A carefully curated who’s who of sustainable-fashion influence and media attended an intimate dinner at Sydney’s the Acre last week, introducing Australian retailer the Iconic’s first foray into value-driven shopping.
It wasn’t long ago that boutique-startup come household name The Iconic, was celebrating an increase in market share, with 15% of all households across Australia and New Zealand shopping with them in 2018.
The Iconic’s online store currently has over 1000 brands with around 60,000 available products. Last week, the retailer announced the launch of a new and considered way to shop their popular range of fashion and accessories.
The ‘Considered Edit’ went live with an impressive 30% of, or 300 brands – including those newly introduced for the range – offering one or more products which meet at least one of their conscious consumer values.
The set of five values refined by the Iconic as their newest way to shop, are;
- Sustainable Materials
- Eco-Production
- Fair Production
- Animal Friendly
- Community
The requirement for a product to meet just one criteria is a low entry-to-market when it comes to upholding ethical and sustainable fashion values, yet they say this is pro-actively intentional.
By making it easier for their brands to participate, introduce more value-aligned products and engage with the conscious consumer, the Iconic is operating with the idea that small shifts made by a large scale audience, can outweigh the revolutionary-impact of a small group making major changes.
“We don’t need a handful of people being perfectly sustainable, we need millions of people doing it imperfectly”. (adaptation of Quote by) Anne-Marie Banneau – Zero Waste Chef
Margaret Mead (may have) said “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”, yet for this to be true, at some juncture there needs to be a tipping point, and that starts with more people doing small positive things, on a grand scale.
So what impact can the support of a major outlet like the Iconic have on consumer decisions?
The use of assets like technology, culture and influence could produce a shift in attitudes and behaviours which no major retailer has so far achieved. The site’s new shopping experience doesn’t just support those who shop values, but introduces everyone who comes across one of the 6,000 items in the range to the concept of value-driven shopping, thereby providing consumer education and a wider reach for ethical brands.
Heading up the Sustainability and Ethical Sourcing department since 2017, Jaana Quaintance-James is a force for change who states that the launch of a program like Considered is something she’s been working towards her entire career.
Quaintance-James explains the journey saying they aimed to enable customers to shop consciously with ease. “Sustainability means different things to different people, and for many, understanding this space and its complexities can be overwhelming. By simplifying sustainability credentials…our customers now have the ability to shop by what’s important to them.”
A few of the ethically-produced brands pioneering the collection include; KITX, Manning Cartell, Patagonia, Nobody Denim and Veja.
One week out from launch, we tried searching their site by the Fair Production value which delivered results of 159 products.
On the plus side, the brands we saw were deserving of the credential, meaning the Iconic is staying true to their promise of holding brands accountable and doing credibility checks before introducing them to the range.
CEO Erica Bertchtold acknowledges that while the newest range is a major milestone for the business, they by no means claim to have everything figured out, “..we are humble enough to know that this is a journey and we still have much work to do. Considered is only the beginning of our commitment and we’re excited to accelerate for further progress.”
In speaking to some of the new ethical sourcing team at last week’s launch, and listening to their executive team speak passionately about sustainability values, you can see why they’ve been able to make significant policy updates through to inception in such a short period of around 12 months – they truly believe in what they’re doing and have built the culture to make it happen.
In the next 12 months, we look forward to seeing if this passion can empower more brands in the same way.
Punctuating the genuine relationships formed with key figures in the ethical fashion movement was a Q&A panel moderated by Vogue Australia’s Sustainability Editor-at-large and Author Clare Press, and featuring Outland Denim’s founder James Bartle, NZ-based Ethical Fashion Designer Maggie Hewitt (Maggie Marilyn), and Fashion Revolution Country Coordinator for Australia, Mel Tually, at their intimate launch. The esteemed panel affirmed commitment to the success of the Iconic’s vision, and a collaborative approach to getting it done.
By the end of the evening, guests were aglow with a new opportunity for sustainable shopping, and the possibility of welcoming a growing population of ethical shoppers into the fold.
Considered by THE ICONIC is now live on THE ICONIC here.
Read more about THE ICONIC’s Sustainability and Ethical Sourcing journey here.
DISCLOSURE – Links in this article may contain affiliate referrals. This article was not endorsed, or sponsored by the Iconic. Opinions and experiences our own, words by Editor, Ethical Fashion Review.
