transparency

Everlane—the chic, stripped-down, San Francisco-based clothing brand beloved by the tech and media sectors alike—sells nothing so much as an idea. The company says it’s dedicated to both sustainability and “radical transparency,” promising customers, “We reveal the true costs behind all of our products—from materials to labor to transportation.” But the company’s customer-service employees say that what’s not disclosed in that formula is the human cost to their team, a cadre of part-time remote workers who make up a key piece of the business—and who make around $16 an hour and don’t receive healthcare or other benefits.

Mandkhai, a newish brand by Mandkhai Jargalsaikhan, which specialises in goat-to-garment transparency, not to mention deliciously soft cashmere. The 30-year-old designer knows her wool: she is Mongolian, and her parents were the first family to set up shop in post-Communist Mongolia twenty-five years ago, with a cashmere factory.

Tina Stridde, managing director of AbTF, says, “The Good Cashmere Standard provides a standard for the important resource cashmere. It meets increased consumer demand consumers want to be certain that the textiles they purchase were produced in accordance with social and environmental standards and that no animals were harmed in the process.” The new standard now offers businesses their first opportunity to sell products made from certified, sustainable cashmere wool from Inner Mongolia. “The demand for The Good Cashmere Standard is correspondingly great. This sends an important signal t

Supply chain transparency is at the heart of how Rio Tinto operates, from mine to market. And in Mongolia, we're extending our approach to help support a supply chain on which large numbers of local community members depend the luxury cashmere market.

Since they launched in 2010, the company and CEO Michael Presyman have always focused heavily on virtue in both the supply chain—touting their “ethical factories,” for instance, though watchdogs say they could do better—and in their materials, announcing a new line in 2018 partly made from recycled plastics. And transparency is an often-repeated buzzword; the company runs a popular “Choose What You Pay” sale each year, promising, “ We choose the products. You choose the price. We reveal where every penny goes.” If customers choose to pay a higher price, for instance, some of that money goes towards “overhead for our team,” the company says.

The brand hopes to source cashmere in more sustainable manners in the future and contribute to making the industry more 'transparent and responsible'. Currently, the fashion industry lacks a standard for 'sustainable cashmere', according to the spokesperson.

Those problems are pushing fashion labels to respond. Fastfashion giant Hennes & Mauritz AB in March said it would phase cashmere out of its product lineup by 2020. Gucci parent Kering SA is backing a project to encourage Mongo­ lian herders to graze their goats in ways that protect the steppe. Stella McCartney and Patagonia have sworn off cashHerds of cashmere goats have grown sharply in Mongolia. mere produced directly from goats in favor of garments made using cashmere scraps left over from workshops. “We hope that it will be pos­ sible to source cashmere more sustainably in the future, and we want to contribute to mak­ ing the industry more transpar­ ent and responsible,” H&M said

transparency There is a need for communication across the value chain, including with consumers.