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• Can you confirm whether the facility linked to the allegation is within your supply chain?

Yes, as stated in Open Supply Hub, Malhas GM is our supplier. They supply us with jersey fabrics.

However, as they are a fabric supplier, it is our manufacturing supplier, TexmadeTexteis, Lda., who is in direct contact with them. All communications we have with them go through Texmade-Texteis, Lda.

We reached out to Texmade-Texteis, Lda., to find out more about the allegations. According to them, Malhas GM began having problems after the Covid pandemic as they lost a big client from Germany and a few others. The owner is additionally fighting a difficult illness, and there seems to be no one else who can take over the business.

The latest we know is that the company has gone bankrupt and all employees have been laid off.

• How are you ensuring that your purchasing practices in relation to the closure of the Malhas GM factory and subsequent layoff of 30 workers, linked to reduced buyer orders, meet the standard required to protect workers rights and livelihoods?

Texmade-Texteis, Lda. had informed us that Malhas GM was facing problems, but we were not aware of the full scope of the situation.

Our order volumes with Malhas GM have not decreased; on the contrary, they increased since last year by 113% from 4,07 tons to 8,65 tons. Nevertheless, according to figures shared by Malhas GM to us through Texmade-Texteis, Lda., we are a small customer of Malhas GM: in the financial year 23/24 our fabric purchases accounted for 1,73% of their total production and in 22/23 for 1,08% of their production. Despite this, we regarded Malhas GM as a long-term, reliable supplier delivering consistently throughout the year.

In summary, TOTEME remains a small yet stable customer of Malhas GM and we do not believe that their employees were laid off as a result of our purchasing practices...

• What has been done by the company to investigate this and ensure remedy for workers?

We are currently discussing with Texmade-Texteis, Lda. whether there is anything we can do to support the employees at Malhas GM. So far none of their employees has contacted us via our grievance systems to notify us of any misconduct...

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