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)

Transformation of hide into leather either using chrome salts or plant tannins in order to make it rot-resistant.

Reference: Conseil National du Cuir
Voluntary drop-off of clothing, linens and footwear at donation bins, located in public or private spaces. Donated items are recovered by a collector.

Reference: Refashion
Global not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to increase knowledge and use of more sustainable (“preferred”) fibres and materials by the textile industry. It develops and manages a suite of standards (Responsible Wool Standard, Global Recycled Standard, Organic Content Standard, etc.) which evaluate the sustainable and ethical nature of textile products from the raw materials through to the finished product.

Reference: Textile Exchange
Various processes for giving textiles their required characteristics, for example bleaching, dyeing, printing, mechanical finishing, chemical finishing and coating. These processes can be applied to yarn, to fabric or to the finished product.

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Textile finishing requires input from a number of professions:
• dyers employ a range of processes to add colour to textiles;
• printers apply colour to fabrics following a specific design;
• finishers carry out a series of mechanical or chemical operations to give fabrics their final aesthetic or functional properties;
• operatives use techniques similar to printing to apply special finishes such as flock, sequins or puff ink;
• engravers transfer a design to cylinders or screens for printing.

References: 
Union des Industries Textiles
Fédération de l’Ennoblissement Textile
Initiated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and developed with more than 250 experts, policymakers, businesses, academics and NGOs.

The Sustainability Pledge seeks to develop greater traceability and transparency across the clothing and footwear supply chain. It comprises a series of policy recommendations, guidelines and standards that enable industry players to substantiate their sustainability claims.

References:
The Sustainability Pledge
UNECE
Not-for-profit organisation that initiates and supports projects in fashion and textiles with a focus on sustainability. The Sustainable Angle is the founder, in 2010, and organiser of Future Fabrics Expo, one of the largest shows for textiles with a low environmental impact.

Reference: The Sustainable Angle
Feedstocks sourced from non-land based crops such as biomass derived from algae, fungi and bacteria. These are more difficult to find at a commercialized scale today, although it is a growing segment. Potential negative impacts are methane production, destruction of natural habitats in harvesting, and potential environmental contamination or leaks.

See: Bio-feedstock, First-generation bio-feedstock, Second-generation bio-feedstock, Fourth-generation bio-feedstock

Reference: Kering Standards
French acronym (Textiles, Linge de maison, Chaussures) for textiles including clothing (except professional uniforms), household linen (except furnishing fabric) and footwear which are subject to extended producer responsibility obligations. In France, since 2009 and as part of this environmental policy, these products' end of life is managed by Refashion (ex-Eco TLC).

See also: eco-modulation, Extended producer responsibility (EPR), Refashion

Reference: Paris Good Fashion
The ability to identify and trace the history, distribution, location and application of products, parts and materials, to ensure the reliability of sustainability claims, in the areas of human rights, labour (including health and safety), the environment and anti-corruption.

Traceability plays an essential role in the complex textile value chain as a means to:

• verify the origin of materials and products;
• substantiate claims of sustainability or social responsibility;
• fight corruption;
• manage product end of life.

Traceability helps build trust between the various stakeholders.

Traceability schemes are an effective way of controlling and reporting a product’s sustainability across the value chain and can intervene at various levels (e.g. fibres, products, social compliance) using different methods (QR Code, RFID, DNA, isotropic signature, etc.) through platforms or digital technologies such as blockchain.

References:
Economic Commission for Europe (2021) Enhancing Sustainability and Circularity of Value Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector
United Nations (2014) A Guide to Traceability A Practical Approach to Advance Sustainability in Global Supply Chains
For cotton to be certified organic, it must be organically grown on land that has transitioned from conventional methods over a period of up to three years. This transition is needed in order to eliminate chemical residues that earlier, conventional methods left in the soil. During this time, farmers implement practices required to achieve organic certification, including not using chemical inputs. Cotton produced during this three-year interim is called in-conversion or transitional cotton.

Growers are particularly vulnerable during the transition period as they frequently harvest lower yields. Converting to organic cotton therefore requires a firm commitment from brands that they will source their fibres from certified conversion programmes.

References:
Textile Exchange
Public disclosure of comprehensive, credible and comparative information about a company’s value chain.

Transparency demonstrates that a company knows what is happening across its value chain and carries out controls, thanks to which it can guarantee respect for human and workers’ rights and for the environment. In this respect, transparency satisfies growing demand for information among consumers, NGOs and investors.

Traceability and transparency together facilitate the identification, reporting and remediation of social and environmental problems. They form the basis of a more sustainable, more ethical fashion industry.

French multinationals are required by a law of 2017 (“devoir de vigilance des sociétés mères et des entreprises donneuses d’ordre” / “due diligence of corporations and main contractors”) to implement a surveillance plan in order to prevent social and environmental risks across their value chain.

References:
Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2020) Vision of a circular economy for fashion
Follow the Thread (2017)
European Commission (2017) A Background Analysis on Transparency and Traceability in the Garment Value Chain
A business concept that measures a company’s performance from the point of view of its social impact, environmental impact and financial profitability (“people, planet, profit”).

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The term was coined in 1994 by John Elkington, a business author and founder of SustainAbility strategy consultancy. Elkington posited that the traditional measure of corporate success – net income or the bottom line - did not reflect its actual value. A company can be financially successful but damaging to the social or ecological environment in which it is embedded.

Elkington suggested expanding how we evaluate corporate performance by adding two more “bottom lines”. As well as measuring profit or loss, companies would also report on their contribution to social equity and welfare, and on their ecological impact.

References:
France Terme
Elkington, J. (2013). Enter the triple bottom line. In: The triple bottom line (pp. 23-38). Routledge
HEC