Between May 2023 and April 2024, Belgian journalist Sarah Vandoorne interviewed 12 apparel companies. Seven of these received inspections and five received warnings in 2022. During the same period, Dutch journalist Nora Veerman interviewed 10 clothing companies, three of which were challenged by consumer authorities over misleading sustainability claims.
Veerman and Vandoorne also held in-depth discussions with the agencies responsible for conducting greenwashing inspections. In Belgium, this is the Economic Inspection of the Federal Public Service Economy; in the Netherlands, it is the Consumer and Market Authority. They also spoke to business consultants, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), industry associations and professors specialising in sustainability reporting and consumer law.
Fiore Farhand was also involved, finally. As part of her Master's degree in Critical Fashion Practices, she collaborated on this research project, conducting a comparative study of sustainability pages on brand websites.
