During New York Fashion Week September 2022, Kourtney Kardashian, American media personality and socialite, launched two ‘sustainability-focused’ capsule collections with Boohoo as their new Sustainability Ambassador, in what was quickly criticised as a greenwashing stunt by the fashion company.
“Greenwashing” is the term used to describe false, misleading, overstated or unsubstantiated advertising claims made by a company about the environmental impact of their products or behaviours. Proven cases of greenwashing can amount to a breach of English consumer protection laws, which provide security to the consumer against mis-selling when purchasing a product.
Boohoo was named as one of the least sustainable fashion brands by the UK Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee in 2019. The appointment of Kardashian and the associated products launch are widely considered to be case of a recognised unsustainable business seeking to greenwash its customers. There is a strong case to argue that Kardashian was an unsubstantiated choice for a Sustainability Ambassador given her highly publicised lifestyle which includes the use of private jets and supercars. Furthermore, while 41 of the 45 products included in the new range may contain a percentage of recycled fibres, the collection itself makes up less than 0.1% of products available on the Boohoo website. At its core, the company’s output comprises “fast fashion”, a practice that produces over 92 million tonnes of waste each year.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is currently exploring the sustainability claims made to UK consumers by Boohoo (as well as by ASOS and George at Asda) about their fashion products as part of its ongoing investigations into potential greenwashing. The investigation includes looking at the use by Boohoo and others of statements and language that creates the impression that products are more environmentally sustainable than they actually are.
CMA’s chief executive, Sarah Cardell, said: “People who want to ‘buy green’ should be able to do so confident that they aren’t being misled.”
How to make compliant green claims
Advertising is regulated by a combination of legislation and self-regulation. The main legislation controlling the claims made in advertising and prohibiting misleading information is the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
In September 2021, the CMA published its Green Claims Code (Code) and accompanying guidance, to help companies understand and comply with consumer protection law when making environmental claims.
The Code sets out six principles specifying that environmental claims must:
- Be truthful and accurate;
- Be clear and unambiguous;
- Not omit or hide material information;
- Only make fair and meaningful comparisons;
- Consider the full lifecycle of the product or their service, and;
- Be substantiated.
More information
For more information, or for help and advice on a range of company commercial matters, including consumer facing terms and conditions, please contact our commercial team by calling on 020 3814 2020, emailing us at enquiries@blasermills.co.uk, or filling in our contact form.
*Please note that this article does not constitute as legal advice and should not be taken as such*