Or how BonneGueule was chosen to work on the clothing label of tomorrow. Explanations.
In 2025, labels will tell you the truth
You will be able to read the environmental footprint of the garment. It will be expressed using a grade ranging from A to D. A bit like the nutriscore on packets of chips.
This rating will give you the power to choose the reasonable purchase versus the one that is not. It will allow those who were not aware of environmental issues to become aware of them. Or at least, to no longer ignore the part of responsibility that is hidden in each purchase.
It will also encourage brands to do better.
Above all, it will be compulsory throughout Europe and it will be the only system recognized from the end of 2025.
To make this a reality, we are participating in the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rule (PEFCR) project which sets the stage by defining the right rating criteria for clothing, finding an easily applicable method to collect the data and defining a reliable method. calculation which will make it possible to define the notes in question .
Spoiler alert: this is much easier said than done.
The CELC (European Linen and Hemp Confederation) offered us the opportunity to participate so that the panel of brands would be varied. We decided to do it because for us, it is important to participate in this progress and to give a voice to small and medium-sized brands.
We're changing fashion, one 100% European overshirt at a time
This Salema overshirt in 100% linen was our project. We therefore had to be able to collect absolutely all the data relating to the carbon footprint of this overshirt while creating it.
And as we moved from theory to practice, we realized how much we were going to tear our hair out. Because estimating the exact environmental footprint of a piece of clothing is ambitious. Very ambitious.
Let us be clear: we are always transparent about the origin of the materials we use, the place of manufacture of fabrics, clothes and the manufacturing methods that revolve around them. You know it. Or if you don't know, a look at one of our sales pages will convince you.
But here, for example, it is a question of defining exactly the water consumption that this overshirt collects . To the nearest liter. And for that, you need to know how much water the sewing thread consumes to make it. And, does that count the electricity consumption of the store where she is waiting for you?
Yes, it counts.
One example among many: buttons. They are made of horn and made in Germany by Schaffer, a company that is not used to being asked how much water was used for each button, how much material it takes, how much is lost in the process , how much electricity its machines consume…
So, to carry out this project successfully, we know that we will have to get up early, very early.
“They didn’t know it was impossible so they did it”
In order to be able to collect as much reliable data as possible, we turned to the Masters of Linen and European Flax labels which control the quality and traceability of linen. We then sent this data to a research office (the PRE) in order to cross-reference this data, analyze the collection method and see how to make it easily understandable for you.
Ok. We'll spare you the details of this colossal collection of data on the manufacturing of this overshirt. Emilie must have had nightmares about it. But if we continue, we realize that the work is far from finished. A simple question.
If you wear a piece of clothing for 6 months or 6 years, it's not the same impact on the planet, right? Your purchase will not have the same environmental footprint at all... Well, we had to measure that.
We therefore estimated the durability of our overshirt in the laboratory, sent 7 prototypes for testing and paid more than €2000. Which is not trivial for a company of our size.
Moment of pride: we got a score of 4/5 for color retention over time, an excellent score for garment dyed!
Obviously, we use more resources and a lot of money at these times. But it must also be seen as research and development. If we don't do this, we will never move things forward.
After making this overshirt, you also have to bring it to you. And therefore go in search of exact data on the means of transport used, the size of the warehouses, the type of heating…
To give you an idea of the level of detail required, we even consider the way the garment is presented to you upon delivery: folded or on a hanger? Because in the second case, it will take up more space in the packages and therefore in transport, with our logistician... and it will therefore consume more resources than if it were folded. Along the same lines, we also had to work on the stocks we usually had left at the end of the season.
Us, when we pretend to remain calm in front of the list of information to find.
And after all that, when the customer, you, wears it, how many times will he wash it? On average of course, but still. Can we really estimate this? Maintenance codes and standardization tables are thus defined and then the design offices will start looking for data to estimate all of this.
In any case, we said to ourselves that with our 100% thermo-regulating linen which prevents odors, we would not be bad at this level too.
And if you drink water while wearing it, should you put it on the bill?
The dice are loaded
Imagine that brands have to do all this, for each item of clothing. Whether it's a coat, underwear or a pair of shoes.
It's an enormous job, which requires an incompressible amount of time. Thus, it will be necessary to recruit to respond to this subject , which requires a significant budget that many small brands do not currently have.
And inevitably, this will create inequalities. Because large fast fashion groups will be able to dedicate an entire department to it. Not to mention the power of influence they can have in this project .
This is also why we wanted to participate. To highlight the difficulties that seem important to us, to make institutions that do not know the sector perfectly understand all the subtleties that this system requires.
I am thinking, for example, of the brand model that must be taken into account: a GOTS-certified organic cotton t-shirt sold by a large brand that overproduces tons every year or a small brand on a human scale, that does not have the same impact.
And like you, we ask ourselves lots of questions.
Will it make clothes more expensive? We think not.
Will this lead to less creative clothing? We will do everything to ensure that this is not our case.
Is it ultimately a good thing to do all this?
Yes. Absolutely because we have to push fashion in the right direction.
As with the nutriscore, there will probably be deviations, inequalities between brands, and nuances to keep in mind. We will do our best to inform you about it, so that you can form your own opinion, with the necessary hindsight.
But it's still a big step forward, which will draw your attention as well as ours to the ecological impact of our clothing and help us all to do our best.
But the real question is…
Are we going to get there?
To this day, we continue to pass on all the information we can about this overshirt to advance the study on our scale. If all goes well, the design office will be able to enlighten us on the interpretation of the data in November 2022.
After this experience, we can tell you that it will be complicated. Complicated, but not impossible. Because firms will undoubtedly specialize in this type of data collection, manufacturers will develop new habits and brands will adapt, each in their own way.
We also think that public authorities will have a role to play , to support us in this transition. Moreover, the Ecological Transition Agency (ADEME) already provides subsidies for certain case studies.
But for us, the greatest help is yours. Because if we have our say in this project, it is also thanks to the scope that you give us. If we can participate with this overshirt, it's thanks to your support for this piece. And if in this way, we can still help to consume better, little by little, overshirt by overshirt, garment by garment, it is thanks to you.
So thank you for helping us change fashion, it’s together that we will achieve it!
