For example, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, led by Patagonia, has engaged over 30% of the global apparel and footwear companies who are now held accountable to a single sustainability index.

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Together the two companies teamed up to create the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, inviting other major brands, such as Levi Strauss, Nike, Gap and Adidas to join them in crafting clear, quantifiable standards for environmentally responsible clothing production.

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In addition to eventually adding more functionality and a consumer-facing label to the Higg Index, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition plans to add more high-end fashion companies to its membership roster in the near future, which would differentiate it from virtually every other sustainability initiative in the apparel industry.

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