Clothing manufacturer Icebreaker has made it easy for buyers to discover how the company's garments are made. With Icebreaker's 'Baacode,' customers can trace a garment through every step of Icebreaker's production process.

Icebreaker has previously committed to creating sustainable garments through ethical practices. Their Baacode is a masterstroke: not only does Icebreaker promise to provide sustainable clothing, but the company has also made itself transparent in an effort to support its promise. Consumers don't need to rely on third-party certification to decide whether the product is sustainable — they just go online and trace the process themselves.

According to Icebreaker founder and CEO Jeremy Moon, transparency is integral to the company's mission.  "For us, sustainability is about transparency and being able to show the whole design of the business, which starts with the growers and continues through every step of the supply chain," he says. 

The Baacode system allows a buyer to track a garment right back to the source: Merino fibers bought from New Zealand farmers who comply with a set of stringent guidelines covering long-term environmental practices, animal health and welfare and fiber quality. Customers see the living conditions of the sheep on the specific station or farm where the fibers for their garments come from and meet the farmers responsible, as well as examine the production process.

While other companies have introduced a level of transparency by offering access to their production facilities and methods, very few go to the lengths to which Icebreaker goes to link a product right back to the people responsible for materials. Remember, these sheep farmers are not actually part of Icebreaker's company. Legally, Icebreaker has no obligation to check the methods they use to produce merino fibers.

"We made the decision to put this information online to give consumers a clear understanding of Icebreaker, and of our deep commitment to the environment and to social ethics," Moon says.

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