In the world of fashion, few moments have captured the industry’s influence as memorably as Meryl Streep’s iconic monologue in The Devil Wears Prada. In a single glance at a crumpled blue sweater, Streep’s character reminds us that every piece of clothing represents millions of dollars, countless jobs, and complex, unseen systems — and that no one is exempt from the fashion industry.
Fashion as paradox
Fashion is multifaceted: it is creative, global, local, personal, collective, and political. It enables wearers to express their identities, explore interests, and find communities. The cost of this can be measured in 92 million tonnes of waste annually, almost 10% of global emissions, roughly 20% of clean-water pollution, and failures to safeguard the people who make its products. Never has fashion been so transformative, and never has it been more in need of transformation.
Because so many of us participate in this system, the language of responsibility is closely scrutinised. When a company claims to be “sustainable,” important questions follow: Which harms are being reduced — and which ones are part of the business model? Who benefits from these commitments, and who still bears the costs? Does sustainability encompass wages, purchasing practices, governance, and long-term accountability, or is it confined to easier-to-implement initiatives such as recycling programs and carbon targets?
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The tightrope of change
Customers and communities increasingly expect fashion to reflect their values, not just their tastes. As a result, brands are confronting questions about environmental and social impact not only as ethical considerations, but as commercial realities. This growing awareness is a necessary and welcome shift. At the same time, publicly committing to a responsibility journey — like B Corp Certification — carries reputational risk.
Scrutiny is high, and can be justified. Customers and critics can be quick to question motives, particularly in an industry with a documented history of harm. In a polarised environment, brands talking about progress can be interpreted as deflection or self-congratulation. This creates a tension: how can businesses be transparent about shortcomings and incremental progress without overstating achievements or minimising the scale of the challenge?
Public responses to some recent B Corp Certifications reflect a wariness of responsibility claims, and a broader frustration with the pace of change. But what we know at B Lab is another difficult truth: meaningful transformation must start somewhere, and in complex industries, it rarely happens overnight.
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Imperfectly, together
This is where B Corps come in. The strength of the B Corp movement is not in rewarding perfection, but in creating the conditions for collective action. By welcoming brands with imperfect histories of responsibility, the movement creates a platform for accountability, collaboration, and a push to do better. If the ‘B’ symbolised perfection, it would be nothing but a marketing tool.
B Corp Certification assesses how a company actually operates: from its governance and supply chains to its environmental footprint, worker conditions, and transparency. It is not a rubber stamp; it requires evidence, legal accountability, and performance across defined impact areas. Certification is an ongoing commitment: businesses must keep improving over time. In doing so, they join a network of companies working through similar challenges, sharing tools and pressure points — because transforming an industry is far harder alone than together.
History shows us what’s possible. Many of us grew up hearing about the supply chain issues plaguing the cocoa industry. Today, ‘fair trade’ is a household term, and the industry has shifted. Undeniable progress has been made in reducing child labour, paying living wages, and mapping environmental impacts. Tony’s Chocolonely, a much-loved business and fellow B Corp, now operates an ‘Open Chain’ initiative, through which they join forces with other chocolate-making companies to transform the industry’s supply chains.
Apparel B Corps have their own version of this transparency in action. In Australia, innovators like Outland Denim have gone so far as to publish their entire supply chain. This not only shows what is possible, but raises expectations for other B Corps — and sets a new standard of leadership for the industry.
Patagonia’s Work in Progress report outlines the company’s progress and ongoing challenges across environmental and social issues. It openly acknowledges where the brand has fallen short, from materials sourcing to carbon emissions, while highlighting measurable improvements and plans for next steps. The report is not a display of perfection. It is a question: “How can we do better?”
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Why fashion B Corps matter
Fashion sits at the centre of several global crises: carbon-intensive production, water depletion, waste, fragile supply chains, and labour exploitation. It also has enormous cultural and economic influence. Certifying fashion brands doesn’t ignore this tension — it confronts it. It brings companies operating in high-impact systems into a framework that requires evidence, accountability, and measurable improvement.
Most of these businesses still have significant work ahead of them. But their participation matters. It signals that responsibility is moving from the margins to the mainstream, and that even complex, imperfect companies are willing to subject themselves to scrutiny and higher standards.
In fashion, as in any sector, responsibility isn’t a finish line.
In an era defined by overlapping crises, waiting for flawless actors isn’t a viable strategy. The B Corp movement is built on a different premise: that change happens when businesses are willing to expose their gaps, measure their impact, and improve in public.
Collective, imperfect pressure is what shifts markets. And markets, in turn, shape the world we live in.
Feature image: Alberto Cognetti on Unsplash
