House of Baukjen Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement

House of Baukjen (trading as Baukjen and Isabella Oliver) publishes this statement in accordance with the spirit and principles of Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and as a matter of good practice and in keeping with our values as a Certified B Corporation. Transparency on labour rights is part of what we stand for and appreciate the value this statement provides to our retail partners and customers. 

We are a family-run fashion business headquartered in Camden, London, designing and selling women’s clothing direct-to-consumer via baukjen.com, isabelloliver.com and through UK wholesale partners including John Lewis, Next and M&S. Our production is placed entirely within Europe – this is a defining feature of our business and a deliberate structural choice to ensure better regulated employment practices. 

We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity across all our business relationships, and to ensuring that modern slavery and human trafficking have no place in our operations or supply chain. 

Our Business and Supply Chain 

House of Baukjen is a single UK-registered entity, founder-led by Baukjen de Swaan Arons and Geoff van Sonsbeeck. 

Our supply chain is 100% European at Tier 1. In 2024, Portugal accounted for approximately 85% of garment manufacturing, and Türkiye approximately 15%. Our Türkiye partners operate on the European side of the country and are long-standing relationships with well-documented, directly managed oversight – they are European supply chain partners in every practical sense. 

At Tier 2 and 3 (fabric mills, dye-houses, component suppliers), an estimated 96% are also European. Three regional sourcing agents – based in Portugal, Türkiye and the UK – support continuous, direct monitoring of supplier conditions. Our supply chain is deliberately short and concentrated, with the majority of our manufacturing partners being family-owned businesses in countries with strong labour regulation, national inspection regimes, and EU or EU-aligned employment law. We regard this European focus as a structural strength in managing labour rights risk. 

Policies 

Our key policies supporting this commitment include: 

Due Diligence and Risk Assessment 

We accept third-party social audits to recognised standards including SA8000, SMETA 4-Pillar, Higg FSLM, and Amfori BSCI. We aim to collect audits from Tier 1 factories on a 2-year cycle in order to maintain standards or monitor improvements, as we believe strongly in working with suppliers for continued progress wherever possible.  

We place significant weight on direct, relationship-based oversight, with our sourcing team visiting supplier sites regularly to ensure visibility that formal audits alone do not. Where audits identify non-conformances accompanied by Corrective Action Plans, we follow up directly with suppliers to support closure. We are actively mapping Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers and have refreshed our Supplier Self-Assessment Questionnaire to strengthen data gathering. 

We assess modern slavery risk across our supply chain by geography, tier visibility, and operation type. We aim to reduce risk by sourcing from origins with more stringent regulatory frameworks and working with long-standing partners who directly manage operations to reduce risks typical to the region.  

Where visibility and regulation are lower, sites are prioritised for supply chain mapping and social audit. We mitigate inherent social risks in certain fibres by sourcing only through certified supply chains (GOTS, GRS, Regenagri and equivalent) that include social criteria, and by avoiding sourcing from regions with known high-risk human rights violations. 

Training and Awareness  

Awareness of ethical trading obligations is embedded in our business. Our sourcing and product development teams are informed on labour rights risks as part of their ongoing supplier management responsibilities. Our three regional sourcing agents maintain continuous, direct relationships with manufacturing partners and are trained to identify and escalate potential compliance concerns. 

Our B Corp certification – including our 2024 recertification at a score of 153.6, placing us second among fashion B Corps in the UK – requires rigorous assessment of worker-related practices, driving ongoing accountability at leadership level. We will develop more structured modern slavery awareness training for relevant staff as the business grows. 

Looking Ahead 

Our priorities for the coming year include: 

Approved by the Board of Directors of House of Baukjen 

Financial year ending 31 December 2025. Published: July 2025. Next review: June 2026.