Written by Craig Landale in Brands on the 18th October 2021

Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy. Society’s most challenging problems cannot be solved by government and non-profits alone. The B Corp community works toward reduced inequality, lower levels of poverty, a healthier environment, stronger communities, and the creation of more high-quality jobs with dignity and purpose. By harnessing the power of business, B Corps use profits and growth as a means to a greater end: positive impact for their employees, communities, and the environment. They form a community of leaders and drive a global movement of people using business as a force for good. 

Certifying as a B Corporation goes beyond product- or service-level certification. B Corp Certification is the only certification that measures a company’s entire social and environmental performance. The B Impact Assessment evaluates how a company’s operations and business model impact workers, community, environment, and customers. From supply chain and input materials to charitable giving and employee benefits, B Corp Certification proves a business is meeting the highest standards of verified performance. Positive impact is supported by transparency and accountability requirements. B Corp Certification doesn’t just prove where a company excels now — it commits them to consider stakeholder impact for the long term by building it into a company’s legal structure.

B Impact Score 

To certify as a B Corp, a company must achieve a minimum verified score of 80 points on the B Impact Assessment. The B Impact Assessment asks questions about how the day-to-day operations of a company create positive impact for the company’s workers, community, and environment. Additionally, companies can earn further points if their overall business model can be shown to create positive social and environmental impact as well, qualifying the company for specific Impact Business Model points. 

Patagoni 

Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, Patagonia is an outdoor apparel company based in Ventura, California. Their mission is to save our home planet. The company is recognised internationally for its commitment to authentic product quality and environmental activism, donating 1% of sales annually, contributing over 100 million in grants and in-kind donations since 1985.  

Overall B Impact Score: 151.4

Pala 

The Pala eyewear collection is designed for those who acknowledge the need for a better future, appreciate the world we live in, and embrace the adventure of exploring it. The ultimate travel companion, their long-lasting frames endure the seasons, taking a classic, familiar sunglasses design and updating it with a contemporary finish. Wearable, durable and ready to get you outdoors. Pala unite the sale of their eyewear to improving eye-care in Africa by providing grants to vision centres, dispensaries, and screening programmes through Vision Aid Overseas. 

Overall B Impact Score: 84.1 

TOMS 

TOMS is a footwear and lifestyle brand using business to improve lives. Since 2006, their community has impacted 100,000,000 lives through supporting the work of non-profit organisations around the world. They believe in a future where all people have a chance to thrive, that’s why they're committing 1/3 of all profits to grassroots good, in support of the people working to build a more equitable tomorrow. TOMS believe in a future where all people have a chance to thrive, and their support is focused on boosting mental health, increasing access to opportunity, and ending gun violence — all elements they know to be essential for progress to take root. 

Overall B Impact Score: 121.5

Vivobarefoot 

Vivobarefoot is on a mission to reconnect people and planet through making footwear that is regenerative to human movement and planetary health. Created by two cousins from a long line of cobblers, Galahad and Asher Clark are on a quest to make the perfect footwear — perfect for feet. They use barefoot design principles using wide toe boxes, thin soles and flexible structures which are scientifically proven to improve foot health and how we move. They believe the only real model of environmental sustainability is the natural world itself: nature is the path to human wellbeing and their business goals are designed to help regenerate and restore the environment. 

Overall B Impact Score: 98.8 

Bird 

Bird makes beautiful, design-led eyewear using high quality and sustainable materials, and for every pair sold they distribute solar light to remote communities in Africa through their Share Your Sun partnership with SolarAid. Bird's premium frames use materials including FSC certified wood, bio-based acetate, and repurposed aerospace aluminium. Founded by three brothers from Devon, UK, Bird is helping to drive change in the eyewear industry by designing beautiful frames that both look great and do good. With each pair of Bird sunglasses purchased, a family in Africa benefits from a solar lamp. These solar lamps replace the standard kerosene lamps that are in most households. By eliminating dirty kerosene lamps, families benefit from better health, leading to better mental wellbeing, fewer hours of work and school missed and enabling people to be more productive, as well as saving CO2. 

Overall B Impact Score: 89.5

Riz 

A London swimwear tailor with a simple mission to spread a little sunshine whilst having a positive impact on our planet. Riz realise that the world is as vulnerable as it is beautiful. With more people living in cities, living on their phones and constantly busy, there is a growing need to slow down and reconnect with nature. Their shorts are designed for a more thoughtful life, created to connect you to the beach and beyond. They believe in a ‘less but better’ philosophy, an approach perfect for conscious consumers and gentlemen who value both long lasting style and the environment. Both the clothing industry and our oceans are full of waste, which is why not only are Riz shorts beautiful and long lasting but since the birth of the brand in 2009, every pair of shorts has been made from recycled materials. 

Overall B Impact Score: 93.9 

Finisterre 

Born from the needs of British cold-water surfers, Finisterre builds the best and most sustainable products possible for those that share a love of the sea. It started in 2003 in a flat above a surf shop with an innovative fleece that was designed to keep out chill winds and warm up cold bodies. Since these early days, driven by those who have jumped on board, supported by their customers and suppliers, the brand and product has widened beyond these original beginnings. Yet from their cliff top workshop in St. Agnes, they've stayed true to their original design ethos of functionality and sustainability brought to life in an understated style and identity, always remaining committed to product, environment, and people. 

Overall B Impact Score: 93.2

Elvis & Kresse 

Elvis & Kresse have been reclaiming heroic materials ever since they fell in love with London Fire Brigade's decommissioned firehose. After a distinguished career fighting fires and saving lives the hoses were destined for landfill. They started to rescue the hoses in 2005 and never looked back. More materials soon followed, Kresse has always had an obsession with waste and likes nothing better than discovering and intercepting something new. The challenge is the same every time - what can be done to prove value, change perception, and respect these resources. Today, Elvis & Kresse's highly skilled craftspeople make beautifully designed bags and homeware. 50% of their profits are donated to charities related to their raw materials, 50% of their profits from the fire hose range go to The Fire Fighters Charity. London's fire hose was just the beginning, the team reclaims more than 12 different materials and has saved over 300 tonnes from landfill.

 

"In 2015 we became one of the first businesses in the UK to certify as a B Corp. Why did we do this? Because B Corps all understand that we have to act in the best interests of everyone. We all have to sign the B Corp Declaration of Interdependence. We have to be the change we want to see in the world. We have to conduct business as if people and place matter. We must aspire to do no harm and benefit all. We must act like we understand that we are each dependent upon another and thus responsible for each other and future generations." - Kresse Wesling CBE, Co-Founder of Elvis & Kresse.   

Overall B Impact Score: 90.3

Patagoni, Pala Eyewear, TOMS, VIVOBAREFOOT, Bird Eyewear, Riz Boardshorts, Finisterre, and Elvis & Kresse are The Best Men’s Fashion B Corp Brands.