FASHION LAW
B Corporations and Fashion - Are you B’ing real?
Recently Ermenegildo Zegna announced that it was linking executive pay to climate targets, as part of its new environmental strategy. Meanwhile Kontoor Brands appointed a new global head of ESG.
B
ut some brands are going further and addressing becoming B Corporations as was the case in October 2021 when Chloe announced that they had achieved certification as a B Corporation. A legacy fashion brand has taken drastic steps to make themselves more transparent and reinvent their brand. Prada has also recently expressed interest in obtaining B Corporation certification, a move that could accelerate B Corporations as the industry standard. Many fashion brands and stores have been subject to considerable scrutiny and criticism over their use of unethical practices and questionable supply chains including: ¡ the use of real fur by Canada Goose in their jackets; ¡ Uniqlo, Zara and Nike because of practices within their supply chains; and, of course, ¡ the collapse of Rana Plaza in Bangladesh which resulted in the deaths of over 1,100 people and which Primark had previously been warned that the structure and working conditions within the factory were unsafe. As such, becoming certified as a B Corporation may allow a fashion brand to stand out in a saturated market place as a company that is truly conscious of their environmental and social impact or on the other side, to demonstrate that they are atoning for past unethical practices by overhauling their entire structure.
Are you B’ing real?
Inevitably, the recent trend of becoming certified as a B Corporation has been met with cynicism and criticism. The fashion industry is heavily geared towards marketing and presentation and competition is intense. Due to this, many have criticised the recent trend of becoming certified as a B Corporation as a method of ‘greenwashing’ see [https://www.
fashionlaw.co.uk/2022/03/22/fashion-greenwashing-and-esg-are-you- sitting-sustainably/]. Greenwashing refers to a marketing strategy in which consumers are persuaded that a company’s products, policies and practices are environmentally friendly where they may not be. There is definitely a benefit to be had for a fashion brand to become certified as a B Corporation as it provides them with tangible evidence to market their products as environmentally friendly. The B Corporation status can be used across all marketing materials and can allow a brand to distance themselves from the controversies that plague the fashion industry.
Whilst greenwashing may be a bold accusation to level at a fashion brand seeking B Corporation certification (due to the rigorous certification process), there are some criticisms generally of B Corporation status that do not help to address this. The first is that, whilst B Labs requires transparency from the B Corporation, they are not as transparent as they may
48 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • JULY/AUGUST 2022
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