The Higg Data Debate: No Room for Context, Imagination, or Co-Creation — Transformers Foundation

The consumer-facing product labeling tool known as the Higg Material Sustainability Index (MSI) is under fire for greenwashing. The accusation leveled by the New York Times is that the fabric ranking system (created by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition) favors petroleum-based synthetics over natural fibers. Less than a week later, the Norwegian Consumer Authority ordered fashion brand Norrøna to stop using Higg data in its marketing on the basis that it was misleading. On June 27th, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition announced its decision to temporarily pause the consumer-facing MSI. Like many conversations in sustainable fashion, the subject of debate is the data. Are the numbers used to make the claim true, or not? Is the data reliable, or not? Should we have used different data? Do we have better data? And if we don’t, is inadequate data better than no data? For example, the New York Times allegations were made on the basis that Higg data is outdated and funded by the synthetics ind

The consumer-facing product labeling tool known as the Higg Material Sustainability Index (MSI) is under fire for greenwashing. The accusation leveled by the New York Times is that the fabric ranking system (created by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition) favors petroleum-based synthetics over natural fibers. Less than a week later, the Norwegian Consumer Authority ordered fashion brand Norrøna to stop using Higg data in its marketing on the basis that it was misleading. On June 27th, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition announced its decision to temporarily pause the consumer-facing MSI. Like many