Feel free to leave your quips about hemp-clad hippies at the door: If sustainable fashion is still viewed as a niche product, it won’t be for much longer.
Once the purview of independent designers, “green” clothing has muscled into the mainstream.
There are the industry North Stars who have made tackling fashion’s less telegenic issues part of their DNA, of course, like Patagonia, whose stated mission is building the best product without causing unnecessary harm, or Eileen Fisher, another certified B Corp. that relates to sustainability as a defining character of its ethos.
They’re particularly sensitive to charges of “greenwashing,” the derisory term for marketing spin that paints a company as more environmentally friendly than it actually is. For them, authenticity is king.