Fashion brands grapple with greenwashing: 'It's not a human right to say something is sustainable'

While business imperatives for making sustainability claims are clear, being able to prove them has become a stumbling block for the industryGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailIn Singapore at the start of the month, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition - a non-profit alliance that makes up over half the global apparel and footwear industry - convened for their annual meeting. There was one big question on attendees' minds: how would the coalition respond to claims of greenwashing?In June, the use of a tool the coalition had spent a decade building in order to measure the industry's environmental impacts was paused after the Norwegian Consumer Authority issued a warning that it could not be used to support sustainability claims. By then some major players - including Adidas and Kering - had already opted out of using the tool, called the Higg MSI, with Kering citing concerns about the accuracy of the data.Sign up for our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...