Fashion Brands Seek Stronger Sustainable Marketing Guardrails

Clothing retailer Everlane—which prides itself on “consciously crafted” essentials—was just two years old in 2012, the last time US regulators updated guidance on how companies can tout their environmental credentials to customers.

Since then, terms like sustainable, carbon neutral and organic have become commonplace among fashion brands, leaving Everlane and other US retailers frustrated as they wait for an update to the Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides for using such marketing terms. Such an update could appease consumers skeptical about loose marketing claims, help shield companies from litigation and get the US closer to keeping pace with the European Union, ...