This is not a box ticking exercise. This is not a generic corporate responsibility statement. We want to be kinder.
We started FRAHM to make our lives better (simpler, kinder, more creative, more interesting) and feel good about what we do. Going to bed at night thinking you’re a decent human being, being able to look people in the eye and yes, we are a business but at least we’re trying our best. We hope we’re doing ok.
MENTAL HEALTH
Nick, who founded FRAHM, designs the jackets and answers all your queries had a mental breakdown in 2017. He is honest and open about this.
When he recovered he decided we must help people’s mental health, not make it worse. He saw how toxic brands can be to our mental health and decided not to be part of that - see Toxic Marketing.
FRAHM often talks about mental health honestly. We want to show and remind that reality isn’t perfect over here or anywhere else, yet somehow with this honestly, life seems more wonderful. This is also why we give £10 from every jacket sold to mental health charities.
TOXIC MARKETING
We do not engage in made up lifestyle marketing, that makes people sad and ill, causing us to think we’re less than we really are and selling us stuff we don’t need
We don’t want to make life look pants, because it isn’t. It is truly beautiful. But reality is better because it’s all that matters. We only do ‘real’.
All our models are local men we know. They are business owners, dads, artists and tradesmen. They’re imperfect and better for it.
TRANSPARENCY
What you see is what you get. We tell our business story and describe our products as they are.
We won’t bullshit about what a jacket can and can’t do. Life is easier when you have faith in what you’re doing, and just say it as it is, without adornment.
But we’ll still use pretty images and nice words.
THE SUPPLY CHAIN
We know everyone we buy from. We have visited their premises and met the owners of all but our smallest suppliers. Good people doing the right thing.
We have a symbiotic relationship with our small factory in Sofia, Bulgaria, owned by Eva, with her 25 staff. We chose her business because her quality is (in our opinion) unmatched. She helps us and we help her. We know the staff and know they’re treated well. It is a family business like ours.
We’re not chasing margin and the last penny. This stuff matters to us personally, not just a nice generic corporate responsibility statement.
We try and use natural, biodegradable materials wherever possible. If we use synthetics, we use the minimum for them to produce the quality and longevity that is the cornerstone to what we do.
There is one caveat:
Quality. We will not compromise on our fundamental first principles of making the best, longest lasting jacket we can. That policy has the greatest, widest ranging effects. If there is a better material or trim in Italy rather than the UK, we will choose the Italian one.
LOCAL
We try and support local businesses where we can. We have created a network of mutual support in Somerset and the South West. It’s great to be a functioning, helpful part of a community.
PACKAGING
This is the area we have most to do in. We use recycled and recyclable cardboard packaging. But we do use plastic bags inside. We are researching alternatives - we can always do better.
LONGEVITY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Clothes should be built to last. Everyone buying fewer jackets overall is our aim. Everything we make must last for years. This policy has the least negative environmental impact.
We’re not cheap. We know that. Longevity through quality, better sourcing and design comes at a price.
We feel seeking the best quality is a moral necessity. We don’t engage in Fast Fashion and we think it’s wrong. The discarding of clothing, the fast wear and tear of sub-standard goods causes the greatest damage in fashion and apparel industries.
LIFETIME FAULT GUARANTEE
We at FRAHM don’t guarantee our jackets against everything, because we don’t know if you’re using it for archery practice or boil washing it in acid.
But we do guarantee it against something that’s our fault. For life. That seems fair.
We enjoy the symbiotic peer-level relationship we have with our customers. You help us, we help you.
Most of the jackets we sell are paid for in advance. We take your money straight away and use it to buy our goods.
We feel we owe you something for that privilege, so we give you a 20% discount in return. You can of course change your mind.
SAME PRICE ALL YEAR
It’s maddening when the jacket you got 3 days ago is now £200 cheaper.
The worst part is that jacket was made to be £200 cheaper all along, because most of the clothing industry is now built on discounted sales periods, so quality is adjusted downwards.
We don’t do sales. You can buy a FRAHM jacket in March and know it’ll be the same price in July or January.
If we sell a £395 coat, we made a £395 coat. Not a £199.99 coat with an inflated price that has enough margin built into it to take heavy discounting.
NO INVESTORS = SMALL
We are self-funding and deliberately small. We don't answer to the pressures of quarterly results and 5-year investment return strategies.
FRAHM is solely owned by Nick & Jason, two childhood friends. We have no plans to sell it or take corporate investment. There is no exit strategy.
This means we can sell small parcels of a limited range, with the level or ethics and morality we set. Keeping it small is good for us and for you.
NO DICKHEADS
The great advantage of running your own business is you don’t have to and we won’t work with dickheads. We only want to build FRAHM with decent, kind folk.
We put our money into the hands of people we know and like, who treat others well, that it is a pleasure working with. We would rather spend more time and money avoiding rude, dishonest, immoral people and corporations.
We’ve closed accounts because of this. We sleep better at night. We have more fun.
MUST DO BETTER
We’re not perfect. We never will be. But we must try. Always improving.
