Awareness around the origin of our food has risen over years, and it is now rather easy to gauge the quality of the products we consume. When it comes to clothes, we all know that fashion is polluting, exploits people, uses dangerous chemicals, etc. but we are given few tools to assess the sustainability of our garments.
This may change with Clear Fashion, the traceability app that provides information around the human, environmental, health, and animal rights impacts of our clothes.
Behind this initiative are two French women, Marguerite Dorangeon and Rym Trabelsi. They founded Clear Fashion (first called Clothparency) in 2019, after studying agricultural engineering. They noticed a true will from the buyers to change their consumption habits and support the existence of sustainable fashion alternatives. Yet, with little visibility, it is hard to distinguish between a truly ethical brand and greenwashing. (1)
Marguerite Dorangeon and Rym Trabelsi, founders of Clear Fashion
So, Clear Fashion gathered open-source data sets and information given by the brands themselves and analyzed the production methods and footprint of each. (2) Brands and products (shoes, tops, pants, coats, etc) are evaluated by an independent expert committee and based on information relative to :
-the environment: footprint, water pollution, and use wastes generated...
-the people: respect for worker's rights, audits...
-the health: use of chemicals, of forbidden substances...
-the animal well-being: use of animal materials, animal testings...
The app also allows users to see the breakdown of each grade, scan a barcode to get the evaluation of a specific piece of clothing, and see lists of recommended labels. Unfortunately, it relies on the data available, which generates gaps. Yet, we can hope that its success and the pressure coming from consumers will encourage more brands to share their information or even transform their practices.
With Clear Fashion, Marguerite Dorangeon and Rym Trabelsi are finally bringing transparency into the textile and apparel industry. They join a much wider movement of initiatives in favor of sustainability and transparency in the field, among which includ:
-Fashion Revolution and its Transparency Index
Footnotes and links
Comments