WALL’S ETHICS

Staying Socially Responsible
Before social responsibility was a buzz word Wall was founded on the principal that every decision in the business should take into account all its 'stakeholders'. This means considering employees, community, the environment, suppliers and customers as well as the needs of the business.

Why this is important to Wall
When Wall was founded in 1997 by Judith and Hernán Balcázar, the business idea was underpinned by the very personal experiences of the couple living and working in Peru. Whilst they were very active in supporting charities focused on children and women, in particular the Puericultorio orphanage in Lima, they were aware that the lack of education and lack of employment in Peru makes it difficult to break the cycle of poverty.

We bring employment to much needed areas
An important decision in starting the business was to do something that could create more employment in Peru, in particular for mothers. “From what we saw charity could not create the same benefits as work. Job opportunities and education are very important. It was about working with the parents so that less children were put in the position of being so disadvantaged.” Says Hernán.

We work with independent, small manufacturers
We work as much as possible with cottage industries. By supporting these small family owned businesses we aim to give the owners and their employees a sense of pride in their work and enable them to educate their children.

Because we are passionate about luxury fibres sometimes we have to look world wide for the best suppliers. If for instance our only alternative to source the best cashmere in the world is to source it from China, we make sure that our suppliers abide by the Wall code of conduct.

All of our suppliers must abide by the Wall code of conduct
Our aim is to improve conditions in the supply chain and to be responsible to our role in that chain. All of our suppliers abide by a “code of conduct” that requires high standards of health, safety and pay. As part of this code employers agree to ensure that the conditions for workers are safe, that they are paid a living wage and that they can work free from harassment. Wall will never use suppliers who are unwilling to meet these standards for their employees.

If you would like more information on the Wall code of conduct please contact us at enquiries@wall-london.com

We are not interested in making disposable fashion
The changing trends and technologies in fashion mean that it is cheaper to mass produce clothes that imitate catwalk design. However these clothes do not last long and their production comes at a high environmental and often social cost. Wall's clothes will not be found on the high street. From our inception we have not been interested in making disposable fashion. We use fabrics and design that endures. Our knitwear in particular is something that cannot be imitated cheaply on the high street, because of the quality of the fabrics and more importantly because of the skill of the weavers who make them.

We only use paper from sustainable forests.
In order to minimise the impact on the environment of printing our catalogue we only use paper form sustainable forests. We also ensure that our printers are environmentally aware and hold all the correct environmental certifications.

We never kill animals for their fur
The alpaca fur that features in our catalogue only ever comes from animals that have died naturally. In Peru the lifespan of an Alpaca can be up to 12 years and as the shaved fur brings in a steady income to poor farmers there is little logic in killing an animal for its pelt. For this reason Alpaca fur is only ever used once the animal has died naturally. Wall will never support the killing of animals for their fur.

Working with the community

As Wall became successful the Balcázars have been committed to giving back to the community. These are some of the projects we have supported over the last seven years.

The British Community Trust Peru 2007
Created in the late nineties in Lima by Liz Illman while her husband John was the British Ambassador to Peru, The British Community Trust's aim is “the relief of children in Peru who are in conditions of hardship and distress and the advancement of the education and training of such children”. This year Wall will support the British Community Trust by helping to find work placements through our suppliers. Many of the children in this scheme have been given an education through the programme but at 17 when it ends are in danger of relapsing into hardship as they are unable to get work through lack of experience. Wall's aim is to support the British Community Trust by finding placement with our suppliers to help train these young people for employment in the textile industry.

For news of Wall Clothing Company supports young people in Peru click here
For more information please visit: www.britcommunitytrust-peru.co.uk
For Donation click here

Happy faces (Caritas Felices) 2006
This self funding home outside Lima has been created to house girls removed by the courts from their homes because of sexual abuse. The orpanage aims to offer a home to these girls as well as reconstructive therapies, primary education, legal fees and medical attention. Money from Wall and our customers has helped towards these as well as more basic provisions such as food, school equipment, blankets and towels.Wall has completed two fund raising projects so far for the Caritas Felices.

Patakancha Community, Cusco, Peru 2003-2005
Through our boutique and mail order customers we raised funds for the support of members of this community. The Patakancha community live 4,000 meters above sea level in Cusco. The harsh environmental conditions of this area mean that it is very difficult to farm or to find employment and the poverty of the diet means that many people in the community suffer from protein deficiency. Some of the things Wall and our customers helped the Patakanchans do were to buy and and plant 300 eucalyptus trees in order to try and create a better micro-climate. We also bought 250 chickens to improve the quality of their diet, particularly in terms of protein and helped them to buy essential medicines.

Royal College of Art, London, UK 2000-2001
We’ve arranged for students from the RCA Fashion School to visit Peru to develop parts of our knitwear collection. This has led to a wonderful exchange of knowledge in which factories in Peru are being updated on the latest techniques of design and production while British students benefit from the best of 3,000 years of knowledge of a culture of knitters.