By Juliana Penagos Nigrinis, Lidia Morcillo Jordana, Clara N. Solé. MODACC
Certification and labelling or in other words seeing is believing
To talk about the present and future role of certification in the fashion world, we need to dig into the past of the industry and answer the most basic and teller of the questions: Why is there a need for certification and labelling? Then we can address the question of What can be and is going to be certified and/or labelled? To eventually move towards the question of How is this done in practice? After concluding this process, one can enter the ethical, practical and inquisitive debate of: Should there be a unified system of certification and labelling, or does sustainability thrive better through diversity? Let’s find out.
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Why is there a need for certification and labelling?
Althought a big portion of the responsibility falls into the shoulders of Greenwashing, many motives contribute to the crescent need for verifiable systems that allow producers, brands, consumers and governments to make information-based decisions. Contrary to what many might think, sustainability-related certifications are not something new. They started appearing in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, with certifications such as Oeko-tex, in an effort to prove that better practices lead to better care for people and the planet. With the boom of sustainability and because it is becoming a buzzword, the need for transparency and credibility became even more clear. And with it the emergence of new certifications started.
Labelling on the other hand serves as a communication bridge between the one who holds the information (usually brands and suppliers) and the one who is interested in receiving the information (generally consumers and recycling entities). In this sense, certification and labelling have intertwined roles that when properly used can help avoid greenwashing, by promoting truthfulness and transparency for the stakeholders involved in the fashion industry.
What is likely to be certified?
In a world where everything can be certified, the fashion industry needs to put its focus on the areas that are having a more negative impact on society and the environment, to optimize resources and streamline the transition into a sustainable industry. At first, the most well-known certifications in the industry were the ones related to materials, such as GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard), GRS (Global Recycled Standard), BCI (Better Cotton initiative), among others. But with the unfolding impacts of the fashion industry on worker wellbeing, and due to tragic events such as the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013, safety and worker welfare became also pilar to the certification bodies. As a response, existing certifications started to include this section, and other types of certifications such as the Fair-Trade Textile Standard started to gain momentum. Another relevant certification that has been around for a long time in other industries and has slowly gained relevance in the fashion industry is consumer safety. Large quantities of chemicals are involved in textile production, and an infinite quantity of material blends can be found in garments. Given that the skin is the largest organ of the human body, textile safety is a must. Added to this, certain specific products such as children’s wear and special needs wear need to have their own specific certifications.
How does certification and labeling work?
Certification can be complex if areas of measurement are not well defined and measurement methodologies are not properly implemented. Another complexity can be found in the frequency of audits or verification visits done to certified entities to ensure that practices are being implemented. When certifications become known and used world-wide, it is common for certification bodies to look for partners in operating countries to expand their network that can help ensure that requirements are met. When these partnerships are not done with careful consideration, traceability can be prone to infringements.
Labelling, on the other hand, shares some, but not many, of the complexities faced by certification. Labelling is more about deciding the information that is going to be shared and how it is going to be shared. Labelling can be mandated by legislation, such as textile composition, or can be initiated by brands, such as water consumption of a garment.
Unified or diversified?
Sustainability thrives under diverse mindsets, approaches, and methodologies. Take for example the development of new biobased materials that contribute to both the circular economy and the decarbonization of industry. Innovation is a key player when considering a more sustainable industry, and this leads to the question of diversity in certification and labelling. Certification is already a multi-variable field that many find uncomfortable due to the difficulty navigating it. Understanding each certification, how to get certified, and gathering documents can be hard. Let alone do this process for 5 or more certifying bodies. Labelling can also be complex, especially for the consumer side who is being exposed to an overload of information which, contrary to contributing to knowledge-based decisions, is generating a rejection of sustainability-related information.
Many defend the idea of unifying certification and labelling to decomplexify this topic for suppliers, brands, and consumers. Others defend diversity in certification and labelling because it can lead to new and better ways of measuring impact, verifying information, and communicating with the customer. As for you, what is it you defend?