Our glossary

The Paris Good Fashion glossary was born following the citizen consultation on responsible fashion carried out in 2020 at the initiative of our association alongside a collective of committed actors*.

It responds to the expectations expressed by more than 107,000 participants, concerning the need for consumer information and the need to use a common language understood by all. Hence, the members of Paris Good Fashion decided to develop this glossary in order to exchange and communicate on the same basis.

Initially published in French, this glossary is now available in English in order to make as many people as possible benefit from this work. It includes about 350 definitions, and is the result of collaborative work with our members**.

  1. We first defined the main categories and terms to be included. First, we defined the main categories and terms to be included: general terms of fashion and sustainable development, labels and certifications, actors and initiatives, and materials. Another category was established, that of "Basic concepts". It includes the most important generic terms of our sector. These are also often the most complex, as their scope is either very broad or unclear.
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  2. Then, we carried out bibliographical research, which allowed us to carry out a state of the art of the existing definitions by basing them on the official and international definitions when they existed.
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  3. When they did not exist, the terms were the subject of consultation and in-depth reflection by Sylvie Benard, Clémence Grisel and Isabelle Lefort in order to be enriched and as precise as possible. For each term, you will find the bibliographic references that helped establish its definition.
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  4. Following this work which took place from March 2021 to February 2022, the definitions were submitted to the members for correction and validation. Special thanks go to Claudia Lee and Guy Morgan (Chanel), François Souchet (BPCM), and Andrée-Anne Lemieux (IFM) for their careful reading of the translation, coordinated by Clémence Grisel.

If you would like to know more, or have any suggestions, please contact us at contact@parisgoodfashion.com

* Eram Group, Etam Group, Galeries Lafayette, Petit Bateau, Vestiaire Collective, WSN

** They participated in the WG: Chantal Cabantous (Balmain), François Souchet (BPCM), Éric Dupont, Guy Morgan, Claudia Lee (Chanel), Christophe Bocquet and Aude Vergne (Chloé), Sylvain Cariou and Hugo Sereys (Crystalchain), Clémence Hulet and Alice Timmerman (Deloitte), Géraldine Vallejo, Yoann Regent and Annabelle Villot Malka (Kering), Frédéric Lecoq (Lacoste), Hélène Valade and Alexandre Capelli (LVMH), Thomas Bucaille and Pauline Mattioli (Petit Bateau) as well as Léonore Garnier (FHCM), Adeline Dargent (Syndicat de Paris de la Mode Féminine) and Andrée-Anne Lemieux (IFM)

A preventive approach that gives particular consideration to the environmental impacts of a product and its packaging from the design stage and which influences the product’s characteristics. Eco-design is multi-stage, because it takes into account every stage in the product’s life cycle, and multi-criteria, because it addresses many different types of environmental impact.

Multi-criteria: eco-design contributes to the reduction of one or several environmental impacts, including though not limited to:

• Depletion of natural resources (water, fossil fuels, minerals, etc.)
• Air pollution and global warming
• Water and soil pollution
• Toxicity for humans, animals and insects
• Destruction of natural habitats (changes in land use, modification/deterioration of ecosystems, etc.)

Multi-stage: environmental factors are introduced from the design stage to be effective throughout the product’s life cycle. The perimeter is the same as for life cycle assessments:

• Sourcing of raw materials: growing/mining of materials (crop-growing, livestock farming, petrochemistry, processing of fibres, etc.)
• Manufacturing: transformation of raw materials (spinning, weaving, knitting, etc.), sewing and finishing
• Transportation and logistics: packing and packaging, upstream transportation and distribution
• Use: life cycle, maintenance (including washing) and repair
• End of life: disassembly and recycling of fibres

The commercialisation (e.g. at points of sale) and marketing (e.g. manufacture of promotional material) stages are not included in the eco-design perimeter as they have no impact on the choice of product characteristics. Packaging, however, is included because it is indissociable from the product.

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European Directive 2009/125 defines eco-design as “the integration of environmental aspects into product design with the aim of improving the environmental performance of the product throughout its whole life cycle”.

The Guide Pratique des Allégations Environnementales, an environmental claims handbook published by the French Ministry of Ecological Transition, requires companies to provide “relevant, significant, verifiable and concrete” proof of any claim that a product is eco-designed.

References:
Deloitte
French Ministry of Ecology (2012) Guide pratique des allégations environnementales à l'usage des professionnels et des consommateurs
Directive 2009/125/ce of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-related products
Management tool from the European Commission enabling businesses and other organisations to evaluate, report and improve their environmental performance.

EMAS consists of:

• implementation of an environmental management system (EMS) in line with ISO 14001 standard;
• publication of an annual environmental declaration reporting the results of the company's environmental action;
• verification of the company's compliance with environmental regulations by the competent authority (in France, DREAL).

References:
European Commission
French Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Legal framework for products subject to extended producer responsibility (EPR), which applies a system of bonus/malus adjustments based on a product's environmental performance.

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To increase the environmental value of textiles, linens and footwear, French eco-organisation Refashion introduced a scale of eco-modulated taxes. Eco-modulation 1 uses eco-design principles to increase product durability. Eco-modulation 2 and 3 increase the quantity of recycled materials in new products.

See: Extended producer responsibility (EPR), Refashion

Reference: Refashion
French certification body with offices worldwide. Ecocert promotes sustainable and socially responsible practices in organic production.

References: 
Ecocert
Crystalchain
Certification awarded by Ecocert, which aims to promote production practices and conditions in the clothing and textile industry that respect the environment and people. It lays down the minimum environmental and social requirements in order to define what the ecological status is, covering the product's design stages, raw material production, manufacturing up to completion, distribution, use and end of life of the finished product.

Reference: Ecocert
Having taken steps upstream to avoid and minimise adverse environmental impacts, a development project can be required to offset the unavoidable biodiversity impacts it causes by creating an equivalent ecological benefit elsewhere. The objective is to achieve at the very least zero net loss of biodiversity.

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French and European regulations oblige a project owner to respect a mitigation hierarchy:

• Avoid biodiversity impact;
• Minimise impact that cannot be avoided;
• Rehabilitate or restore impacted ecosystems;
• Offset residual impacts through positive interventions which generate ecological functionalities that are at least equivalent to non-avoided or insufficiently minimised impacts.

References:
French Ministry of Ecology
French General Commission for Sustainable Development
Science which studies the interactions between living organisms (biodiversity) and the surrounding environment, and between organisms within this environment.

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In its scientific sense, ecology is the study of relationships between plants, animals, humans and their physical and biological environment.

An ecologist is a scientist who studies ecology, although the term has become more generalised through political usage. For this reason, French ecologists prefer the term “écologue” to “écologiste”.

Historically speaking, ecology was considered a biological science, described by German zoologist Ernst Haeckel in 1866 as "the science of the relationships between organisms and the world around them, in other words, in a broad sense, the science of the conditions of existence".

References:
Larousse
Novethic
A system formed by living organisms that interact with each other (for food, reproduction, predation, etc.) and by their environment (minerals, air, water). An ecosystem provides specific conditions (physicochemical, temperature, pH, humidity, etc.) that sustain life and, in return, this life builds and maintains the ecosystem.

Reference: CNRS
Synthetic material comprising polymers produced from fossil energies. Also called Fibre K, Spandex or Lycra (registered trademarks). Known for its elasticity, elastane is often combined with other fibres to make the resulting fabrics more comfortable to wear – thereby complicating the recycling process.

Elastane production consumes large amounts of energy, solvents and chemicals. Because it is derived from petroleum, it contributes to depletion of non-renewable resources. Elastane is not biodegradable and releases plastic microfibres when washed. These pass through waterways into the ocean, where they threaten marine ecosystems.

Recycled elastane offers a more responsible alternative to virgin elastane.

Reference: The Good Goods
Non-profit organisation committed to accelerating the transition to a circular economy. Research by the Foundation demonstrates the potential of the circular economy, quantifies its economic, environmental and social benefits, and explores the levers available for capturing these opportunities.

Reference: Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Incineration or methanation of waste with energy recovery. This form of waste management is preferable to disposal but should only be used for waste that cannot be reused or recycled.

References:
Ademe
French Ministry of Ecology
An accounting system which inventories, classifies, manages and provides environmental data and information through physical or financial indicators. Environmental accounting is a vital tool in the application of sustainable development principles and increasingly has a role to play in environmental preservation.

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See reports by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Regional Planning, and the AgroParisTech Foundation Ecological Compatibility Chair.
Process by which environmental considerations are incorporated into a proposed development from the early stages of a project so that the project owner and authorities can identify action to be taken with regard to environmental and public health concerns. It is also the basis for public participation. An environmental assessment identifies the project’s known or potential effects on the environment, and is used to analyse and account for choices made regarding known local issues.

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The French law of July 10, 1976 on the protection of nature was the first to require an impact assessment when applying for permission to carry out developments or civil engineering works which “by means of their size or impact on the natural environment may cause damage to it”. These requirements subsequently entered European law.

Reference: French Ministry of Ecology
Compliance with environmental standards and legislation. ISO 14001 certifies compliance with an environmental management system, based on continuous improvement and regulatory compliance.

Reference: ISO 14001 - Environmental management systems
The cost of human activity measured as adverse impacts on the environment.

Reference: Office québécois de la langue française
Explanatory texts or pictograms on products to assert the environmentally-friendly qualities of the product or packaging in question.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has drawn up a group of standards governing environmental labelling as part of its ISO 14000 series. The ISO 14020 family covers three types of declaration: ISO 14024 (Type I), ISO 14021 (Type II) and ISO 14025 (Type III).

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Type I: an environmental logo developed by a third party, which can be a government or a private organisation, based on a set of specifications, a life-cycle approach, a multi-impact approach or a consensus approach.

Type II: a self-declared claim that a product or service is environmentally-friendly. Such claims are not backed by independent third-party certification and are made by manufacturers, importers, distributors, retailers or others likely to benefit from them. A Type II claim is made under the declarant’s sole responsibility.

Type III: primarily business-to-business. A Type III claim is based on independently verified life cycle assessment data to enable comparisons between products fulfilling the same function.

References:
Ademe
ISO 14021 - Environmental labels and declarations
A measure of the pressure that humans exert on nature, calculated by how much of Earth’s surface is needed to:

• produce the goods and services consumed by a person, population or activity;
• absorb the amount of waste generated.

Reference: OECD
All qualitative, quantitative or functional modifications to the environment, negative or positive, generated by a project, a process, a procedure, an organisation or organisations, a product or products, from the design stage to end of life. These impacts primarily affect air and water quality, soil resources and human health.

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Environmental impact is quantified by flow indicators and potential environmental impact indicators.

Indicators used to measure impact on air quality:
• Contribution to greenhouse effect
• Air acidification
• Formation of tropospheric ozone
• Depletion of the ozone layer
• Particles and respiratory effects of inorganic substances

Indicators used to measure impact on water quality:
• Freshwater eutrophication
• Aquatic ecotoxicity
• Marine eutrophication
• Water consumption (flow indicator)

Indicators for soil resources and human health:
• Primary energy consumption (flow indicator)
• Depletion of non-renewable resources
• Human toxicity
• Land use

Reference: Ademe
Evaluation and analysis by the project owner of the environmental impact of a proposed development, comparable to technical and financial feasibility studies. Also the name of the report submitted to the planning authority and for public disclosure. The report indicates how environmental considerations are built into the project design and details the measures that will be taken to mitigate impacts.

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An environmental impact assessment is part of the environmental assessment process. European Directive 2014/52/EU defines its legal framework and was enacted in France by article R.122-2 of the Environmental Code.

References:
French regional environment, planning and housing agencies
French Ministry of Ecology
Directive 2014/52/UE on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment
Quality mark that complies with ISO 14024 standard. A labelled product meets precise requirements with respect to its environmental impact throughout its life cycle.

An environmental label can be national, e.g. NF-Environnement in France or Blauer Engel in Germany, or supranational (EU Ecolabel).

Reference: French Ministry of Ecology
A set of processes and practices that enable an organisation to evaluate, report on and improve its environmental performance.

There are a number of environmental management tools. The most widely recognised are ISO 14001 and the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS).

Most environmental management systems are based on the Deming Cycle or Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) Cycle, a continuous improvement model.

References:
ISO 14001 - Environmental Management System
Ademe
Developed by Kering to make the various environmental impacts of a business’s activities – both its own and those of its supply chain – visible, quantifiable and comparable, and convert them into monetary value. EP&L highlights areas where a company can focus its efforts in order to significantly limit its environmental impacts.

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EP&L covers every link in the supply chain from the sourcing of raw materials through to production and sales. At each level, a series of metrics evaluates greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste production, water and air production, and land use.

Reference: Kering
Non-financial criteria which enable stakeholders to assess the extent to which an economic player, such as a business or a local authority, integrates sustainability and other long-term considerations into its practices.

Environmental criteria consider how a business behaves with respect to nature. Social criteria analyse how it manages its relationships with employees, suppliers, customers and the wider community. Governance refers to how a business manages its executive pay, audits, internal checks and shareholders’ rights.

Reference: Investopedia
Principle whereby individuals are treated identically, regardless of their ethnic, religious, financial or social background. The concept appears in article one of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”.

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France’s law n° 2006-396 of March 31, 2006 on equality of opportunity introduced a range of measures with regard to equal access to jobs and education.

References:
Wikipédia
French Law n° 2006-396 for Equal Opportunities
French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizens (1789)
A business practice whereby companies or organisations adopt a code of conduct and ensure that working conditions comply with labour laws. Companies take recognised steps to identify problems and improve working conditions across their value chain.

Ethical trade certifies that goods and services have not been produced at the expense of workers’ rights, including working hours, occupational health, a fair wage and freedom of association.

Reference: WFTO
Alliance of global companies, trade union bodies and NGOs that are working together to support the rights of workers around the world. All ETI’s corporate members agree to adopt the ETI Base Code of labour practice, which is based on the conventions of the International Labour Organization. It sets out principles and policies for companies to adapt to their activity and that of their supply chain.

Reference: Ethical Trading Initiative
Recognised in all member states of the European Union, the EU Ecolabel promotes the design, production, marketing and use of products which have a reduced environmental impact during their entire life cycle, without compromising product or workers’ safety, or significantly affecting the properties which make a product fit for use.

EU Ecolabel for textile products awarded to organic textiles and/or textiles that contain recycled fibres and were manufactured with limited use of substances harmful to health and environment, reduction in water and air pollution, colour resistance to perspiration, washing, wet and dry rubbing and light exposure.

References:
European Commission
AFNOR
Classification system of environmentally sustainable economic activities, to enable investors to make “greener” choices.

An activity is considered to be sustainable if it contributes substantially to at least one of the following six objectives:

• Climate change mitigation
• Climate change adaptation
• Sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources
• Pollution prevention and control
• Protection of healthy ecosystems
• The transition to a circular economy

Initially published in 2020, on December 31, 2021 the European Commission proposed a new taxonomy that would include nuclear and natural gas activities, which have “the potential to play a major role in the transition to a climate-neutral economy”.

References:
European Commission - EU taxonomy for sustainable activities
European Commission - EU taxonomy (Q&A)
Unveiled in December 2019, the European Green Deal – which will have an investment of €1 trillion over ten years - aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. This strategy for inclusive growth and economic prosperity extends across all EU policies (energy, transport, agriculture, environment, biodiversity and air quality) and includes industries with high carbon emissions such as steel and construction.

References:
European Commission
French Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industry
A policy which gives manufacturers significant responsibility – financial and/or physical – for the treatment or disposal of post-consumer products. EPR could provide incentives to prevent waste at source, promote eco-design and support public recycling and materials management goals.

On January 1, 2007 extended producer responsibility (EPR) was introduced into French law for textile products, household linen and footwear sold in France. EPR also applies to numerous other economic sectors (electrical and electronic equipment, paper, packaging, lightbulbs, batteries, etc.). Refashion is the French textile industry's eco-organisation that assists textile producers with meeting EPR obligations.

See: eco-modulation, Refashion, TLC

References:
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Refashion
Second-party and third-party audits. A second-party audit is performed by a party that has a connection to the audited company, for example a customer (or a party acting in their name) auditing a supplier. A third-party audit is carried out by an independent organisation, such as an assessment or certification body or a government agency.

Reference: ISO 19011 - Guidelines for auditing management systems