FC St. Pauli stands up for sustainability in the fashion industry

FC St. Pauli stands up for sustainability in the fashion industry

From 24th to 30th of April, the worldwide Fashion Revolution Week will take place and FC St. Pauli will be taking part in this week of action to raise awareness of production conditions in supply chains.

Fashion Revolution Week came about after the collapse of the Rana Plaza fashion production site in Bangladesh on 24 April 2013: 5,000 people were employed in garment factories there. More than 1,100 people – mostly young women – died in the collapse and another 2,500 people were injured. The question “Who made my clothes?” and the answer “I made your clothes?” will be used during the action week to draw attention to the people behind the clothes and the workers in the production facilities.

Since 2016, FC St. Pauli has been obliged to take more responsibility in dealing with its merchandise following a member resolution. Since then, the club has taken measures to improve working conditions and sustainability throughout the entire production chain. This includes, among other things, the introduction of a Social Code of Conduct as part of supplier contracts (2017), the gradual switch to FairTrade and organic cotton and the creation of transparency in the ramified supply chains with regard to working conditions from 2019 to 2021.

Since 2020, the club has been providing transparent information on sustainability issues in merchandise. An important step on this path was joining the Fair Wear Foundation in 2021, allowing the club to have its production and supply chain processes externally assessed and making the results transparent.

As FC St. Pauli, it is particularly important to emphasise that the cooperation of different stakeholders such as NGOs, clothing brands, partners and suppliers, different club sectors as well as the fans and end consumers is important in order to make changes and thus improvements possible. Changes cannot be achieved from one day to the next, but have to happen step by step, following the club’s motto “not perfect but better” – there is still a lot to do to establish more sustainable products in the fashion industry!

FC St. Pauli wants to motivate its fans and followers to ask questions, consume more consciously and understand the costs of sustainable products. It is also important to raise awareness of the challenges and obstacles in the process of moving to fairer production conditions in the fashion industry.