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)

Cotton that has been engineered a) to be resistant to herbicides so that crop spraying does not harm the cotton plant and b) to produce a toxin that kills the bollworm, one of the crop’s primary pests.

GM cotton raises social and environmental problems.

Growing GM cotton has increased pests’ resistance to insecticides, obliging growers to use ever more toxic pesticides with disastrous repercussions on human health and the environment.

Growers become locked into buying GM seeds, pesticides and other inputs from manufacturers. Many borrow money in order to pay for this more expensive seed and can end up trapped in spiralling debt and poverty. In India, seed monopolies, high input costs and debt have been linked to famer suicides: 17,368 Indian farmers took their own life in 2009.

See also: Genetically modified organism (GMO)

References:
Textile Exchange
Vigilance OGM
Any organism – plant, animal, bacteria or virus – whose DNA has been modified by genetic engineering to introduce properties it does not possess in its natural state.

Reference: Textile Exchange
A vast array of methods and techniques intended to deliberately alter the climate system in order to combat the effects of climate change. Generally speaking, these methods aim to 1) reduce the amount of solar energy absorbed by the climate system (solar radiation management), or 2) increase overall carbon sink capacity to a level sufficient to impact the climate (removal of carbon dioxide).

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Two key characteristics of geo-engineering methods are a particular source of concern. Firstly, they use or affect the climate system (e.g. the atmosphere, land masses or oceans) on a regional or world scale. Secondly, they could have significant undesirable effects extending beyond national borders.

A number of international treaties seek to limit and regulate the use of geo-engineering, including the Environmental Modification Convention (ENMOD), the Montreal Protocol, the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Reference: IPCC (2018) Glossary
A leading forum for industry collaboration on fashion sustainability. Global Fashion Agenda mobilises and guides the industry towards new ways of producing, selling and consuming. Since 2009 it has organised the Copenhagen Fashion Summit. Its annual CEO Agenda spells out crucial sustainability priorities for fashion leadership.

Reference: Global Fashion Agenda
Certifies the organic status of a textile product across the supply chain, throughout the production process based on the use of organic fibres from textile processing and manufacturing up to licensing and labelling. For a product to be certified, it must contain at least 70% organic natural fibres. GOTS defines stringent environmental and social criteria, in addition to those required by the usual organic farming certifications.

References: 
Global Standard
Textile Exchange
Certification from Textile Exchange, a not-for-profit organisation which verifies the origin and quantity of recycled materials in a finished product. For a product to be certified, it must contain at least 20% recycled materials. Additional criteria concern working conditions as well as environmental requirements (water and energy consumption, air and soil pollution, restrictions on the use of potentially harmful chemicals) at each stage in production.

Reference: Textile Exchange
Through traceability, the Global Traceable Down Standard - developed by the Patagonia clothing brand and certified by NSF International - assures that virgin down comes from birds that are not force-fed or live-plucked. Down is certified by NSF International.

References:
NSF
Patagonia
Global warming refers to the increase in global surface temperature relative to a baseline reference period, averaging over a period sufficient to remove interannual variations (e.g., 20 or 30 years). A common choice for the baseline is 1850–1900 (the earliest period of reliable observations with sufficient geographic coverage), with more modern baselines used depending upon the application.

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Strictly speaking, global warming is a misnomer as, in certain regions or during certain seasons, temperatures can increase but also decrease. Nonetheless, since the start of the industrial era (19th century), global average surface temperature has risen as a result of human activity.

References:
IPCC (2018) Glossary
Paris Good Fashion
Independent standard for sustainable cashmere, developed by the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF), that aims to improve the welfare of cashmere goats, the working conditions of farmers and to protect the environment of farming communities.

Reference: The Good Cashmere Standard
The design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the generation of hazardous substances (United States Environmental Protection Agency).

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Developed in the United States in the late 1990s by Paul Anastas and John C. Warner, green chemistry aims to make chemical products safer, cleaner and more effective. Its twelve principles are:

• Prevent waste;
• Maximise atom economy;
• Design less hazardous chemical syntheses;
• Design safer chemicals and products;
• Use safer solvents and reaction conditions;
• Increase energy efficiency;
• Use renewable feedstocks;
• Avoid chemical derivatives;
• Use catalysts;
• Design chemicals and products to degrade after use;
• Analyse in real time to prevent pollution;
• Minimise the potential for accidents.

References:
Anastas, P. T. ; Warner, J. C., Green chemistry theory and practice, Oxford, Oxford university press, 1998, 135p.
Environmental Protection Agency
Refers to two types of activity: conventional activities that employ less polluting processes or use less energy, and eco-activities designed to protect the environment or manage natural resources.

Reference: French Ministry of Economy
Green labelling is a communication device that provides consumers with quantified information on the main environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its life cycle. Information can be displayed on any suitable support, such as the product itself, a supermarket shelf or a website.

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In France, green claims were introduced during the 2009 environmental summit (“Grenelle de l’Environnement”) and confirmed by the energy transition for green growth law on August 18, 2015.

In 2013 the European Commission issued a recommendation that Member States use pan-European methodologies, i.e. Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and Organisation Environmental Footprint (OEF). These methodologies, which are based on multiple criteria and cover the entire life cycle, provide comparable information on products’ and organisations’ environmental footprint.

International standard ISO 14020 classifies environmental labels as ISO 14021 (Type 1), 14024 (Type 2) and 14025 (Type 3). They establish guiding principles for the development and use of environmental labels and declarations for goods and services.

References:
ISO 14021 - Environmental labels and declarations
French Ministry of Ecology
Ademe
The infrared radiative effect of all infrared-absorbing constituents in the atmosphere.

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Greenhouse gases, clouds, and (to a small extent) aerosols absorb terrestrial radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface and elsewhere in the atmosphere. These substances emit infrared radiation in all directions, but, everything else being equal, the net amount emitted to space is normally less than would have been emitted in the absence of these absorbers because of the decline of temperature with altitude in the troposphere and the consequent weakening of emission. An increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases increases the magnitude of this effect; the difference is sometimes called the enhanced greenhouse effect. The change in a greenhouse gas concentration because of anthropogenic emissions contributes to an instantaneous radiative forcing. Surface temperature and troposphere warm in response to this forcing, gradually restoring the radiative balance at the top of the atmosphere.

Reference: IPCC (2018) Glossary
Greenhouse gases are those gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of terrestrial radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface, the atmosphere itself, and clouds. This property causes the greenhouse effect.Water vapor (H2O),carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), and ozone (O3) are the primary greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. Moreover, there are a number of entirely human-made greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as the halocarbons and other chlorine- and bromine-containing substances, dealt with under the Montreal Protocol. Beside CO2, N2O, and CH4, the Kyoto Protocol deals with the greenhouse gases sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).

Reference: IPCC (2018) Glossary
Marketing technique that makes false or misleading claims about the environmental benefits of a product or service.

In France, a number of (more or less binding) regulations govern the use of environmental or sustainability claims. These range from laws (including L 121-1 et seq. of the Consumer Code on misleading advertising) to ISO 14021 and recommendations by the French advertising standards authority (ARPP) and by the national consumer council (CNC).

References:
French Ministry of Ecology
Ademe (2012) Guide Anti Greenwashing
ISO 14021 - Environmental labels and declarations