The Coronavirus pandemic temporarily stopped our lives, but also gave some of us more time to think, ponder and find alternative solutions to global issues. Ana Kannan, for example, graduated last year from the University of Southern California while the pandemic was in full swing. While analysing consumers' behaviour and trends during the pandemic, Kannan realised people were shopping more responsibly and there were more companies and labels offering sustainable designs.
Yet, this trend was accompanied by a counter-trend – quite a few brands seemed rather vague about their supposed "sustainability" and were unable to provide consumers with proper answers. As a consequence, many consumers have stopped trusting brands' claims. What is indeed "sustainability"? Just a generic term or claim or an adjective defining an item produced according to rigorous international standards and certified by specific international bodies?
Kannan decided to start working on this aspect and on the lack of transparency in the information offered to consumers. To make things easier, Kannan created a platform – Towardstore.com – offering guaranteed responsible products, a sort of concise edit that can save time to consumers. Launched in the summer, the retail site currently stocks a variety of luxury and beauty brands offering products made following high standards of environmental, social and ethical responsibility.
Toward guarantees that every piece purchased has been created responsibly as Kannan and her team carry extensive research into their supply chains. As the platform's site states, labels are indeed assessed against 9 areas of focus – Transparency, Emissions, Materials, Waste & Chemicals, Workers' Rights, Water Management, Animal Welfare, Biodiversity & Forestry and Ethos.
Labels compile on an annual basis detailed anti-greenwashing surveys and reports about these areas and recommendations for future improvements are also provided. These questions help identify where a brand stands and what it may plan to do in future.
Standards are based on those set by different organisations including The World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Global Organic Textile Standard and some brands (especially beauty ones) were eliminated from consideration as they didn't seem comfortable enough to provide a full list of factories producing their products.
At the moment, among the brands available from Toward, there are Vivienne Westwood, Rejina Pyo, and Collina Strada, Yuzefi, Furtuna Skin and Bolt Beauty (by Bolt Threads, the company producing Mylo mushroom leather).
But there's more: while at the moment the platform remains virtual and there are no plans for a brick and mortar store, Kannan, who is now Toward's CEO, is setting up (until 21st November) a pop-up store in San Francisco's Fillmore Street.
Apart from shopping responsibly, consumers will be offered here the chance, through virtual screens, wall displays and scannable QR codes, to see the full list of questions (comprising 115 points) that Toward asks the brands that want to sell on its platform.
While there are platforms and websites that offer sustainable and conscious brands section, and a few ethics-focused luxury platforms such as Maison de Mode, none of them does such a meticulous check on the brands it sells.
As usual, one site and one pop up shop may not be enough, but it is clear that consumers are driving changes and demanding a fashion industry that doesn't only offer them looks but also substance, that's why Toward's team welcome consumers' questions. After all, among the final aims of Toward there is not just promoting ethical retailers and guaranteeing transparency, but educating people as well.
Rispondi