SABRINA MÜLLER
Head of Sustainability at S.OLIVER GROUP
“Equal rights are essential for achieving
a sustainable future”
The S.OLIVER GROUP has been purchasing CmiA-verified cotton since 2009. In addition, it has been supporting projects under the CmiA Community Cooperation Programme (CCCP) for many years. In this interview, we talked with Sabrina Müller, the head of sustainability at the S.OLIVER GROUP, about why its efforts focus on empowering girls and women and the role its collaboration with CmiA plays in achieving the group’s sustainable development goals.
Ms Müller, S.OLIVER GROUP counts sustainability and innovation among its core values. What role does Cotton made in Africa play in fulfilling these values?
We see ourselves not only as a business but as a part of society. It is therefore in the DNA of our company to take responsibility for our impact on people and nature. This responsibility encompasses our own employees as well as people working elsewhere in our supply chain. In addition to strengthening human rights protections for producers and ensuring high labour standards, we build a solid foundation for our activities by supporting social projects and working with stakeholders like CmiA. This offers us many opportunities to make an impact beyond the confines of our normal business activities.
What role does CmiA play in meeting growing demands fordue diligence and transparency and in the S.OLIVER GROUP’s social compliance programme?
We see the growing demands imposed by national and European laws as a good thing because they lay down clear guidelines on a level playing field. Our partnership with CmiA is very valuable to us in this context, as CmiA truly prioritises the needs of smallscale farmers and their families through its focus on close collaboration with cotton companies. This is a central factor in managing the risks that cotton production poses to people and the environment. In addition, increasing emphasis is being placed on the traceability of cotton throughout the supply chain, making CmiA’s Hard Identity Preserved system important both for us and for the sector as a whole.
The S.OLIVER GROUP has been supporting Cotton made in Africa’s projects for many years, benefiting people in cotton-growing regions in ways not directly related to cotton cultivation. Currently, S.OLIVER GROUP, through its brands comma and s.Oliver Red Label, is involved in a school project in Tanzania and in a women’s project in Zambia. What do these CCCP projects mean for your company?
We are convinced that equal rights are essential for achieving a sustainable future. A key aspect of this is ensuring that girls and women have equal access to education and to social and economic participation. CmiA’s projects are therefore central to our efforts to empower girls and women. In Tanzania, we are continuing to support a girls’ dormitory. Our s.Oliver brand is also strengthening the economic participation of women in Zambia by supporting two women’s clubs in developing small maize processing operations. By supplementing their incomes, this enables the participating women to gain more independence.
One of your brands, comma, frequently draws attention to women’s empowerment. How does Cotton made in Africa bring you closer to this goal, and what is the feedback from your customers?
comma empowers women by offering daily inspiration through up-to-date designs that fit into their everyday lives and by demonstrating real diversity through showcasing authentic role models. It is a priority for us to use the brand’s reach and community to provide women with wide-ranging support. In Cotton made in Africa, we have found a strong partner that shares these values and helps us to make a difference for the communities at the very start of the value chain. If girls have safe and secure access to education, they can decide and shape their own futures. Our customers see us working to achieve this, and they value that.
SABRINA MÜLLER
Head of Sustainability at S.OLIVER GROUP
“Equal rights are essential for achieving
a sustainable future”