As we demand greater transparency, accountability and an overall environmental focus from fashion industry leaders, more and more are we coming up against green-washing and buzzwords to throw us off the scent. Thankfully we have B Corp Certification. One of the most rigorous certifications, B Corp cuts through the noise and singles out those walking the walk, requiring labels to answer 300 questions in order to measure its environmental and social footprint. As it stands, there is only one luxury fashion house with B Corp Certification, namely Chloé, which was officially accredited yesterday, on October 18.
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Under the decisive leadership of Gabriela Hearst - who was appointed as creative director of Chloé little less than a year ago - the fashion house has quickly become a torchbearer of sustainability. After all, Hearst laid out a clear vision for the Maison with her debut Fall/Winter '21 collection which had a carbon footprint that was 400% less than that of the previous year. It included reworked vintage handbags, puffers made using leftover textiles - a collaboration with nonprofit Sheltersuit and recycled wool and cashmere knits.
On Instagram, Chloé made the announcement, stating that, "We are proud to be the first luxury Maison to join this community of leaders, driving a global movement of people using business as a force for good. By becoming B Corp certified, we reinforce our ongoing commitment to taking accountability for our impact on people and the planet."
"Rather than a final goal, this certification marks a new stage in our transformation towards a purpose-driven model, reinventing how we do business. B Corp will help us frame our transformation, and we hope to inspire other organisations in our industry to join the movement," the post continued.
A brand must score at least 80 points from their answers to B Corps questions. At the moment, there are only 3500 labels out of a 100,000 who have applied that have been accredited. Leading the way is Patagonia with 151.4 points while Allbirds is a fair way behind with a score of 89.4. It's unclear how many points Chloé received.
All we know is that Chloé is fiercely paving the way forward when it comes to true sustainability in luxury fashion, all other Maison's need to is simply follow the path.
