Chloé developing a social impact measuring tool

French luxury fashion house Chloé has announced that it is developing the industry’s first social impact measuring tool, which it hopes can be adopted across the fashion industry.

The tool is being designed to help a brand measure, evaluate and visualise its social impact to address the fact that while there are many tools to measure fashion’s environmental impact there is no equivalent for calculating the social impact throughout the entire value chain.

The Compagnie Financière Richemont-owned brand said that the Social Impact Measurement tool or Social Performance and Leverage (SP&L) will be an open-source methodology that can be mobilised throughout the fashion industry once ready. Adding that it hopes that the tool will provide guidance for decision-making when it comes to sourcing strategy and product design.

The project, which began 18-months ago, reflects the brand’s manifesto and long-term commitment to uplift women, eradicate gender-based inequalities and promote inclusivity, to create products that have a positive impact on people.

Chloé working with Institut Français de la Mode and Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers on industry’s first social impact measuring tool

The tool works in tandem with the Environmental Impact Report published by Chloé in July 2021 and will similarly mobilise social auditing, integrating risk analysis and identifying potential positive impacts throughout the value chain. Chloé adds that evaluating social and environmental impact holistically will become the cornerstone of its sustainability strategy.

The SP&L is an industry and academic collaboration between Chloé, Institut Français de la Mode and Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (the Foresight and Sustainable Development Department) and the tool’s metrics are based on sustainable value creation reports published by the World Economic Forum and International Business Council.

The tool, which is now entering an advanced stage of development, is being designed to ensure working conditions maintain positive social practices, with metrics according to six indicators: gender equality, living wage, diversity and inclusion, training, well-being and job quality. It will also enable brands to visualise their impact on people working directly on their products, from sourcing materials to boutique deliveries, including workers employed by the Maison’s suppliers as well as its own employees.

With Chloé explaining that the elements within the ‘job quality’ indicator, including tenure, pay progression, promotion, turnover and use of soft skills including active listening, coordination, responsibility and group work, have been defined based on the work of French economist Philippe Aghion, the son of the house’s founder Gaby Aghion.

The methodology is currently being reviewed by professional services network PricewaterhouseCoopers, adds Chloé, before an industry-wide consultation process takes place later this year, where participating brands will take part in pilot schemes to test the methodology and update it if necessary. It is hoped that the finalised SP&L methodology will be shared in 2023.