2023, a year in review
THE ICONIC continued its commitment to Sustainability, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, with a Responsible Workplace focus throughout 2023, through the implementation of our People & Planet Positive Strategy. We recognise the responsibility we have to our people, as we create an inclusive workplace where everyone can feel like they belong, and are cared for; and to the planet, as we continue to mitigate our impacts.
As Australia and New Zealand’s leading online fashion and lifestyle retailer, we are acutely aware of the urgent responsibility that our industry has to better manage its social and environmental impacts, and to look after its people.
Collectively, it's a huge job – and we're here for it.
At THE ICONIC, sustainability isn’t optional. And diversity, inclusion and belonging isn’t a tick box exercise. Our agenda is driven by the moral imperative we have as humans and as a company to create genuine lasting change for the better of our people, our communities and our planet.
We are putting people first by ensuring health, safety and wellbeing across our workplaces and entire supply chain, and creating opportunities for a diverse and inclusive workplace.
We are using cleaner energy, exploring low-carbon logistics, and looking at how we can build circularity into the ways that we design, produce, reuse and recycle fashion items and the packaging they come in.
We are making more thoughtful choices about our assortment, through Considered, inviting you to also think differently about the impacts of your purchases, including how and with what they’re made.
We’ll always strive to do better than yesterday because true self-expression shouldn’t come at a cost to people or the planet.
Our progress won’t always be perfect, but our commitment is unwavering and backed by our people – those at the heart of THE ICONIC.
We are creating a better way to shop.
We are THE ICONIC.
We believe thoughtful changes lead to big change, and here’s where we’re working to make those changes.
Our strategy has been collaboratively developed by our internal teams through cross-functional workshops, and aligns with our Group’s commitments.
We hope that through our own movement we will inspire other businesses to recognise their part in driving collective, actionable change. We know we have work to do; and although we have made great progress on our journey to date, there are many more opportunities for us to continue to create meaningful, positive change.
Responsible Workplace
Create a workplace where everyone is free from harm, and where the environment enriches their work and allows them to be their best self.
READ MOREDiversity, Inclusion & Belonging
Empower true self expression with respect and dignity for all.
READ MORECircularity & Conscious Consumption
Develop and help accelerate circular systems across ANZ's fashion and lifestyle ecosystem.
READ MOREFair & Ethical Sourcing
Ensure the dignity and empowerment of all those who make our products.
READ MOREClimate Action
Mitigate our climate impacts, conserve natural resources and succeed in a low carbon world.
READ MOREWe know that the world of sustainability can be confusing, which is why we’ve created this handy glossary to help you understand exactly what different acronyms and sustainability terms mean as you read through our People & Planet Positive strategy.
Carbon footprint A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organisation, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
Chain of Custody The chronological documentation or paper trail that records the sequence of custody, control, transfer, analysis, and disposition of materials, including physical or electronic evidence.
Circular Design Incorporates the principles of the circular economy, incorporating features into products and services that will eliminate waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use and regenerate natural systems. (Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation: “Circular Design”
Circular Fashion A step away from the current take-make-waste model, towards a system in which fashion products are used more, made to be made again and made from safe and recycled or renewable inputs. (Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation: “Vision of a Circular Economy for Fashion.”
Closing the Loop At the end of a product’s useful life, it can be remanufactured into a new product, reused for a different function or recycled in order to salvage materials. The aim is to eliminate waste.
CO2e Carbon dioxide equivalent, is the universal unit of measurement to indicate the global warming potential (GWP) of each of the six greenhouse gases, expressed in terms of the GWP of one unit of carbon dioxide. It is commonly used to express and measure the carbon footprint of an individual, event, organisation, service, place or product.
FNFD FNFD stands for First Nations Fashion + Design. It’s an NFP Indigenous Corporation whose core business is in supporting the growth of Indigenous Fashion. THE ICONIC has been partnering with FNFD since 2022.
GHG Greenhouse gases (also known as GHGs) are gases in the earth's atmosphere that trap heat. Greenhouse gases absorb this infrared radiation and trap its heat in the atmosphere, creating a greenhouse effect. Some gases occur naturally and are also produced by human activities. The GHG Protocol has identified GHGs as the six gases listed in the Kyoto Protocol: carbon dioxide (CO2); methane (CH4); nitrous oxide (N2O); hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs); perfluorocarbons (PFCs); and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
Grievance Mechanism A grievance mechanism is a formal and usually anonymous complaint process that workers can use to raise concerns about negative impacts they may have suffered in their workplace.
Last-mile THE ICONIC defines last-mile as the last leg of the delivery journey, from the last processing point before final delivery to the customer.
Leather Tanning Tanning is the process of converting animal skin into leather, whereby the protein structure of animal skin is permanently altered and treated to increase durability and avoid decomposition and discoloration. This process is traditionally extremely water intensive and involves the use of chemicals. In more recent years new technologies have been developed that are less reliant on chemical usage such as vegetable tanning.
NMV Net Merchandise Value (NMV) is defined as the value of goods (within both retail and marketplace) sold after actual and provisioned returns and rejections. Net of taxes (ie VAT or GST).
Own Brand Suppliers Direct suppliers and factories manufacturing THE ICONIC’s Own Brand products which include the following Brands: AERE, Atmos&Here, Commune, Dazie, Double Oak Mills, Endless, Everloom, Lover, Minima Esenciales, MOOD.DNM, SPURR, Staple Superior.
Preferred Materials Materials that have been shown to have lower environmental impact compared to their respective traditional alternative according THE ICONIC’s Preferred Materials Benchmark.
Pre-Loved At THE ICONIC, to qualify as pre-loved, an item needs to have been previously owned, worn or used by at least one other person. Our Pre-Loved Edit may include items that have been: bought, but never worn; bought and worn once, or many times; rented and worn once, or many times.
RAP A Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) is a strategic document that sets out how an organisation is committing to contribute to reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. There are four RAP types – Reflect, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate – which allow organisations to continuously and progressively develop their reconciliation commitments.
Renewable energy Renewable energy comes from natural sources or processes that are constantly replenished. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, and geothermal heat. The difference between renewable and non-renewable energy is that renewable resources can naturally replenish themselves while non-renewable resources cannot. This means that non-renewable resources are limited in supply and cannot be used sustainably.
SBTi The Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a partnership between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). SBTi supports companies to determine their carbon reduction targets in accordance with the latest climate science and the goal of the Paris Agreement to keep global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels to avoid irreversible effects of climate change.
SBT Science Based Targets are emissions reduction targets approved by the Science-Based Targets initiative. Targets are considered ‘science-based’ if they are in line with what the latest climate science deems necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Scope 1 emissions Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from owned or controlled sources (i.e. fuels consumed by in-house machinery or company vehicles). GHG Protocol.
Scope 2 emissions Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy used in directly operated sites. GHG Protocol.
Scope 3 emissions Scope 3 emissions are all indirect emissions (not included in scope 2) that occur in the value chain of the reporting company, including both upstream and downstream emissions (i.e. transportation and distribution, purchased goods and services, use and end-of-life of sold products, etc.). GHG Protocol.
Supply chain A supply chain is the network of all the individuals, organisations, resources, activities and technology involved in the creation and sale of a product. For THE ICONIC Own Brand products, our upstream supply chain is divided in five Tiers that cover all the production process from raw materials processing (Tier 5) through to final stage manufacturing (Tier 1).
Sustainability In 1987, the United Nations Brundtland Commission defined sustainability, and more broadly sustainable development, as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Your go-to for all THE ICONIC’s key documents, targets and policies.
GFG People & Planet Positive - 2023 Sustainability Report
THE ICONIC Supplier & Vendor Code of Conduct
THE ICONIC Responsible Purchasing Policy
THE ICONIC Restricted Substances List
THE ICONIC Animal Welfare Policy
THE ICONIC 2023 Modern Slavery Statement