7 Ways to Brand Transparency
Image care of unsplash
Fashion is notoriously vague and illusive when it comes to where their yarns, fabrics and trims come from and where their garments are being produced.
However, as fashion and consumers evolve and greenwashing becomes so prevalent in major brands that it is almost expected, consumers are losing their trust. We can not talk about greenwashing, sustainability, traceability or circularity without talking about transparency.
Greenwashing:
“To make people believe that your company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is.”
Greenwashing destroys a perfect opportunity for brands to be transparent, sincere and honest about their materials and production processes. Once a brand is called out for greenwashing, earning the trust of the consumers when you are truly trying to make changes, becomes near impossible.
The internet never forgets.
Transparency allows for consumers to make informed decisions about their purchases. But being transparent is more than just marketing copy defining your brands values.
Transparency:
“In fashion, transparency is the practice of openly sharing information about how, where, and by whom a product was made.”
How can I be more transparent in my brand?
So to go beyond using brand transparency in just the marketing messages, fashion brands must show how they are transparent and give evidence to where their materials come from and where their products are being produced.
Being transparent with your customers about where your materials come from and where your products are being made shouldn’t be difficult, if there’s nothing to hide.
Here are our 7 tips on how you can be more transparent in your fashion brand.
7 Ways You Can be Transparent in Your Fashion Brand
SHARE WHERE YOUR MATERIALS COME FROM
For each product description, list where the materials come from.
TOUR THE FACILITIES WHERE YOUR MATERIALS AND PRODUCTS ARE BEING MADE
If you can’t tour the facilities yourself, have an agent tour them for you.
PRODUCE IN FACILITIES THAT HAVE CERTIFICATIONS
If you are producing in a country where the policies and transparency are notorious for being loose or vague, look for facilities with WRAP certification.
SHOW YOUR HAND
For each product description, list where the product is being manufactured and share the manufacturer’s name, location and website.
SHOW YOUR EXPENSES
Show how much it costs to make each product. A great example is how Portuguese brand Isto shows their cost breakdown per product.
SHOW BTS (BEHIND THE SCENES)
When you are sourcing and at the factories, see where you can video, take photos and share on your social media. If you can’t tour the facility, ask your agent to take some videos and photos for you.
ASK DEEPER QUESTIONS
When communicating with your manufacturers, ask more about their processes: for example, when you are at the dying facility, ask what how their water is treated and what percentage is reused. When at the cutting table at the product manufacturer, ask what happens to the offcuts, the pieces of material that are cut off when pattern cutting that are not used. When in the planning stages, ask what, if anything, is outsourced and find out the name of the manufacturer the task is outsourced to.
Ask questions.
BONUS TIP
Create a map graphic for your website to show the journey of that product, from raw material to finished product.
If you are producing here in Portugal and need an agent to capture photos and videos at the manufacturer for your brand, book a call with us to see how we can help you.
Photo by @frankydune during a visit to the Junius Têxteis factory with brand, Isto.
As an incredible show of brand values and brand transparency, Isto held a Factourism day (factory tourism) for their Supima cotton classic t shirt. I joined them on this tour, which you can read more about here: