Fashion retailer Zalando has announced that it will make mandatory for brands selling on its platform to make a sustainability assessment. Zalando has collaborated with Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and Higg Co to accelerate a global sustainability standard in the fashion industry. Zalando is the first retailer to use the SAC’s updated version of the Higg Brand & Retail Module.

As part of this push toward industry-wide change, Zalando will gather comparable sustainability data from its partner brands to understand where the challenges of the industry are both individually and collectively. Higg BRM data will help Zalando identify trends and explore how to develop solutions to drive meaningful and lasting improvement in collaboration with its partner brands.

Kate Heiny (pictured), Director Sustainability at Zalando said: "The Higg BRM will help us achieve our goal to continuously increase our ethical standards and by 2023 only work with partners who align with them."