ETHICAL ANIMAL WELFARE
Mara Hoffman Inc. is committed to ensuring the humane condition and treatment of animals within our supply chains. We partner with suppliers that respect ethical and humane animal welfare practices and are committed to continuously working towards achieving higher standards in animal welfare, as well as, social and environmental standards. Suppliers must establish and refine best practices for maintaining, breeding, raising, transportation, handling, and slaughtering that follow the Five Domains framework while taking into account species specific needs. The Five Domain framework aims to not only minimize negative experiences but also to enable and encourage positive experiences. The core principles of the Five Domains are as follows:
● Good Nutrition - minimize thirst and hunger and enable eating to be a pleasurable experience.
● Good Physical Environment - minimize discomfort and exposure to adverse environmental conditions and promote physical comfort.
● Good Health - minimizes pain, disease, and other discomforts and promotes the pleasures of vigor, strength, robustness, and harmonious physical activity.
● Appropriate Behavioural Interactions - minimize threats and unpleasant restrictions on behavior and movement, and promote engagement in rewarding activities.
● Positive Mental Experiences - promote the experience of various forms of comfort, pleasure, interest, confidence, and a sense of control.
IMPLEMENTATION & TRACEABILITY
We take the following due diligence measures to ensure suppliers of any animal-derived material are aware of and adhere to our animal welfare guidelines;
● Our direct suppliers must agree to accurately record and provide all required information and documentation to ensure a high level of traceability and transparency in our supply chain.
● We distribute our “Ethical & Environmental Supply Chain Guidelines” to all direct suppliers and require signed acknowledgment and agreement of the guidelines.
● We require & review vendor profiles and verified scope certificates for each supplier to at least spinner level.
● We require & review a complete material details sheet with supply chain information Last Updated April 2023 for each material used.
● We maintain up-to-date supplier & material information through our internal data collection and management system.
● For any animal-derived material we use, we utilize international certifications to
● For certified materials, a verified transaction certificate is required upon completion of the fabric.
● We are actively working to improve our supply chain traceability by partnering with traceability service providers and utilizing traceability innovations when possible. Our goal is to have full traceability at all levels of our supply chain. To maintain high standards of Animal Welfare & Social and Environmental Responsibility, our Animal Welfare policy will be reviewed annually and updated as new information and certifications are introduced. Each year we measure and report our annual animal fiber use through Textile Exchange’s Corporate Fiber & Materials Benchmark Survey.
ANIMAL LAND MANAGEMENT
In addition to animal welfare commitments, suppliers must implement responsible land management practices that aim to protect grazing land from deforestation and desertification, while also working to improve soil health, preserve biodiversity, and protect water quality. We actively seek programs and suppliers that are using responsible land-management practices such as eliminating the use of pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic fertilizers, implementing grazing plans to avoid overgrazing, and utilizing regenerative farming methods.
PROHIBITED ANIMAL PRODUCTS
Mara Hoffman Inc. prohibits the use of the following animal products:
● Wool from farms practicing mulesing
● Angora & other rabbit hair
● Conventional/Virgin Cashmere
● Mohair, Pashmina, Alpaca, Llama, Vicuña and Shahtoosh
● Silk
● Animal Fur
● Shearling
● Leather
● Feathers & Down
● Exotic skins
● Horn, Bone & Ivory
● Any product from wild animals that are caught or hunted
● Any product from endangered animals
● Any animal product from animals raised in cages
ACCEPTED ANIMAL PRODUCTS
We use a limited amount of animal-derived materials. We allow the following fibers that must meet our specific requirements and provide proof of adherence or required certifications.
SHEEP WOOL
Mara Hoffman Inc. is committed to sourcing only non-mulesed sheep wool. Mulesing is an inhumane practice used to combat the infection caused by a particular fly (the blowfly). However, it harms the animals in the process and alternative methods to prevent infection should be used. Non-mulesing verification must be provided. We currently allow the use of Climate Beneficial™ Wool, Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) certified wool, organic wool with Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), or recycled wool with Global Recycled Standard certification (GRS). Details & requirements for each program are listed below.
● Climate Beneficial™ Wool
○ Climate Beneficial™ Wool - must be verified by Fibershed and sourced from a Climate Beneficial™ verified supplier and ranch.
○ The Climate Beneficial™ program supports regional ranchers and farmers in implementing carbon farming and responsible land management practices.
○ Non-mulesing verification must be provided.
○ We require traceability to the farm level for all Climate Beneficial™ Wool we use.
■ Our Climate Beneficial™ Wool is sourced from the small family-owned ranch, Emigh Livestock in Rio Vista, California.
■ Emigh Livestock is Level III certified by the American Wool Assurance (AWA) program, a US certification program that requires certified farmers to implement and adhere to a set of animal welfare best practices that follow the international Five Freedoms framework.
■ To achieve AWA Level III certification, certified ranches & farmers must complete a biannual evaluation and undergo a third-party audit at least every 4 years.
■ American Wool Assurance (AWA) certification prohibits mulesing.
● Conventional Responsible Wool
○ Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) certification is required to at least the spinner level of production.
○ Non-mulesing verification must be provided.
● Organic Wool
○ Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certification is required to at least the spinner level of production.
○ Non-mulesing verification must be provided.
● Recycled Wool
○ Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certification is required to spinner level at minimum.
○ Recycled wool must not be blended with any conventional wool unless it is Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) certified.
RECYCLED CASHMERE
When using cashmere, we avoid all types of conventional cashmere due to the high number of animals needed to produce enough wool per garment and the large amount of land required for grazing. We only allow the use of recycled cashmere that is Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certified.
● Recycled Cashmere
○ Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certification is required to spinner level at minimum.
○ Recycled cashmere must not be blended with any conventional cashmere
