This week Australia and New Zealand’s leading e-commerce platform THE ICONIC launched a new part of their website, Considered by THE ICONIC, allowing customers to shop by their personal sustainability values. This is not a new concept, smaller ethical fashion focussed online marketplaces have led the way with this business model, however this marks the first time a major Australasian e-tailer has taken this step.
THE ICONIC’s aim is to demystify the complex and often confusing world of sustainable fashion by providing customers education and accessibility. Aiming to circumvent corporate greenwashing, the business have credited their sustainability values to individual products rather than brands. Evaluating products on 30 sustainability factors, the business has conveniently funnelled them into just five ‘Sustainability Credentials‘ so shoppers can filter and search products by the values that matter most to them: Sustainable Materials, Eco-Production, Fair Production, Animal-Friendly and Community Engagement.
With over 6,400 products from 300+ brands listed, customers won’t be starved for choice when browsing Considered. Each is thoroughly categorised to take the confusion and inconvenience that comes with shopping conscious fashion.
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The e-commerce giant aims to have 10 percent of its product offerings fall under Considered by THE ICONIC by 2020. To achieve this, it will source stock from existing sustainable brands as well as encourage mainstream fashion brands to make positive changes in their supply chains so that they they be eligible to be considered.
Sustainability Values
Founded by Finn Haensel, Adam Jacobs, Andreas Otto and Cameron Votan in 2011, the Sydney-based online retailer merged and became a part of the Global Fashion Group (GFG) in 2014, a global company with net revenue of over €1 billion and operating in more than 24 countries across four continents.
In 2017, the young company made its move into conscious fashion, championed by Head of Sustainability and Ethical Sourcing at THE ICONIC, Jana Quaintance-James, she and her team are responsible for laying sustainability into the business foundations.
“By simplifying sustainable credentials into five easy to understand categories, our customers now have the ability to shop by what’s important to them,” says Quaintance-James.
“Concerned about climate change? Shop Eco-Production. Animal person? Shop Animal Friendly. Want to have a positive impact on society when you shop? Shop Community Engagement.”
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Considered, THE ICONIC’s sustainable fashion vertical, launched on Tuesday with an intimate dinner event at farm to table restaurant Acre Eatery in Camperdown, Sydney. The dinner was supported by a panel discussion of familiar names in the eco community, giving weight and support to THE ICONIC for making sustainability a core focus such as Vogue Sustainability Editor-at-Large Clare Press, Head of Fashion Revolution Australia and NZ Melinda Tually, designer Maggie Hewitt of Maggie Marilyn and Outland Denim’s James Bartle.
Discussing the number of ways in which brands can be sustainable, the panel’s overarching message was clear: humans aren’t perfect, neither are brands (including Considered by THE ICONIC) but as a collective community, our informed and conscious choices have the power to create change.
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As Australasia’s fastest growing online shopping platform with over 200 new products arriving on the site daily across womens, mens and kids categories, the company has a long way to go yet in departing from a business model that relies on mass consumerism. However the investment in time and effort and the financial resources plunged into Considered by THE ICONIC should be commended.
“As an important milestone in our 2020 Sustainability and Ethical Sourcing strategy, we hope Considered by THE ICONIC drives greater demand for sustainable brands and products, while debunking the misconception that sustainable fashion is either expensive or unfashionable, an in general inaccessible,” says Jana Quaintance-James.
To learn more about THE ICONIC’s journey to ethical and sustainable sourcing, visit their website here.
Recommending reading:
- An Open Letter to the Ethical Fashion Movement
- 69 Facts and Statistics About Fast Fashion That Will Inspire You To Become An Ethical Fashion Advocate
- Get Educated With These Free Sustainable Fashion and Ethical Business Online Courses
- 4 Must-See Short Online Films on The Topic of Fast Fashion
- 32 Thought-Provoking Quotes About Ethical, Sustainable and Fast Fashion
- The Sustainable Fashion Blueprint Report 2018: Industry Overview and Business Opportunities
Title image is a screen shot of THE ICONIC website taken on 18th April 2019.
