Student Reflection on Corporate Sustainability: The case of Outerknown
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For the purpose of this assignment, I’d like to focus on private corporations. From their perspective, sustainable practices within the company can impede profit and reputation. With investors and shareholder being involved, CEOs have a legal binding agreement to make a profit and provide a return on investment. Fortunately, sustainability has become a “trend” and many companies have incorporated it into their products and business plans. The clothing company Outerknown is a great example of how corporations can make sustainability part of their brand identity.
Outerknown is a clothing company co-founded by professional surfer, Kelly Slater, whose mission is to protect the environment and support fair labor through sustainable apparel. A big component to the company’s mission towards sustainability are the materials and sourcing used for their products. A fiber policy and a scorecard based on sustainability and circularity are used to determine what fibers will be utilized for production, with an emphasis on preferred fibers such as hemp and recycled cotton (Outerknown, 2026). Per Hawken (2017), hemp is a “coming attraction” which outproduces cotton or tress by 10 to 100 times as it relates to yielding usable fiber. With not only the environment in mind, but also the people, Outerknown prides itself in following standards of the Fair Labor Association and publicly shares the company’s Fair Compensation Commitment. This maintains transparency between consumers as they not only get the experience the product but also be socially aware of who makes it. As for the farming of their fibers, they work with the farmers to support the implementation of Regenerative Organic CertifiedTM practices (Webb, 2023). Regenerative organic agriculture are practices that focus on regenerating soil health and the full farm ecosystem; these include cover cropping, crop rotation, low- to no-till, compost, and zero use of persistent chemical pesticides and fertilizers (Regenerative Organic Alliance, 2023). Additionally, they have a separate platform called Outerworn in which they resell products to avoid it going into landfills.
A key issue corporations face is short-term vs long term economic outcomes. Sustainable materials and ethical sourcing require a higher upfront cost compared to other brands. From a business standpoint, this discourages the rapid adoption of sustainable practices within their plan. In relation to sourcing, the clothing industry has been known for labor exploitation and unsafe working conditions. When companies prioritize and adopt sustainable practices, these inequities can be reduced. Companies like Outerknown bet on the fact that brand loyalty and resilience outweigh the high upfront costs. By using sustainable materials for their products and transparent sourcing practices, they incorporate sustainability as a marketing strategy. This helps sustainability became more accepted within different cultures while improving labor conditions and reducing environmental degradation in vulnerable areas.
Public perception plays an important role in corporate sustainability. Corporations will avoid adopting sustainable practices if these fall out of the mainstream expectations. Today, consumer awareness about climate change and the impact of the fashion industry has on the environment has made sustainability more mainstream. Those that adopt sustainability early on will present advantages as public perception evolves over time. However, corporate sustainability has ethical implications tied to it. Economic influence has the capacity to shape productions, supply chains, and even consumer behavior. Therefore, continuing unsustainable practices for the sake of profit will generate doubts about accountability. Sustainable solutions are relatively simple, even within the clothing industry. A simple change in material from cotton to hemp can provide drastic changes but remain underused. Companies like Outerknown demonstrate that these barriers can be broken within the private industry.
Outerknown serves as an example of how a business, and consumers can influence sustainability practices. Ultimately, most of the responsibility of addressing climate change falls within corporations. When sustainability is incorporated into business plans it is demonstrated that environmental responsibility and economic success can work simultaneously.
Hawken, P. (Ed.). (2017). Drawdown: The most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming. Penguin Books.
Outerknown. (2026). Outerknown. https://www.outerknown.com/Links to an external site.
Regenerative Organic Alliance. (2023, May 11). Why regenerative organic? https://regenorganic.org/why-regenerative-organic/Links to an external site.
Webb, B. (2023, May 26). A rare glimpse inside Peru’s regenerative organic cotton supply chain. Vogue Business.https://www.voguebusiness.com/sustainability/a-rare-glimpse-inside-perus-regenerative-organic-cotton-supply-chain-outerknown-bergman-riveraLinks to an external site.
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