Karen Millen believes that those who work in their global supply chain should be provided with the rights and protection of international labour standards, as set out in their Code of Conduct. The Code covers a number of provisions, including no child labour, safe working conditions, a living wage, no excessive hours and protection of the environment. The Code forms part of our overall Ethical Trading strategy which also includes monitoring and auditing of the supply base.

Karen Millen’s approach to Ethical Trading is to work in partnership with their suppliers based on transparency, co-operation and continuous improvement. They recognize that suppliers may sometimes face complex challenges in upholding our code standards. Where this is the case, they assist them in making ongoing improvements and regularly follow up with them to ensure satisfactory progress is achieved. Karen Millen firmly believes that this is in the best interests of the workforce, as it is important that their livelihoods are protected.

Karen Millen continue to work with the Aurora Ethical Trading team located in London and China who work closely with their team and their suppliers to progress their strategy and ensure this remains effective.

They are closely involved in the development and implementation of the Ethical Trading strategy through the Ethical Trading Working Party which has representatives of Karen Millen, Coast, Oasis and Warehouse. The role of the working party is to develop policy, review the audits and support other Ethical Trading projects. The group ensures they benefit from best practice and knowledge across the brands.

Additional CSR Policies

As well as their Code of Conduct on labour standards, they have adopted a number of other CSR policies which are contained within their supplier terms and conditions. These include: Ban on cotton from Uzbekistan owing to ongoing concerns about forced labour, including forced child labour.

REACH policy complying with EU regulations which aims to protect human health and the environment from dangerous substances.

They also comply animal welfare policy that bans real fur and animal testing on cosmetic or hygiene products.