With the introduction of Chloé Craft, the Maison increases the number of its products handcrafted by independent artisans. Environmentally-speaking, 58% of the collection in now made from lower-impact materials. Employing several collaborations with social enterprises, the “love” that Gabriela Hearst brings to the newly certified B-corp brand “encompasses both people and the planet”. Quote marks signify the brand’s own verbiage, not AOC’s.

The campaign features dresses constructed using tubular laces made from deadstock printed silk, which have been macraméd together by World Fair Trade organization guaranteed member Akanjo; ponchos hand painted with indigo stripes, and the Edith bag in multicolor patchwork.

Lensed by photographer Zoë Ghertner [IG] on Playa El Tecolote in Mexico, the shoot was styled by Camilla Nickerson and art directed by Peter Miles. AOC is delighted to see models Devyn Garcia [recent work] and Quannah Chasinghorse [recent work] in the model lineup.

Totally Confused by Good on You

As AOC drills down more deeply into the sustainability ratings that Google page 1 delivers about brands via self-appointed ‘ratings agencies’ like Good on You, I am stupefied by the chasm that exists between these affiliate-income revenue websites ratings and actual actions being taken by the brands we write about.

If Good on You results were on Google page 2-3, I wouldn’t care. But they are most likely to be on page 1 and often the lead.

In my opinion, Google should be certifying the ‘raters’, rather than insinuating that just because they’ve got a good app going with significant eyeballs, that techno usage warrants page 1 truth and accuracy positioning.

Admittedly, I haven’t reached out directly to Good On You to ask them about the actual rating system they employ. In fact, I was one click away from hitting the send button to Sandra last week, but I found an error in my own evaluation of Good on You’s transparency policy.

Unlike the website, I fell back and decided to do more homework, because even though it was a private communication question, I was loathe to be wrong. And I would have been wrong, had I sent the email.

Just now, I was gobsmacked, reading Good on You’s evaluation of Chloe. And I’m not linking into it, because Google will give them a bonus point upwards, given it’s AOC linking in. This rating was last updated on November 2021.

Good on You’s confusing-to-me rating of Chloe says “No certifications recorded”. Really?

Wanting to inspire better performance in brands, they avoid at all costs, giving brands an ‘F’, or the lowest ratings. ‘Not good enough’ is typically as bad as it gets

The real question here is what does “No certifications recorded” even mean?

I knew that Chloe had achieved B-Corp certification widely praised by Anne of Carversville on 10/25/2021.Chloé Claims First Luxury Fashion Brand B Corporation Certification AOC Sustainability.

Chloe themselves posted the good news of their B-Corp status on their official website on October 18, 2021. Watch the video.

Bird-Dogging the Sustainability Raters

I automatically check now what Good on You has to say about a brand, because Sandra is sending out that information far and wide. AOC is also reviewing how Good on You wannabes work. In no way do I want to make Good on You the only focus of this concerning-to-me situation.

Sandra’s assessment of the brand — frequently a large, well-known one — typically comes first in Google. After ‘hammering’ a brand — as I do all the time on AOC — she then tries to generate an affiliate income sale from sites recommended by her as an alternative good choice, to big, bad Chloe in this case.

In the process dedicated to transparency, accuracy and trust, Good on You has an obligation to be fair and accurate. That’s my only point in our fake news world.

Had the self-appointed ‘rater’ set a last six months or last 30 days Google search on Chloe before issuing a November 2021 update that is patently false, she might have made a different decision on Chloe’s rating. I would hope so, because as Forbes noted about the B-corporation process in February, 2020:

Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, Ella’s Kitchen, Propercorn and Allbirds are all B-Corps. They are just 5 of the more well known 3,200 B-Corps, which sit across 150 industries in 64 countries.
B-Corp is a certification that shows the world what your company stands for. It is not easy to get and this is what makes it so meaningful.

This Harvard Business Review article also explains the ins and outs of B corporations.

I will say no more in this moment, except that I make myself crazy on the question of accuracy in everything AOC writes. Still, mistakes abound.

Admittedly, Chloe and Gabriela Hearst encourage me in this fight to transform the fashion industry into one with widely-available sustainable options. In a real sense having the prestigious Good on You rating be at total odds with what I’ve written about a brand suggests that either I am a tool of the fashion industry or one of us has a problem with our sustainability-discussion criteria.

Perhaps GOY is too harsh and AOC is not harsh enough. The answer may lie in the middle.

Gabriela Hearst Takes Chloé to Bugatti Speed in Redefining Purpose for Luxury Brands AOC Fashion

Bottom line, people need to better understand exactly how Good on You rates — one that drills down far deeper than a superficial statement that they review certifications and values. Who says their criteria are the best ones? Because if their system doesn’t include achieving B-corporation status, then I’m not very impressed with their ratings system.

I will gladly publish any comments Good on You wants to share about their Chloe November 2021 update.

My intention here was to just share the Chloe Spring 2022 ad campaign that we missed posting. But once I landed on Good on You’s erroneous in my humble opinion, November 2021 assessment of a brand that inspires me — and the woman Gabriela Hearst leading that brand — I dropped everything to protest.

With no more commentary from me, here’s the rest of Chloe’s Spring 2022 campaign. ~ Anne