Greenwashing is the practice of making an unsubstantiated or misleading claim about the environmental benefits of a product, service, or company practice and can make a company appear to be more environmentally-friendly than it really is.

There’s been an increasing amount of buzz around the terms ‘sustainable’, ‘eco-friendly’ and ‘natural’ in Textiles and Fashion (yes, especially around COP26!) The rising interest in sustainability amongst “Millennials” and “Gen Z” consumers specially, coupled with their increase in purchasing power, is influencing businesses to take notice of certain wording. However, rather than truly going “green”, certain brands and business are taking the greenwashing route instead.

For example, while natural fabrics are favored by sustainable brands because they are breathable and biodegradable, they still have an impact. Even cotton and linen have social and environmental ramifications beyond what we can see and feel. The same goes for vegan materials as most are made from synthetic fabrics (especially synthetic alternatives to leather which are basically just plastic!)