The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has launched new guidelines to
ensure that ‘vegan’ fashion items really are 100 percent free of animal
products.
The Voluntary Guideline on Veganism in Fashion sets out a number of
questions retailers should ask themselves before labelling something as
‘vegan’. The BRC said companies should not only cut out the use of leather,
wool and natural silk in ‘vegan’ products, but they ensure that no animal
products are used in other components such as glues, dyes, and
chemicals.
Items should also offer consumers an alternative to products that are
traditionally made using animal-derived materials.
Additionally, retailers should not claim products are
sustainable simply because they are ‘vegan’. The BRC said: “‘Vegan’ relates
to the absence of animal-derived materials whereas ‘sustainable’ will mean
different things depending on the issue analysed (including embedded water,
carbon footprint, and more.”
The new guidelines come as consumers become increasingly interested in
animal-free products both inside and outside of the fashion industry. But
as that demand grows, so too does the risk that fashion companies might
frivolously label items as ‘vegan’ to align them with the trend.
“Classing a product as vegan is a very complex process with the need for
retailers to ask more questions than ever before. It not only rules out
using leather and wool, but also many glues, dyes, and traces of use in
more hidden elements,” the BRC said. “This means retailers would need to go
back to their suppliers and ask the right questions about the raw material
ingredients in order verify them individually.”