Can Fashion Stop Greenwashing?

Business of Fashion | The fashion industry is facing growing pressure to credibly communicate the environmental impacts of their products. Today, brands are expected to provide transparency not only on their clothing’s carbon footprint, but also its impacts on water, biodiversity, chemical, social, and more, all while avoiding the dangers of greenwashing. Quantis’ Emilie Carasso, Global Footprinting Lead, spoke with Business of Fashion to talk about the past, present and future of environmental product claims.

“The changes in the way brands talk about sustainability are still filtering through the market, but the language companies use is changing palpably. ‘We used to see a lot of really vague terms like “eco-friendly” or “sustainable” or “green packaging” or whatever, but there wasn’t much substance to what brands were claiming,’ said Emilie Carasso, global footprinting lead at consultancy Quantis. ‘We’re seeing brands are becoming more specific and more complex in what they claim.’