We Act For Kids reaches far beyond our employees. The ÏDKIDS community motivates and supports all its stakeholders so we can all move forward together. This includes its supply chain.
Two seminars were held on 20 and 22 March for Okaïdi and Jacadi textile suppliers, the former in Shanghai, China and the latter in Dhaka, Bangladesh. These were the first ever joint seminars held by two brands from the ÏDKIDS community.
The aim of this event was to bring the suppliers together to discuss the We Act For Kids ethos, ensure ongoing high standards and prompt them to take their social commitment even further.
The success of these two half-day sessions was made possible by the combined efforts of the Asian head office, the quality department, the CSR team, the internal audit department and the product teams.
On the agenda:
- The origin of the ÏDKIDS community, its commitment to progress, the involvement of each of the community’s brands and customer perception.
- Fabric innovations such as recycled polyester made from plastic bottles and recycled plastic (REPREVE).
- A presentation of the Asian store network and its future development, particularly in China.
- A reminder of the ethical principles and code of conduct designed to make high social and environmental standards part of the contract with our first-tier suppliers and partners. We are always ready to go further in our fight against forced labour, discrimination and maltreatment in our countries of production.
- A joint presentation with the NGO TFT on a project aiming to establish complete supply chain traceability over time, from the cotton field to the factory.
And there was more solidarity to come with a presentation of projects supported by the ÏDKIDS foundation in both countries:
- The Stepping Stones charity, an NGO based in Shanghai and Hong Kong whose aim is to improve disadvantaged Chinese children’s access to healthcare and high-quality education.
- Okaïdi’s social business in Bangladesh, in partnership with Grameen Shikha, an NGO helping women living in the slums to find work and their children to receive an education.
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Let’s hear from Grégoire, member manager at TFT
“TFT is an international not-for-profit organization that helps companies build more responsible supply chains. In more concrete terms, we help them find out more about the source of their raw materials, understand the social and environmental challenges they face and implement targeted action plans. I work with companies that are involved in the wood, textile and palm oil industries.
We offered to help the ÏDKIDS teams with these two seminars because we wanted to tell the various suppliers about our traceability initiative, getting them fully on board right at the start of the programme. We wanted to explain that our role is to understand how their supply chains are constituted. Once this transparency and traceability work is complete, we can offer appropriate solutions to help them build more responsible supply chains and ensure their products are fully traceable.
I found these seminars to be a very positive process. The idea of bringing together suppliers to create a community vision, share values and listen to their opinions was a very interesting one. Our operations all over the world have shown us that these information-sharing sessions are very valuable, helping people understand one another better and fully meet each other’s expectations. It was a great way to introduce TFT and our work to suppliers of the brands in the ÏDKIDS community.”
Rokon, Chair & CEO, Aman Graphics & Design Ltd: “We enjoy working with Okaïdi because we like its products. Design, fabric selection and style are paramount to us. We also appreciate its processes, regular communication and follow-up methods, which are a very important part of our partnership. It was our first time at this type of seminar and it helped us realize that the brand is constantly evolving. Okaïdi communicates with its suppliers in a very transparent way, and there was plenty of time for discussion and interaction. We would be delighted if there were more of these events, so we could find out more about the brand and explore new ways of working together.”
