ANNUAL REPORT 2022
Fashion’s chemical certification complex.
Needlessly complicated, woefully ineffective.
THE INTENT OF THE REPORT:
Explain how we got here
Explain why the current chemical management system is inefficient, ineffective, and serves primarily to shift responsibility
Lay out where we should go from here
Fashion has a chemical certification problem. Dozens of private-sector auditors, consultancies, labs, and certifications provide an expensive and inefficient form of surveillance over the supply chain on behalf of brands.
Many of these organisations offer almost identical services. While brands and retailers use chemical management as a differentiator, a marketing tool, and a way to shirk responsibility, it is the supply chain—from the chemical companies to the denim laundries—that pays for testing, certification, and management of these overlapping safety protocols.
This paper calls for collaboration and alignment around a single set of rules: sound chemical management systems should be a ticket to play, not a market differentiator. “Fashion’s Certification Complex: Needlessly Complicated, Woefully Ineffective” is an investigative report that equips fashion professionals with the actions they can take to reform chemical management in the fashion industry.
“I don’t see why we shouldn’t have one globally-accepted RSL. Can you think of any reason why Diesel jeans should have different requirements, environmentally speaking, than Levi’s jeans, Pepe jeans or Calvin Klein jeans? There is a bad need for alignment.”
- ALBERTO DE CONTI, RUDOLF
OUR CALLS TO ACTION:
Brands and Retailers:
Ascribe to the ZDHC MRSL and the AFIRM RSL
Develop in-house technical expertise
Treat your suppliers ethically
Lobby government to incorporate standards into law
Provide ingredient lists for consumers
LEGISLATORS
Fund and empower governing bodies to focus on consumer product chemical safety
Align with other countries to unify chemical guidance
Pass due diligence laws that hold fashion companies liable for worker exposure
chemical companies
Collaborate on a collective position on chemical complexity
Now is the time for collaboration.
We would like to share ways in which, if we work together, we can rebuild chemical management in fashion so it is airtight and equitable.
OUR LEARNING SESSIONS
10th November 2022
“Fashion’s Chemical Certification Complex: Needlessly Complicated, Woefully Ineffective” dives deep into the key takeaways from our report and the way forward to #RebuildChemicalManagement.
Panelists include: Alberto De Conti of Rudolf Group, Alden Wicker, author and journalist, Isabella Tonaca of Sustainable Chemistry for The Textile Industry and Zaki Saleemi of Crescent Bahuman.
29th November 2022
In many ways, certification has been the backbone of the fashion industry’s approach to sustainability. And yet, it’s an approach that’s increasingly under fire for being inadequate and ineffective. This panel brings together voices from different parts of the sustainable fashion community for a conversation about how to get beyond certifications.
Panelists include: Anne Manschot of Enact Sustainable Strategies, Andre Raghu of Hire A Partner, Aruna Kashyap of Human Rights Watch, Dr. Siva Pariti of BluWin, and Crispin Argento of Fibretrace.
ENDORSEMENTS
Spread the word: let’s unleash the power of our combined network, and share the release of this report with your audiences.
Take the time to read the report and our calls to action to understand what you and your network can do.
Share your feedback and ideas for targeted outreach with the solutions enablers identified in the report. Connect with us hello@transformersfoundation.org. We are working hard with our experts and partners network to enact on our commitments outlined in the report, our doors and ears are open to relevant ideas and feedback that drive coordinated action.
