Florah Criteria
What determines which brands are featured on Florah?
The vetting process for brands is one of the most time-intensive parts of Florah. We’re not messing around here, no ma’am! The brands that appear on the site have been chosen from the sea of brands out there because they’re holistically ethical and shine in a few important ways (see Key Attributes below).
I use relatively strict criteria when it comes to vetting brands, in order to separate out the companies that 1) greenwash to appear more ethical and sustainable than they really are and/or 2) are ethical in some regards and not ethical in others. It is wild how many brands appear to be ethical based on their site, and then won’t answer emails that inquire into their working conditions and practices. Yikes!
Exceptions and flexibility
I’m mindful of the fact that certain companies are fully transparent about their shortcomings and are working to improve their practices. It’s not a cut-and-dried system, and I will include companies on the site that clearly have their hearts in the right place and are making real efforts to improve their practices as finances allow, but may be startups and not able to invest in the creme de la creme of ethical practices upfront.
The goal with Florah is to find and promote exceptional, ethical companies — and not to be uncompromising about or blind to the realities that even the best-hearted young companies face as they try to scale.
If you have any questions on the matter, please feel free to email me at blythe@kindvalentine.com! With that said, these are the key attributes that you can expect to find from all brands (and products) that you find on Florah.
Key Attributes
Absolutely no furry, finned, or feathered friends harmed in the name of fashion here. You can count on the fact that all products featured on Florah are 100% vegan. Brands that are fully vegan are denoted with a (V).
Florah’s Brand Pages feature only 100% vegan brands. The Blog and the Shop may feature vegan products from brands that are not fully vegan. Vegan brands are always favored, but sometimes I feature products from truly amazing brands that, for instance, happen to use recycled wool in a few products and thus are not fully vegan. But, again, I never feature non-vegan products on the site!
The brands and products featured on Florah respect and protect the planet. But unlike being 100% vegan, being “sustainable” as a brand is more of a spectrum, and different companies embody sustainability in different ways. One helpful baseline is the eco-friendliness of materials used. (More on that here.) Many brands also embody sustainability by: using eco-conscious production methods, offsetting carbon, donating to earth-friendly charities, using biodegradable packaging, etc.
Part of any holistically ethical garment or accessory is consideration for the people who made it. My philosophy around worker protection is that a company must either (1) produce its products in a country that has strong worker-protection laws in place, or, if not (2) the brand must be transparent and make crystal clear that it takes responsibility and ownership to go beyond national/local laws in ensuring safe & healthy working conditions and fair wages. (Ideally, they do both 1 & 2.)