From Loom to Law: The Supply Chain Shake-Up Transforming the Textile Industry
Q&A with Antje von Dewitz, CEO of Vaude (Part 3)
In this third interview of our series on human rights and business, we explore how VAUDE, a medium sized German outdoor clothing company, has become a sustainability pioneer, setting industry standards and serving as a model for others. The first interview with Caroline Rees examined the origin of the UN Guiding Principles, while the second interview with Markus Löning highlighted the political tensions surrounding global supply chains.
Founded in 1974 near Lake Constance by Albrecht von Dewitz, VAUDE was handed over to his daughter Antje von Dewitz in 2009. Like Patagonia, VAUDE combines roots in mountaineering with a long – standing commitment to ecological and social responsibility. Under Antje’s leadership, sustainability is embedded across the company – from product development to brand strategy. Products and supply chains are designed holistically according to ecological and fair principles.
In 2015, VAUDE launched "Environmental Stewardship in the Supply Chain," supported by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Investment and Development Corporation (DEG) through the “develoPPP.de” program. Over two years, Asian suppliers received intensive training in environmental, chemical, and occupational safety management, as well as social standards.
VAUDE also extends product life through initiatives like the Vaude Second Use webshop, the outdoor equipment rental service “Vaude Rent,” and collaborations with repair platform iFixit. Through these innovations, VAUDE demonstrates that responsible, sustainable business practices can coexist with global competitiveness, offering a replicable model for companies worldwide.
Matthias Bosch: When and why did you, as an entrepreneur from the textile industry that started with rucksacks, become interested in sustainability?
Antje von Dewitz: The company was founded 50 years ago by my father. I'm the second generation. My career path is characterized by the fact that before I joined the company, I kept my studies broad because I always toyed with the idea of going to an NGO, for example Greenpeace, or a human rights organization. During my studies, I participated in many internships in these areas, and my last internship was with my father in the company. I was impressed because for the first time I formed this realization: "Wow, if you want to change something, then how do you do so as an entrepreneur!" Because there you really have all the levers directly in your hands for implementation in so many different areas – whether in the company, in processes, in products, in the supply chain, or indeed in society.
I was thrilled to discover that Vaude already had really demanding projects in this regard. In 1994, VAUDE launched the Ecolog recycling network, which made it possible to fully recycle outdoor apparel in collaboration with industrial partners. However, the time wasn’t quite right – very few products were returned, so the system never really took off and is no longer in operation today. Still, it was a remarkable pioneering effort, and we are now working on cross – industry solutions to advance textile recycling.
Bosch: What changed when you took over management?
Von Dewitz: When I became the CEO in 2009, we looked at our path so far and our ecological roots. For me, that was a fundamental requirement. If I want to be active as an entrepreneur, I want to live up to my sense of responsibility and actively tackle the problems that this industry causes. So, we took a closer look at how we had proceeded at Vaude so far and realized that sustainability doesn't work as a project – based approach. It created significant costs and effort, frustrated employees, and ultimately had no real impact on people, nature, the brand, or its products. So, in 2009, together with my management team, we made the decision to embark on a consistent path of transformation. Ever since we have approached sustainability not as isolated projects, but as a system – oriented strategy. We analyzed the following: Where do we have responsibility? What leverage do we have? What risks do we have? From there, we tackled the issues in a very focused and systematic way.
Bosch: Did you already have a very complex supply chain back then? You advertise with "Made in Germany;" yet much is still manufactured by you in the Lake Constance area, so one doesn't immediately see the global supply chain.
Von Dewitz: We only advertise "Made in Germany" for products that are actually manufactured in Germany – that's about 8% of our products. We have our own production facility for bags and certain rucksacks – primarily bike bags – at our headquarters, where these products are fully manufactured including high – frequency welding and sewing. In 2009, when I took over management, our turnover was 50 million euros. At that time, we had a supply chain of 65 production partners in Asia and about 150 material suppliers. That's a high level of complexity for a small family business operating in a global market. And it’s not a niche market – it’s a highly competitive global market, largely dominated by major American brands.
Bosch: Speaking of American clothing brands, we immediately think of Patagonia, which grew up in a similar environment, started a bit before you, but is also a family business. Patagonia places great emphasis on corporate responsibility, both in the ecological and social spheres, quite unlike other US companies. Now I see that responsibility also plays a central role at Vaude. Can you tell us how you see and fulfill corporate social responsibility?
Von Dewitz: My approach to responsibility is primarily guided by common sense, which means: The problems I cause, I must also solve. Unfortunately, the textile industry is one of the three major risk industries. The textile industry shares responsibility for enormous water consumption and for the destruction of habitat through pollutants. According to Greenpeace, the textile industry uses around 3,500 toxic, carcinogenic pollutants and about 10% of CO2 emissions are attributable to the textile industry, microplastics, precarious working conditions, etc.
I see my task as an entrepreneur clearly in knowing the effects of my economic activity and ensuring that my footprint is as small as possible, and that I create quality of life – and I don't actually see that as special. I don't even see it as moral or ethical. I see it really as common sense. What I destroy, where I create problems, I must fix those – that's basically the foundation. I see it really quite simply. In kindergarten, you get punished if you hit other people on the head – and you have to stop it. That's how straightforward I see responsibility.
And I find it rather odd, given the global challenges we all face, that this is still seen as so revolutionary when an entrepreneur speaks like this. Who should clean it up if not the companies that cause environmental destruction and exploit people?
Bosch: In my previous interview, I went into Rana Plaza in quite some detail – the tragedy in a clothing factory in Bangladesh. You're familiar with it because you also have production in the region. What did you learn from it? What should be different in your workshops or what perhaps was already different?
Von Dewitz: Something like Rana Plaza is hardly imaginable in the outdoor industry because high – quality textiles are used, and above all technologies and machines are employed that require certain technical expertise. Child labour is also really the absolute exception in this area. But for us, it was clear from the beginning that we must ensure high social standards in our global production, and I have always been driven by the conviction that we need to make sure that everything is done correctly wherever we operate as a company. We align ourselves with the highest standards that exist. And if they don't exist, then we work on creating new standards ourselves. But in the social sector, the textile industry is now quite well positioned. There's the Fair Wear Foundation, for example. That's an independent multi – stakeholder initiative. It's not an industry standard, so not the industry is controlling itself, which would be easy. It's a multi – stakeholder initiative that includes trade unions, NGOs, etc.
And this approach allows us, within 2 to 3 years, to comprehensively audit all our production sites – including upstream suppliers first establishing transparency through external audits and due diligence. Then complaint mechanisms were set up across all sites, so that people in the production facilities sites are aware of their rights. And if issues don’t come up in the audit, they can report them anonymously by telephone directly to Fair Wear contacts in the local language.
Bosch: You were already years ahead of the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act with that.
Von Dewitz: Yes and connected to that is the fact that we are audited and rated once a year. Our processes and our collaboration with the manufacturer are closely examined. Plans are created from each audit showing: Where are violations? Of what nature are they? What must be stopped immediately? What needs to be worked on? And we have to demonstrate annually: First, that we are aware of the issues, and second, that we work together with the production sites to address them, specifically by recognising our own responsibility each time and also making our own contribution.
Bosch: Can you provide an example at Vaude?
Von Dewitz: I'll give you an example: In our industry, excessive overtime is quite common. That's a typical issue of the outdoor sector because we don't have 50 seasons or 24 collections like fast fashion, but only two: summer and winter. That means two peaks in production and therefore the risk of excessive overtime. And that's a good example of how we as clients contribute to ensure that production sites are utilized year – round and don't get into these peaks at all. That means we must continuously question ourselves, create solutions ourselves to eliminate grievances, while Fair Wear provides an assessment to support this process.
Bosch: When was your last rating?
Von Dewitz: We just had a rating again and were able to achieve leader status once more with over 80 points. And when you achieve leader status, you're allowed to communicate it on your products. So, this is based on a continuous improvement process and on a partnership – based relationship with suppliers, where both sides are on equal footing. The difference is that it’s not about “Show us this and that" and then you get a certificate, which can tempt people to forge documents if it's just somehow a certificate. The rating is based on due diligence processes and genuine collaboration between the client and the supplier.
Bosch: Those are also some of the criticisms of the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act. This law has been in force in Germany since 2023 and was tightened again at the beginning of 2024 by lowering the threshold for affected companies from 3,000 to 1,000 employees. Thus, even more companies are directly affected by the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, and additionally by the European Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). And now I hear from you that Vaude has been on the right path for a very long time and actually exceeds the standards. Can you still give me one or two points of criticism about these laws?
Von Dewitz: I'm a strong supporter of the supply chain law. Because the prerequisites for everything we do as a company are risk analyses. So, the required data collection is the basis for improvement processes. To break it down: data collection is only the first step; what really matters are the actions that follow. I have to go deep into complex supply chains. The Fair Wear approach, however, has now been incorporated into the law: Not every detail has to be audited comprehensively anymore, instead, as a company I must identify the focal points myself through risk analysis and intervene where it is justified. That's basically what the supply chain law demands.
Bosch: Recently there has been increasing criticism from the political side and from industry associations saying that bureaucracy destroys jobs. They argue that we're no longer competitive and the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act has to go. How does that fit together? You show that one can successfully meet the standards and be a successful company. Is there a contradiction there? How can we address this in the political debate?
Von Dewitz: Of course, there's a big contradiction. It also costs us a lot of money and significant effort; we have to perform a huge pioneering balancing act to keep our prices competitive. After all, we’re not selling our outdoor products in sustainable retail stores – we're in the market competing with all other brands, no matter how sustainable they may be. So, if I look at this purely from the perspective of financial key figures, then I conclude: This is effort, possibly also bureaucracy – and ultimately something that could be dropped.
Bosch: The argument of the bureaucracy monster is heard again and again.
Von Dewitz: Well, from that perspective I'm totally on board, but from the other side – if I had to set up financial accounting from the start in a company, I would probably come to the same conclusion. Wow, that's overwhelming. The effort is enormous, and much of the bureaucracy can be cut. It doesn't directly add value or help me to earn more money.
So why do I still support the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act and its issues? You can justify it from a responsibility – ethics perspective, but I also see it as common sense. Moreover, in the clothing industry, we deal directly with consumers who today assume that we already have supply chains issues under control. Consumer awareness is constantly increasing.
Bosch: How can you demonstrate that?
Von Dewitz: About 70% of the value chain for clothing production is in Asia. Yet many companies claim they can’t manage it they lack transparency in their supply chains. From my perspective that's a major entrepreneurial risk – not having insight into uncertain supply chains. In my eyes it's a quality risk and one that is increasingly determined from the consumer perspective, not just from the product side – not only how the product functions, but how is it made!
Consumers expect products, to be functional, durable, be produced fairly and without harmful substances. And if a company says that's too much for me, I can't manage that, then that's a risk for the company’s future viability. So, building up supply chain competence is essential and developing it takes real effort: expertise, management skills, and practical know – how.
Bosch: What would you wish for in order to improve acceptance of sustainability issues at the European level, especially in light of the Trump administration and the concern that all efforts for climate and human rights will be reversed again? What would need to be changed so that we continue to be a role model in Europe and perhaps also take the Americans and international companies along? What would you wish from your entrepreneur colleagues?
Von Dewitz: That they get out of complaining – that's really harmful. This negative mood completely misses the reality of consumers who are afraid of climate change, who are afraid of environmental destruction, who are afraid of all sorts of things. So, we need companies that create solutions and look positively and optimistically to the future and act proactively, instead of always hiding behind politics.
I really wish companies would take on this pioneering role that also creates positive psychology among consumers. What we're experiencing in Germany right now is that entrepreneurs contribute to building a negative spiral that affects the consumer sentiment. So, I wish that many companies would work on this, adjust to it, create solutions and build up expertise.
I would also wish that they become more aware of their responsibility. When entrepreneurs get agitated, then consumers and citizens also feel unsettled, hold back their money and retreat inward. A big problem here is social media, which amplifies this mood on one side and spreads it further by influencers.
Bosch: You're already a lighthouse in the clothing industry area. Do you find allies in the industry who recognize Vaude's pioneering role, or are you going it alone?
Von Dewitz: We definitely have allies – collaboration is a key driver of progress for us. Within the European Outdoor Group, for example, we are working together with other companies on ambitious projects such as the Decarbonization Project to reduce emissions in supply chains. Through Fair Wear, we also join forces to strengthen social standards and improve working conditions. These kinds of alliances show how powerful it can be when competitors share knowledge and align their efforts. By coordinating at shared production sites, for instance, we can jointly support producers implementing energy – saving measures and switching to regenerative energy sources. In this way, we are making real progress in driving change – together with strong allies.
Bosch: In the new European regulation, the standards have been tightened, and Vaude seems to far exceed these, also because you have allies. Europe is going in the right direction. What would you wish for the political path in Europe? Especially in light of the Trump administration and the rollback of climate protection efforts?
Von Dewitz: I think that's a right first step because the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act ensures that the companies it applies to, build the foundation. But what we really require is planning security that the introduced law remains, and that industry receives stronger support, for example, in reducing bureaucracy.
Bureaucracy is largely about data collection. That's necessary, but you can also simplify it by creating common platforms, introducing software, and supporting companies in mastering this complexity. That's where the focus should lie, not on abolishing laws.
It’s not just about "ticking the boxes", it’s about becoming active, because there's also incredible innovative power in these topics. We work very closely with our supply chain and have made many changes in our product and company development that make us resilient. We have successful, good cooperation and new solution approaches, whether in materials or production methods. There is a huge opportunity and innovative power in that.
I can't create this just with the law. That's the foundation. Then it's about going beyond that, and there I think it's also about showing best practice. How does that work? What benefit can I draw from it as a company? That's where the focus should be; I think that's absolutely important. Currently, everyone feels overwhelmed, which I can understand. It is challenging when you’ve never done something like this and then you are supposed to introduce it. Then so many laws come into effect. From an entrepreneurial perspective, one regulation after another comes, and correspondingly the outrage is high.
Bosch: What concrete things would you do differently?
Von Dewitz: What would I do completely differently from a political perspective? I would set far more incentives. I would really push hard for public procurement to be much more aligned with sustainable standards. That's legally possible but far too little done. Currently, mostly with price counts.
I would like to see real incentives, for example through Value Added Tax (VAT) reductions for sustainable labels or for products and methods that demonstrably promote the circular economy This would help companies to understand, also from a business perspective, why they should invest in sustainability.
Bosch: As an entrepreneur with many employees and a very specific image in the market, do people apply to you because of this or is it more about location, pay, and career opportunities?
Von Dewitz: Yes, of course. We're a medium – sized company here in the Lake Constance area. There's automotive and pharmaceutical industry here, which often offers higher salaries and shorter working hours. There's full employment here, and except from very few cases, we have no problems finding great, highly qualified people. Yes, we still get stacks of speculative applications even in the economic crisis. We have an incredibly high energy level here. People are highly motivated. The more satisfied the employees, the healthier the company is – with low fluctuation and with fewer issues that in turn cost a lot of money.
Bosch: We've seen studies at Harvard showing that a company's social impact engagement can have a very positive long – term effect on a company's earnings. Because the effort that one must financially undertake on one side is offset by this aspect in the HR area. Employees are more motivated, more satisfied, and can also identify better with the company.
Von Dewitz: That's true and it’s exactly what we experience. A sustainable business, especially as a pioneer, brings additional advantages. We're engaged in about 30 innovation projects worldwide focused on creating recycled or organic – based materials and we are still achieving new innovations.
For example, we cooperate with BASF and make functional clothing material from old tires. We also cooperate with UPM, a Finnish chemical company, to develop fleece jackets based on wood residues. We cooperate with research institutions related to our supply chain. Our revenue has grown from 50 million to 130 million euros, yet in the textile industry we're still a medium – sized player. We're a Swabian family company with a strong drive for innovation. We're highly sought after by innovation partners, which makes it easy for us to win and maintain partnerships. That keeps our resilience very high. From my perspective, the political frameworks need to change to make the big picture feasible. There’s still a major balancing act to accommodate these high additional costs.
About the Author:
Dr. Matthias Bosch is a founding partner of the intellectual property law firm Bosch Jehle in Munich, specializing in patent litigation and portfolio management in the tech industry. He holds a mechanical engineering degree from TU Munich and a Ph.D. in patent law from LMU – Munich/Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition. After retiring from his law practice in 2020, Matthias pursued nonprofit leadership. He served as Executive Coordinator and Board Member at Global Dignity Inc. from 2021 to 2023. As a 2023 Fellow of Harvard's Advanced Leadership Initiative, he explored human rights in supply chains, sustainable investing, philanthropy, and family enterprises, laying the groundwork for his new venture, Bosch Global Advisors.
This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.