Honest by.

Honest by. is an e-commerce platform with a difference.
A totally revolutionary fashion website, offering a clothing line completely made from environmentally and animal friendly materials.
Though this might not seem like a revolutionary idea in itself, the creator / designer, Bruno Pieters (former Hugo Boss designer), has made it his goal to create a truly transparent experience.
The site offers a cost breakdown of every garment, from the fabric used, buttons, thread, labels, security seal, button bag to manufacturing details, price calculation and the total carbon footprint of the selected item. Items are filtered by whether the materials used are: Organic, Vegan, Skin Friendly, Recycled, European or even Animal Welfare for non-certified fabrics. Once the filter has been selected, garments are displayed and the cost breakdown may be viewed.

The site is meticulous on detail, and provides specific information on each fabric used. From the composition of the fabric, the weight, yarn or piece dyed, origin of the raw material, the people responsible for making it identified by name, no expense is spared in creating a completely transparent operation.

This holds true even in the price calculation section, the fabrics are identified individually complete with the price by meter, as well as the amount used and calculated. Pieters has indicated that 20% of the profits will go to a charity chosen by the designer, while 80% will fund growth, including the hiring of new staff and expanding collections.

Even the carbon footprint of each garment is calculated by a Belgian environmental organization, Ecolife (unfortunately there is no english version of the site), who have spent a lot of time monitoring and calculating the CO2 emissions at each stage of development. They relate the results in terms of how far one would have to drive a car to achieve said CO2 emissions, or even how long a light bulb would have to burn to create the effect.
This absolute obsession with detail, transparency, environmental conscience, giving back to the community and doing all this, while still being fashionable is nothing short of incredible.

Located in Belgium, this concept holds the potential to become an international phenomenon. Past ethical fashion initiatives such as Edun, Bono and his wife Ali Hewson’s brainchild, have struggled to ensure that the mission not overshadow the product. After having lost a lot of money in the process, their only option was to sell 49% of the shares to the luxury behemoth, LVMH.
The cost of having products made in such a transparent manner is a very daunting prospect, and yet Pieters’ idea of absolute clarity might just be the missing link in creating a successful ethical enterprise. I look forward to see how this idea is received and hope to be able to report a success in the future.
What do you think?