SloWeAre: Auditing Sustainability in Fashion and Luxury

The case illustrates the founding and growth of SloWeAre, the first eco-certification company in France that embraces the methodology eco-fashion brands employ on their journey towards producing socially responsible and environmentally sound textile products. By 2020, the four-year diagnostic service had attracted more than 75 French eco-fashion brands to the SloWeAre platform. By participating in SloWeAre’s annual audit, these eco-fashion brands prove that they have embedded an end-to-end sustainable process throughout their supply chain that translates into a complete range of certifiable products that eco-consumers can trust. The SloWeAre label helps eco-consumers know the difference between brands that offer just one or two eco-friendly products in their lineup and those that take a holistic approach. SloWeAre presents an alternative for small independent eco-fashion brands looking to save money by sewing in a single-use label that goes directly to who they are and not just what products they sell. In so doing, the sustainable process that SloWeAre advocates presents an ingenious solution to a key challenge facing modest eco-fashion brands without the deep pockets to justify their product lineup with the extreme granularity beloved of retail giants.