A new lawsuit alleges H&M is labeling its products as environmentally friendly though they are anything but. The fast fashion brand is being sued for its “misleading” sustainability marketing, The Fashion Law reports, with plaintiff Chelsea Commodore claiming H&M used falsified information on the labeling, packaging, and marketing materials for hundreds of its offerings in a practice known as greenwashing.

Many brands have started to incorporate words like “ethical,” “organic,” “conscious,” “transparent,” and “sustainability” in their marketing with hopes of attracting a new, more mindful consumer. But without producing real data behind these sustainability claims — or worse, using them while still cheaply and harmfully producing products — companies are “greenwashing” their products. Commodore alleges just that in her complaint, saying that “despite its position as a fast-fashion giant, H&M has created an extensive marketing scheme to ‘greenwash’ its products” in order to present them “as environmentally-friendly when they are not.”

Talking the talk — H&M’s Sustainability Profile scorecards — prominently displayed on green hang tags, in-store signage, and online marketing — are highlighted in the lawsuit as one of the main marketing offenders. TFL notes that on one scorecard, a dress was advertised as using 20-percent less water than comparable production methods. In actuality, an independent investigation by Quartz revealed that the dress was actually...

Read Full Story: https://www.inputmag.com/style/h-m-hm-greenwashing-lawsuit-false-sustainability