Sustainability must always rhyme with measurability. This is why there are sustainability reports, which in Italy, however, are not yet a legal requirement. Or at least, the law exists, but it is not always applied in the best way: the European Directive 95 of 2014 was implemented only at the end of 2016 by the European Parliament and the European Council and, in Italy, by a legislative decree, again in 2016, which made this type of budget mandatory. Not for all realities. On paper, all “large companies that are public interest entities and public interest entities that are parent companies of a large group, each having on average more than 500 workers, in the case of a group, to be calculated on a consolidated basis “. Ovs, like many other large Italian companies, has chosen to implement this obligation.
Perhaps we should say then that sustainability rhymes with seriousness: every day more companies, regardless of legal obligations, act by setting themselves objectives of respect for the environment and people in the short, medium and long term and do everything to be able to achieve them. communicate with transparency and reliability. It goes without saying that if these choices are made, by example, by well-known and large companies, the positive impact is twofold. On the one hand they really contribute to making a difference for the territories in which they operate and for the people they work with, on the other hand they increase the awareness of other companies and consumers, creating a virtuous circle that is the only way to make a leap in quality in the way of producing and consuming. The Ovs Sustainability Report 2020 ( just published and available at this link ), lists the results achieved in the year marked by the pandemic, in particular in terms of commitment to the environment and towards a circular fashion. A path that the clothing chain has been pursuing for several years and which has allowed it to obtain numerous awards (in the photo above, the Ovs showroom in via Dante, in Milan, adjacent to the large sales point of the pedestrian artery that leads from Piazza Cordusio to the Castello Sforzesco).
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The partnership with the University of Padua
Among the most important objectives achieved was the launch of the Ecovalore project, created in collaboration with the University of Padua, which he requested three years of work. Inspired by the principle of transparency, a fundamental prerequisite for making any declaration of commitment on environmental sustainability issues credible, the initiative was selected by the Report 2020 Circular Fashion System Commitment , as part of a project involving 86 companies representing 12.5% of the global market in the sector, among the ten most relevant and innovative best practices, thanks to the elaboration and implementation of the circularity index. Ovs was also rated, on the basis of the objectives achieved in 2020, among the top performers in the sector in terms of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) by the most quoted sustainability rating agencies.
The vision of the CEO
Long-term plans and objectives – and related investments – are only possible if there is a commitment from top management, even when the stakeholders include financial and private equity partners. “Ovs’ 2020 sustainability report is a very important document that fully presents our group’s commitment to the environment – explains CEO Stefano Beraldo (pictured below) -. In the knowledge that the fashion industry is highly polluting and that we must adopt careful and correct behavior in favor of future generations. We feel a responsibility to be the market leader and consequently we are aware of the importance and impact of all our actions. Transparency is for us a fundamental value that will guide our choices more and more and will allow informed and conscious decisions for our customers and stakeholders. “
Four strands of investment and commitment
There are four pillars on which the group’s sustainability strategy is based: products and supply chains, customers, people and stores. Each pillar corresponds to specific targets and development plans.