The clothing industry and the rules it now works under.
The indexes, reports and investigations that produce the numbers the industry quotes — and what each one actually measures.
The Norwegian Consumer Authority’s finding of June 2022 took the score off the label.
Photo: Ann H / PexelsIn June 2022 the Norwegian Consumer Authority found consumer-facing claims built on the Higg Materials Sustainability Index misleading; the Sustainable Apparel Coalition subsequently suspended the consumer-facing Higg Index MSI. This piece covers the NCA finding, the Coalition's response, and what the episode revealed about how lifecycle assessment scores are translated into consumer claims.
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ThredUp's annual Resale Report is the most widely cited source for secondhand market size projections, but it is produced by a company with a commercial interest in the growth of that market.
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Textile Exchange's Materials Market Report is the primary source for global fibre production totals and certified-material market shares, cited by the EU in regulatory impact assessments.
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The Fashion Transparency Index (Fashion Revolution), the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, the Know The Chain Benchmark and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index each measure clothing-company disclosure but weight different things and produce different rankings for the same companies.
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In September 2022 Vestiaire Collective began removing fast-fashion brands from its platform, starting with around 100 brands and expanding the list over subsequent phases.
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Vinted reported its first profitable year in 2023 as LVMH and Kering posted their first real revenue slowdown since the pandemic.
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