As a certified B Corporation™, the global casual lifestyle brand Marc O’Polo, with around 2,200 employees, is one of the few fashion companies of its size in the world to have received this demanding certification – and is thus setting a clear example within the fashion industry.
The premium fashion brand is now part of the international B Corp ™ community, a movement of companies that are leading the change in the global economic system and meeting high standards in the areas of ecological and social responsibility, transparency and corporate governance. Marc O’Polo is committed to systematically aligning economic decisions with their impact on the environment and society – far beyond individual sustainability initiatives.
“The renowned B Corp™ certification makes it visible and measurable that responsibility and economic success must be thought of together. We see this certification as a clear signal – and an invitation to our industry to think about corporate responsibility holistically,” says Maximilian Böck, CEO Marc O’Polo.
The independent B Corp™ certification is considered one of the world’s most demanding, holistic assessments of corporate responsibility. It examines the overall impact of the company based on five areas and a total of over 200 questions on governance, the treatment of employees, people in the value chain and customers and even the environment. The requirements are correspondingly high – and this is precisely where their relevance lies for Marc O’Polo.
As a family-run company, Marc O’Polo has pursued a long-term approach since 1967: investments in long-lasting products, responsibly selected materials, humane working conditions and cooperative supply chains have been and are being continuously expanded. “We have always remained true to our philosophy, never seeing ecological and social responsibility as a fad, but rather lived and made decisions accordingly,” explains Supervisory Board Chairman Werner Böck.
Marc O’Polo’s entrepreneurial focus on responsibility is also reflected in product development. “For our customers, B Corp™ certification means, above all, trust,” says Susanne Schwenger, CPO at Marc O’Polo. “You can rest assured that design, material selection, durability and manufacturing processes are considered holistically. We also address often overlooked social and environmental issues in all decisions to have a positive impact on people, communities and the planet.”
For Marc O’Polo, the certification does not mark an end point, but rather a milestone within the long-term sustainability strategy 2030+. The premium casual lifestyle brand sees B Corp™ certification as a benchmark against which decisions and developments are regularly reviewed – with the clear aim of consistently continuing on this path and also actively tackling recertification according to the new EmpCo-compliant B Corp™ standard. “We don’t follow trends,” concludes Maximilian Böck. “We take responsibility – yesterday, today and in the future.”
