives without compromising on style, Vaela has quickly become a trusted brand for women with active lifestyles.
Our clothes are the opposite of fast fashion. They are designed and made to be sustainable from the outset. We pay acute attention to every element - from fabric selection and zip provenance to the design of the seams.
We prioritise the environment and social equity over absolute technical performance, and we promise full transparency on how we are doing relative to our B-Corporation grade sustainability ambitions.
That our suppliers and manufacturers share our vision is not accidental. We have deliberately sought out organisations who align with our sustainability ambitions.
Equally important, is the way in which we manufacture our products, look after our workers, and make provisions for our pieces once they’re worn out. Unusual for the apparel industry, we are proud to be B Corp certified and a Living Wage employer. These certifications hold us to high standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.
Independent life cycle assessment by ENVRT LAB helps us understand where we're doing well, and where needs improvement. What’s more, we report on our impact each year, and we’re always looking for ways to improve.
An example of this would be our new reVAELA programme. Underpinning our ambitions of circularity, reVAELA ensures that no product ends up in landfill and will instead be either repaired, remade, resold, or as a last resort, recycled. Many brands place the emphasis on product launches, but few think to put processes in place for when they come to the end of their useful life.
We actively support organisations promoting change and donate 2% of our revenue to organisations chosen by our customers whose visions are in line with our own.
Our ambitions are to:
- Use natural materials
- Be carbon neutral
- Provide decent employment
- Be transparent about our impact
The Vaela Code of Conduct, supporting policies, guidance, certification certificates and other relevant information can be found here.