Ecotextile Talks. “The MSI really provides a comprehensive scoring framework to truly look at the whole lifecycle of a material to help designers, developers and brands make better material decisions when it comes to environmental impacts,” starts Lardeau, explaining how previously, stakeholders had licence to work by their own criteria. “It’s a helpful tool because it establishes the assessment criteria and provides the data so we can all agree on the rules of the road for evaluating materials and we can speak the same language.” Previously, brands and retailers had their own criteria and codes of conduct that had the potential to frustrate suppliers, each tasked with meeting the individual expectations of different companies.