What “doing the right thing” looks like when you make fewer, better things.

By: Lea Poulos, Social Media Intern

When I started my internship at Birdsong, I assumed sustainability in fashion was mostly about big pledges and bigger numbers. Four weeks in, I’ve learned it’s also about small, specific choices: who makes a piece, how they’re paid, and how long it stays in your wardrobe.

That’s been on my mind recently because I’ve been reading about how larger retailers approach the same questions. Marks & Spencer’s sustainability programme, Plan A, is a good example. Its latest ESG report, published in June 2026, launches “Plan A 2030”, built around three campaigns: Another Life (circular fashion), Farming, and Brighter Futures.

Making clothes last

Another Life is M&S’s push towards a more circular fashion system, with a goal of giving 5 million items a second life by 2030. It rests on four ideas: rewear, repair, resale and recycle. The report notes that since 2008, customers have passed on more than 38 million M&S garments through in-store Another Life boxes, raising an estimated £24m for Oxfam. It also highlights a repair service with SOJO, with repairs starting from £7.50.

One statistic stopped me. According to WRAP, which the report cites, there are 1.6 billion items of clothing sitting unworn in UK wardrobes, around 31 items per person.

This is where Birdsong’s way of working feels natural to me. We make in small batches, with premium, ethically sourced materials, so each piece is designed to be worn and re-worn season after season. Making fewer things, better, is circularity’s first step.

Paying people properly

Plan A also puts weight on the people behind the product, with a human rights programme that includes worker voice and ethical sourcing. At Birdsong, this principle is simple and close to home. We commit to paying the London Living Wage, and every piece is customised by Mona at Bow Sewing Centre in East London. When you buy Birdsong, you know exactly who made it.

Skills, not just clothes

The part of Plan A that surprised me most was Brighter Futures, M&S’s ambition to help 1 million people realise their potential by investing in young people. Its Marks & Start programme supported 608 young people last year, and the retailer says it has enabled over 14,000 work experience opportunities since 2004.

That resonates with another cause close to Birdsong: Brixton Finishing School, a charity offering free pathways into the creative and marketing industries for young people who are often locked out of them. Its eight-week Summer School paired masterclasses and mentoring with practical skills, and three in five 2025 participants went on to employment. Sewing, repair and upcycling are exactly the sort of hands-on skills that build both confidence and careers.

Why this matters to us

Programmes like Plan A show what’s possible when a business treats sustainability as part of how it operates, not an add-on. Birdsong is a small brand, and we don’t pretend to have M&S’s scale. But we do believe small and large can learn from each other: the care, craft and storytelling of a small-batch maker, alongside the reach and resources of a major retailer.

That’s why we’re actively exploring partnerships with brands like M&S that have robust sustainability programmes in place. Done well, these collaborations could tell a bigger story about fair pay, repair, skills and clothes made to last.

I’ll be sharing more as things develop.

Lea Poulos is Birdsong’s social media intern.