German fashion firm S.Oliver Group has launched the Empowering Farmers program in India which aims to sell organic cotton apparels made from its first directly traceable supply chain from 2024.

This program supports around 400 farmers in India to cultivate organic cotton. The brand is planning to use this cotton in its spring/summer 2024 collection, which will be available in the first half of 2024. This organic cultivation contains no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or genetically modified seeds.

This program has emerged from the Partnership Initiative for Organic Cotton in India, which aims to support the livelihood of farmers while also ensuring transparency along the supply chain. S.Oliver Group is also a part of this program since April 2022. The program is led by the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles and the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA). It also focuses on building environmentally friendly and economically viable supply chains.

Sonja Balodis, S.Oliver Group’s chief product officer said, “Responsible management is a central value for us as a family company. With the Empowering Farmers program, we not only contribute to our sustainability strategy for materials and fibers, in which we want to consistently increase the proportion of more sustainable products for our customers. By focusing on organic cotton and supporting local initiatives, we can also make a valuable contribution to both environmental protection and working and living conditions in cultivation.”