Picture Organic Clothing co-founder and CEO Julien Durant has revealed that the biggest challenge facing the sporting apparel industry is the fight against greenwashing. In an exclusive interview with our sister publication Outdoor Industry Compass, Durant explains: “There are so many players engaging in greenwashing and talking about sustainability without really being sustainable.”
Criticizing the fast-fashion mindset, Durant continues: “[The fast fashion] industry has embedded in the minds of consumers the assumption that it is enough to buy a product labeled as ‘organic’ or ‘sustainable.’”
For Durant, the solution is to be transparent. “We are trying to navigate in a blurred landscape where consumers can easily lose their bearings. So differentiating ourselves from brands that face accusations of greenwashing is often a matter of communication. Our goal is to be as transparent as possible so that consumers can follow every step of our mission in every project.”
For the head of the B-Corp snowboarding and ski-wear brand, “it is not enough to simply have power and influence; you have to be irreproachable in your own behavior.”
Read the full interview in which Durant discusses the brand’s plans for growth and why this doesn’t have to conflict with sustainability, Picture Organic’s biggest challenge, and why its latest product line and new direction is important, over at OIC now.
