Hugo Boss announces charitable foundation with environmental focus

German fashion giant Hugo Boss AG has set up a charitable foundation that will focus on environmental protection. The Hugo Boss Stiftung gGmbH will begin its work as a full subsidiary of the Hugo Boss AG on 1st January 2023.

The foundation is intended to enable the company to expand its existing charitable commitment in the areas of education, equal opportunities and emergency relief to new partners and to focus on climate and environmental protection.

The new foundation will support local, regional and global projects, for example in the areas of flood prevention, climate innovation and education, as well as in the fight against plastic pollution. The company uses the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as guidelines.

“Corporate citizenship is an integral part of our company culture. Our new Hugo Boss foundation will enable us to take our actions to the next level. To be bold for the planet is an important and exciting purpose. We want to fulfil this by supporting change-making initiatives around the world,” confirmed Daniel Grieder, CEO of Hugo Boss AG, in a statement.

Foundation funded by consumer spending

The main income stream of the foundation will be the company’s new “Every Purchase Counts” initiative, which is also effective from 1st January 2023. From this date onwards, Hugo Boss will make a donation of 5 cents for each own product (excluding licensed products) sold offline and online worldwide.

“[This means] that every Boss and Hugo customer will play a part in supporting the work of the foundation,” explained the company. Additional funding will come from potential donations from partners, and voluntary employee donations.

Just a few weeks ago, the Group announced a new structure for its sustainability management that better supports the implementation of the Claim 5 strategy. Accordingly, strategic responsibility now lies with Dorothee Niebergall, senior vice president group strategy & corporate development, operational responsibility along the supply chain with Ivica Maric, senior vice president business operations, and responsibility for sustainability reporting with Christian Stöhr, vice president investor relations.

In April, Hugo Boss announced the start of its resale platform, Hugo Boss Pre-loved, which commenced in France and is expected to come to Germany, the US and UK in 2025. After strong growth in the third quarter, Hugo Boss also raised its full year guidance.

A bit over a year ago, in November 2021, Hugo Boss obtained a revolving 600 million euro syndicated loan with a sustainability component whose interest rate is linked to the fulfilment of defined sustainability criteria.