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B Corporations And Fashion – To B Or Not To B 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 to become the industry standard. Many fashion brands and stores have been subjected 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 his month, Ermenegildo •Uniqlo, Zara and Nike because of Zegna announced that practices within their supply chains it was linking executive •And of course, the collapse of Rana pay to climate targets Plaza in Bangladesh which resulted as part of its new environmental in the deaths of over 1,100 people strategy. Meanwhile Kontoor Brands and which Primark had previously appointed a new global head of been warned that the structure and ESG (Environmental, Social and working conditions within the factory Governance). were unsafe. But some brands are going As such, becoming certified as a further and addressing becoming B Corporation may allow a fashion B Corporations as was the case in October 2021 when Chloe announced brand to stand out in a saturated marketplace as a company that is that they had achieved certification truly conscious of their environmental as a B Corporation. A legacy fashion and social impact or, on the other brand has taken drastic steps to side, to demonstrate that they are atoning for past unethical practices by overhauling their entire structure.
Paul Taylor, Fawad Rashid and Steve Sidkin of Fox Williams explain what B Corporation status is and the growing interest from businesses who wish to change their way of working
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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 84 ♦ W E D D I N G T R A D E R ♦ J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 2 2
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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/fashiongreenwashing-and-esg-are-yousitting-sustainably/]. Greenwashing refers to a marketing strategy in which consumers are persuaded that a company’s products, policies and practices are environmentally friendly when 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 the matter. The first is that whilst B Labs require transparency from a B Corporation, the certification process is not as transparent as they may
