Total transparency will become a hygiene factor, business change maker Enviu wrote in 2013. Even though not all consumers are likely to be this demanding, fashion brands are increasingly pressured to prove their ethical and environmental credentials. With accusations of greenwashing high on the agenda of sustainability campaigners, fashion brands will need to move beyond merely stating their values or claiming their long-term goals, Enviu says. Instead, they will need to present clear evidence about results of their sustainability policies and pro-actively inform their customers about it.
Of course, transparency has been a main tenet of the sustainable fashion movement from its inception in the 1980s. Campaigners demanding information about labor conditions in the textile supply chain are a well-known example. But in recent years, the public has come to expect fashion companies to provide ever more clear and honest reporting on social and environmental issues. Their efforts have been supported not only by disconcerting media reports about the lack of respect for labor standards and environmental concerns, but also by the work of ranking organizations exploring the sustainability performance of major brands and companies. With the insights provided by Good Guide, Rankabrand and the like, consumers possess powerful tools to embark on a search for the most sustainable brands and products.
Ironically, the very instruments that were meant to increase transparency, and provide consumers with reliable information about the social and environmental feats of their purchases, have proven to create quite some confusion. With more than 100 sustainability certificates, initiatives and product logos in the Netherlands alone, consumers are likely to be overwhelmed. The lack of clarity could eventually decrease consumer support for fair-trade and ethical products.
Thankfully, there are fashion brands that prove that communicating about sustainability can be clear and straightforward. For example, French ecofashion label Sobosibio allows customers to trace the origins of their clothing purchases to the people who made them. And casual wear brands such as MudJeans, Kuyichi and Re-5 create collections that are certified organic as well as fairtrade. And as we all know, brands that have been assigned two or more sustainability certificates are highly unlikely to be merely greenwashing.