Responsibility is the foundation of Elvang
Our responsibility
Responsibility is both the starting point and the centre of all the decisions we make at Elvang. For us, sustainability is about taking responsibility for the people we work with, about working with qualities and materials that last, and about making choices throughout the process that favour both the environment and animal welfare. We have signed the UN Global Compact initiative, which has corporate social responsibility and sustainable production as core areas, and as one of very few Danish companies, we are also classified at the highest level as a Guaranteed Member of the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO).
Responsibility in practice
We have carefully selected our suppliers to match our commitment to responsible business practices. We have chosen to locate most of our production locally in Peru, where our primary material, alpaca wool, comes from, partly because this allows us to help preserve the tradition of quality craftsmanship that Peruvians have upheld for thousands of years. By using local materials and production facilities, we also contribute to keeping both labour and economy within the local community.
It is central to our choice of production that our partner runs a workplace where employee conditions are the highest priority. That is why, since the company was founded in 2003, we have worked closely with one of Peru's largest weaving mills, where operations are conducted in accordance with a comprehensive CSR programme. Among other things, the weaving mill provides medical care that employees and their families can consult free of charge, employees decide for themselves whether they want to work overtime, and there is no child labour. Salaries are above the country's official minimum wage, employees' children receive free educational assistance, and a CSR manager and a union representative have been appointed. Finally, our subcontractors – Peru's poor alpaca herders – receive free training on how to improve their business and their living conditions in a number of other areas.
Recycled
80% of our products are made from recycled wool sourced from our local supplier in Peru. This means that they are made from wool from other production processes, which would otherwise often be considered waste and therefore discarded. By separating the wool, the original fibres are revealed, and new yarn can be spun and woven into new textiles. In this way, we help to utilise existing resources that, instead of ending up as waste, are given new life with us. In order to reuse the fibres, a few percent of synthetic fibres (polyamide and polyacrylic) are added to the recycled wool. These synthetic fibres bind the short natural fibres, ensuring that the products do not shed and will last for many years.
When recycling wool, it is not possible to have complete control over which fibres are included. Some products contain synthetic fibres, which will naturally also end up in the recycled wool. Therefore, our recycled wool textiles may contain a small percentage of synthetic fibres. However, this is such a small proportion of the total material that it does not alter the properties of the products.
Special projects
Although our primary production country is Peru, opportunities occasionally arise to locate production elsewhere where it makes sense for us to operate because it aligns with our values and DNA. In 2025, we began a collaboration with a weaving mill in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, where unemployment is high and general poverty has grown since Russia's invasion in 2022. Women and their children are particularly vulnerable here, and the local weaving mill we collaborate with creates jobs for women and thus an income for families in this vulnerable area. This collaboration is therefore a natural extension of our responsible practices.
Sustainability
In our overall resource calculation, transport from our production in Peru naturally plays a significant role. We want to avoid air freight as much as possible to minimise our carbon footprint, and our guideline is that at least 90% of our production must be shipped by sea.
Elvang Denmark is one of very few companies in Denmark that has achieved Guaranteed Member status with the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO). This means that we are committed to complying with WFTO's 10 principles for fair trade. This certification guarantees that our entire value chain has been analysed and meets the requirements for fair trade - and this applies to both the company in Denmark and our Peruvian suppliers.
At WFTO, it's not just the products that are certified, but the entire way of doing business. In our case, this means, among other things, that we commit to teaching the local alpaca herders how to optimise and improve their business. A Guaranteed Member certification with WFTO must be renewed every two years, which ensures that the 10 principles are consistently and continuously met:
1. To create opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers
2. Transparency and accountability
3. Responsible business practices
4. Paying a fair price
5. Avoiding child and forced labour
6. Anti-discrimination, equality and freedom of association
7. Healthy and safe working conditions
8. Capacity building
9. Promoting Fair Trade
10. Sustainable environmental management