Carter's, Inc., the leading brand of children's clothing in the US has released its inaugural Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report, outlining the company's strategic environmental, social, and governance objectives and activities.

Carter's CSR report focuses on three strategic pillars: People, Product, and Planet, and it outlines the company's commitments and objectives. These commitments and objectives are in line with the Company's aim of assisting all families with young children, as well as its growth ambitions.

Antonio Robinson, Senior Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility, said that as the leading company servicing families with young children, they welcome the market change that is taking place as a consequence of their stakeholders' rising social responsibility demands, including customers, workers, and investors. Their annual reporting will give insight into their aims and efforts, and also serve as an essential benchmark in measuring their progress. They’re exploring opportunities to increase innovation and efficiency across the lifetime of their goods while increasing their social and environmental impact.

Carter's identified major areas of relevance to the company's business and to its stakeholders through its corporate social responsibility problem assessment. Product quality and safety, product design and innovation, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, climate change, workers' rights, and supply-chain management are all examples of these fields.

The newborn and children's clothing behemoth, like its apparel retail rivals, is seeking to utilize solely sustainable fibers by the end of the decade. Carter, a member of the Better Cotton Initiative as of this year, plans to use only sustainable cotton and polyester by 2030, which includes obtaining the organization's "more sustainable" cotton.

Little Planet, a new sustainability-focused brand, manufactures infant wear with Global Organic Textile Standard-certified cotton, basically functioning as a petri dish for eco-friendly ideas and learnings that Carter's can expand throughout its whole line, according to Robinson. 

Robinson added that they've had a lot of positive feedback from customers since they released it earlier this year, and they're excited to see how they interact with it as time goes on. To make the switch to more sustainable fibers, Carter's will most likely need to expand its network of sourcing and production partners, as well as invest in new technologies and innovations in the raw materials department.

Carter's is attempting to enhance supply-chain visibility through an ongoing cotton traceability effort, given the increased focus on transparency in recent years. Last year, it took on a new external partner to help it "accelerate" its traceability efforts, utilizing the outsider's "technology and infrastructure" to shine a light on additional layers of its supply chain.

Carter's stressed that it had no sourcing ties to China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, despite being "concerned" about claims of forced labor there, according to CEO Michael Casey's 2020 report. He went on to say that the cotton tracking scheme will help to validate Carter's worldwide supply chain's integrity. More than three-quarters of the company's products come from Cambodia, Bangladesh, China, and Vietnam, with the rest mostly originating from Central America.