For fashion brands, the clock is now ticking on impact standard

Industry insiders are largely in agreement on the need for clearer standards. Many are calling for a grounding in certifiable information. The Norwegian advertising watchdog has banned Higg Scorecards after finding many of the environmental claims made to be “misleading or outright deceptive”. The dutch Sustainable Apparel Coalition has paused their use of Higg Scorecards too.

Consumers are crying out for clarity. They want to be able to align their spending to their values. Backlash has led to the Higg Index, and brands using it, facing allegations of greenwashing. This is because Higg examines cradle-to-gate impact. It gives a score based on how the materials within the garment are made and what they are made of. What it fails to consider is what happens to that garment once it leaves the factory gate.

To represent how sustainable a product is, we need the assessment to go from midnight to midnight. Not just from cradle to gate or cradle to shop, but from cradle to grave. We need a transition to truly circular fashion. For that to be successful, post-consumer behaviour must be taken into account. The environmental impact of a garment must be calculated on full lifecycle. It cannot be calculated without how long it lasts, how it’s taken care of, and what happens when a consumer is done with it.

At CICON, we measure the full clock face. We measure the full impact.

Our pre-sale impact measurement compares the more sustainable item against a comparable conventional item. Taking into account transportation method and distance, materials, colour and dyes, and weight of the garment to give each garment a score. But that's only half the story. We add to the impact score based on post-sale consumer behaviour too. The score changes over time to include carbon and water savings that occur when users perform actions to extend their lifespan.

We help brands and consumers truly understand the impact of their wardrobe on the world.

As designers, you produce beautiful, handcrafted garments. You care about your products. You care how they're worn. You care how they make the wearer feel. Most of all you care what legacy they leave. With CICON, we help your customers extend the lifetime of the garments they love. We help them understand that your craftsmanship makes garments last longer. We help them understand that your skill makes their clothes lighter on the earth. Advertising standards around the world are clearer than ever. If you’re making sustainability claims, they must be backed by accurate and accessible evidence. Standards are good, but the clock is ticking for complex rating systems without the whole lifecycle. They make sustainability too complex.

Our job is to make sustainability simple. By helping your customers clean, repair, rent, resell and recycle. CICON brings together all the circular wardrobe tools in one place.

Together with our academic partners, we produce a cradle-to-grave understanding. Not just cradle to gate. The full clock face. The full environmental impact with a truly accurate impact score. Complexity kills ratings. That's why for brands like yours, we make engaging your consumers in the circular economy as simple as hanging a tag on your clothes.