Chico’s FAS Inc.’s advanced its seven mid-term environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals, according to the women’s wear company’s 2022 Impact Report.
The company, which owns Chico’s, White House Black Market (WHBM) and Soma, released its ESG report highlighting progress toward building more sustainable, diverse and equitable communities.
“At Chico’s FAS, our four strategic pillars of being customer led, product obsessed, digital first and operationally excellent are seamlessly connected to our values of growing the company, while caring for our customers and teams,” Molly Langenstein, president and CEO, said. “I am proud of the progress we have made, which is fundamental and importantly vital to our business and our customers.”
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Chico’s established ESG goals in three categories—short-term, mid-term and long-term—that are informed by the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Those goals include implementing Higg Index sustainability reporting for the top 80 percent of its Tier 1 vendors and factories, which hit a 58 percent participation rate in 2022, a 100 percent increase from the year prior. A long-term goal is to continue enhancing traceability programs to drive sustainable sourcing initiatives with the goal of completing an initial mapping of its Tier 1 value chain by the end of fiscal year 2023.
The company has prioritized fabrics made with more mindfully produced and sustainably sourced raw materials—what Chico’s calls “mindful fabrics.” These include natural fibers, synthetic fibers made of recycled yarns, and cellulosic fiber derived from wood sources. They’re also fabrics manufactured through more sustainable processes, like Lenzing’s Tencel. In 2022, the company introduced 36 new mindful fabrics for a total of 98 mindful fabrics now featured in its collections. By the end of last year, 8 percent of Chico’s FAS apparel receipts used one or more mindful fabrics.
Chico’s also made progress toward its circularity goals. Over 51,300 bras were donated from Soma’s Bra It Forward campaign in 2022, with over two million bras donated since 2010. More than 16,500 pairs of jeans were collected from WHBM’s denim recycling program in 2022; over 33,100 square feet of insulation was manufactured from the jeans collected. Last year Chico’s found a recyclable, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) poly bag alternative it will use in all shipments by the end of 2023.
At WHBM and Chico’s, the company has focused on reducing the environmental impacts in denim finishing. The company employs fewer harmful chemicals to create its denim collections by using laser printing, enzyme finishes, and ozone processing. Over 156,000 laser-processed pairs of denim were delivered to Chico’s brands—a 70 percent increase compared to 2021.
As a company of brands led by women and for women, Chico’s is committed to being an industry leader that empowers women. In 2022 it received numerous awards for women empowerment and over 90 percent of its employees identify as female, though only 50 percent of officers (executive vice presidents and up) are women. The company was also recognized on the Forbes list of best employers for diversity for 2023.
“Our board, executive leadership and associates are working together to advance our values through our ESG focus areas,” Kim Roy, independent board member and ESG committee member, said. “Chico’s FAS believes that a well-informed and engaged community is key to achieving our strategic pillars and ESG goals. By holding ourselves accountable, being transparent about our current state of operations and regularly reporting on our actions, we believe we will continue to make meaningful progress in achieving our ESG goals, while providing beautiful products that our customers can wear without compromise. Together, we can be inspired and inspire others in identifying new opportunities to work together and drive positive change.”
