Over the last few years, sustainability issues have received increasing attention from consumers and key industry stakeholders. In response, the number of fashion brands disclosing information about their sustainable and ethical initiatives has increased. However, the quality and extent of brand disclosure and their performance on key issues remain highly variable.
The Good On You ratings methodology does not seek to reinvent the wheel or create new sustainability expectations of brands. Our role is to aggregate the various sustainability initiatives, evaluate them for their levels of impact in consultation with industry experts, and consolidate them. As sustainability is a rapidly developing area, the methodology must be reviewed regularly to ensure that best industry practices are maintained whilst staying ahead on new and emerging sustainability issues.
Areas of sustainability that have recently been added to the methodology include microfibres, biodiversity, COVID-19 responses, Xinjiang cotton, and diversity and inclusion.
Recent changes to the Good On You methodology
Latest updates
Fashion methodology: last updated March 2026
Beauty methodology: launched September 2024
Services methodology: launched January 2025
Retailer methodology: launched November 2025
Since May 2024, we proportionately apply more demanding standards to large brands as they inherently have greater impacts and influence. This update ensures Good On You ratings continue to provide consumers with access to the most relevant information on brand sustainability performance.
In December 2024, we made a number of updates to our methodology, primarily in the animals pillar, where we now collect more granular data about the types of lower-impact materials used by brands, and consider additional certifications applicable to wool. We also added indicators to recognise the work of brands demonstrating best practice when working with artisan communities. Under the planet pillar, we are capturing more detail around certified organic materials, and introduced a harsher penalty for brands operating under a fast fashion business model.
In March 2026, we refined our methodology to clarify the non-negotiable criteria that fashion brands must meet across the core pillars of planet, people, and animals.
This update means we first assess brands on 30+ of the most critical issues in their supply chain. Brands that do not demonstrate meaningful action on these issues are, as a result, not assessed on their other sustainability claims or initiatives and cannot receive a rating higher than "Not Good Enough".
This approach reinforces Good On You’s longstanding focus on material impact and makes clearer where brands should be focused on their public reporting. It also improves comparability of ratings for consumers and the retail industry at large, which trusts Good On You's ratings as the benchmark. Most importantly, it continues our commitment to ensuring our methodologies reflect consensus on what best practice should look like for small and large brands. For brands seeking to improve, this outlines a clearer roadmap for improvement.