The British Retail Consortium has drafted new guidelines for vegan fashion to be 100 percent ethical and sustainable.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC), a trade body for stores and online sellers has updated guidelines for vegan products after demand for vegan products skyrocketed and the group ‘was inundated with requests from fashion buyers trying to source vegan products for the first time,” reported the Guardian.

With the new rules, businesses can only label their products ‘vegan’ if every ingredient utilized in the product, including the fabric, glue, dye and wax is animal-free.

The trader body also clarified that retailers cannot add the word ‘sustainable’ to their vegan products simply because they are not by-products of the animal kingdom.

According to BRC, the new guidelines will help customers choose 100% cruelty-free products, as many shoppers complain they often get confused and cannot discern whether a product is sustainable or otherwise based on retailers’ obscure labelling.

Conscious buyers

A Mintel study highlighted that over 57% of British shoppers that comprised two-thirds of 16- to 24-year-olds were conscious of buying ethical products.

“It’s no longer enough for clothing to be priced well or to reference the latest trends. Many young people today are likely to be influenced by the ‘Attenborough’ or ‘Greta’ effects and are becoming far more aware of the negative effects of fast fashion,” said Chana Baram, a retail analyst at Mintel.

Vegan trend

Many fashion brands including Marks & Spencer’s, Topshop, New Look, Snag and Miomojo have exclusive vegan lines to cater to growing demand as more and more people vow to choose cruelty-free, eco-friendly brands.

Elsewhere, Adidas and its long-term partner Parley for the Oceans launched a limited-edition capsule collection featuring football cleats, running footwear, and training apparel made with ocean plastic along with opening Miami’s first sustainable football field made from 1.8 million plastic bottles.

• Read: Tesco to scrap 67 million plastic pieces by ditching shrink-wrap for multipack tins

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