What Does a Certified Score of 95 Actually Mean? Inside Wellicious’ Positive Luxury Assessment

Behind Wellicious outstanding Positive Luxury Butterfly Mark certified score of 95 - and what the number really tells us about how we make yoga and activewear.

A sustainability score can look impressive on a page. But a number on its own doesn't tell you very much. The more important question is: what sits behind it?

When we were awarded the Positive Luxury Butterfly Mark in 2026, we achieved a certified score of 95. It was a result we were incredibly proud of — particularly because the certification requires companies to demonstrate performance across a broad range of environmental, social and governance criteria.

But rather than simply celebrating the number, we wanted to take a closer look at what it actually means. Because a score of 95 isn't based on one material, one product or one sustainability initiative. It reflects a much bigger picture of how a business operates.

Looking beyond the label

The Positive Luxury Butterfly Mark assesses businesses across three fundamental areas: Environment, Social and Governance (ESG). To achieve certification, companies must provide evidence across a comprehensive range of sustainability issues and achieve at least 50% in each of the three pillars. Wellicious achieved:

94% Environment
98% Social
91% Governance

Our overall certified score of 95 therefore represents performance across the business — from the materials we choose and the way we manage waste to how we work with people, our supply chain, our governance and our approach to responsible business practices. It is this breadth that makes the result particularly meaningful to us.

94% Environment: looking at the impact of what we make

For a yoga and activewear brand, environmental responsibility starts long before a pair of leggings reaches your wardrobe. It begins with the materials we choose, how products are made, the resources involved and what happens to them at the end of their useful life.

Wellicious achieved an Environment score of 94%, with particularly strong results across several individual areas:

• 100% Water
• 97% Hazardous Materials
• 100% Biodiversity
• 100% Waste
• 88% Climate
• 98% Circularity
• 100% Packaging

These results reflect areas that have been central to the Wellicious philosophy from the beginning: circular design, carefully selected materials, responsible European manufacturing and reducing unnecessary waste.

They also show why environmental responsibility can't be reduced to a single claim such as “made from sustainable materials”. Water matters. Chemicals matter. Waste matters. Packaging matters. Biodiversity matters. Climate matters. And what happens to a garment at the end of its life matters too. The assessment looks across all of these areas.

98% Social: the people behind the product

There is another side to responsible fashion that is sometimes overlooked: the people who make it possible. Wellicious achieved a Social score of 98%, including:

• 100% People Management
• 89% Human Rights & Modern Slavery
• 100% Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
• 100% Health, Safety & Wellbeing

For us, this reflects the belief that responsible fashion isn't only about protecting the planet. It is also about creating a business that respects people. That means considering working conditions, human rights, health and safety, inclusion and wellbeing — not just within our own business but throughout our supply chain.

A garment can be beautifully designed and made from carefully selected materials. But responsible fashion also has to ask a much bigger question: Who made it, and under what conditions?

91% Governance: the systems behind the promises

Governance may be the least visible part of sustainability, but it is arguably one of the most important. Why?  Because good intentions need systems behind them. Wellicious achieved a Governance score of 91%, with results including:

• 100% Memberships, Accreditations & Certifications
• 75% Sustainable Development Goals
• 100% Organisational Governance
• 100% Corporate Social Responsibility
• 100% Sustainability Purpose
• 92% Sustainable Procurement
• 100% Ethics & Fair Operating Practices

Governance is about how sustainability becomes embedded into the way a company actually operates. It includes policies, procurement, ethics, accountability and responsible decision-making. It also provides an important reminder: sustainability isn't simply a marketing department's responsibility. For meaningful change to happen, it has to influence the way a business is run.

Three areas where Positive Luxury recognised Wellicious

Alongside our overall score, Positive Luxury specifically recognised Wellicious in three areas:

Biodiversity Conservation

Biodiversity is closely connected to fashion in ways that aren't always obvious. The materials we use, the way they are produced, the chemicals involved, water consumption and pollution can all have consequences for ecosystems. Positive Luxury recognised our approach to understanding and reducing our impact on biodiversity, including our focus on safer materials and responsible production.

Ethics & Fair Operating Practices

Responsible fashion also requires responsible business practices. Positive Luxury recognised Wellicious for our approach to ethics and fair operating practices, including our Codes of Conduct and the way we address areas such as human rights, labour conditions, anti-corruption, whistleblowing and privacy across our business and supply chain.

Circular Economy

Circularity is perhaps the area that most closely reflects the way we have always thought about fashion. Instead of designing products around a linear model — make, use, discard — circular thinking asks different questions.

How can products be designed more responsibly from the beginning?

How can waste be reduced?

What happens to materials after use?

And how can products and resources remain in circulation for as long as possible?

At Wellicious, circularity isn't something we've added as a marketing message. It has been part of our approach to product design and business from the beginning.

So, what does 95 actually mean?

It means that Wellicious has been independently assessed across a broad range of environmental, social and governance criteria — and achieved a high level of performance across all three pillars. It means our result isn't based on one particularly strong area while overlooking everything else. And it means there is evidence behind the number.

Our score of 95 is also 90% above the minimum certification standard, according to the Positive Luxury assessment.

But perhaps the most important thing about the number is what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean we have finished. There is no such thing as a final destination when it comes to sustainability. Standards evolve. Science evolves. Technology evolves. Expectations evolve. And businesses have to evolve with them.

Our own results show that too. While we achieved particularly strong scores across many areas, there are still areas where we can improve. And that's exactly how we see certification: not as a reason to stop asking questions, but as a reason to keep asking better ones.

Certification is about accountability, not just recognition

One of the reasons the Positive Luxury Butterfly Mark is so meaningful to us is the rigour behind the assessment. The Butterfly Mark is based on internationally recognised frameworks, global sustainability standards and evolving legislation. Companies have to provide evidence across a wide range of sustainability issues rather than simply making their own claims.

And certification isn't permanent. Businesses undergo reassessment every two years against evolving standards, creating an ongoing process of improvement and accountability. That matters because responsible fashion shouldn't be about achieving a badge and moving on. It should be about continually looking at what you're doing, understanding where you can do better and being willing to demonstrate your progress.

The number is important. The work behind it matters more.

We are incredibly proud of achieving a Positive Luxury Butterfly Mark certified score of 95. But the number is really a shorthand for something much bigger. It represents the materials we choose. The people and partners we work with. The systems we put in place. The products we design. The waste we try to eliminate. Our approach to circularity. Our commitment to responsible manufacturing. And our belief that luxury should mean more than simply how something looks or feels.

For Wellicious, luxury is also about how something is made, who makes it, what it is made from and what happens next. A score of 95 doesn't tell that whole story. But it gives us an independently assessed measure of where we stand — and, importantly, a benchmark for where we go next.

95 is a milestone. It isn't the destination. And that's what makes the number matter.