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The IADS attended the 2023 edition of the Global Fashion Summit which took place from June 27th to the 28th in Copenhagen. This year’s theme was “ambition to action” and was an opportunity for industry leaders and professionals to share their knowledge, tools and experience to help shift the industry from vague aspiration towards concrete implementation to achieve a net-positive industry.

The overall tone of the summit was rather ominous - the clock is ticking, as 2025 sustainability targets are approaching quickly and seem unachievable, 2030 targets are the new focus as the global climate emergency becomes more pressing, and the fashion industry is not moving fast enough. In efforts to push the industry forward, the conference was an opportunity for industry leaders to share actionable case studies, step-by-step guides and conversations aimed to simplify complex topics. The IADS highlights the key takeaways and important resources for our members below.

Collaboration is key

The topic of collaboration when it comes to sustainability is nothing new as the industry has already established that working together is vital in order to see real progress. The crown princess of Denmark opened the first day of the summit and urged the industry to “work together locally and globally.”

Efforts to collaborate across the industry have already been established in recent years, one of the most notable initiatives being The Fashion Pact. Eva von Avensleben, Executive Director and Secretary General of The Fashion Pact, highlighted the importance of adopting unified methods and fostering a collaborative mindset throughout the entire value chain. She stated, “This means we need to include all stakeholders in conversations from suppliers and manufacturers to retailers and brands.”

Conversations regarding the inclusion of all voices from the value chain were a major talking point across both days. Hakan Karaosman, Professor at Cardiff University described supply chains as social economical ecosystems and explained how supply chains and social justice go hand in hand. In his talk, he further discussed how inclusive decision-making from retailers, suppliers and supply chain workers is vital in order to achieve a just transition in decarbonising the supply chain and an overall more sustainable and equitable industry.

Strategic partnerships were also showcased heavily throughout the summit. Integrated logistics company, Maersk, joined Puma and H&M on stage to display the ways in which these alliances have helped reduce scope 2 and scope 3 emissions by making shipping and transport logistics more efficient. Thomas Liske, Global Director of Puma, shared that even though its increase in transport efficiency would cause Maersk a 10% decrease in its business, Maersk has adopted a bigger picture vision for the industry and showed its commitment to long-term goals when it comes to its sustainability promises. For H&M, finding relevant partners, as they did with Maersk, who aligned with their goals was a necessity on the greater sustainability journey to see true progress.

Other industry alliances have come together to promote circularity and transparency, such as the Vestiaire Collective, Chloé and EON collaboration. The alliance announced earlier this year, that the Chloé Vertical initiative sets to roll out EON-powered Digital IDs for each Chloé product including ready-to-wear, bags and shoes. The Digital ID allows consumers to access information regarding the product and material, assistance for repairs and resale options with Vestiaire Collective. The initiative is an industry first, and in doing so Chloé is making resale easier for customers while also offering them the opportunity to make informed decisions about the transparency, traceability and circularity of their products.

On a wider scale, LVMH’s Antoine Arnault called for a luxury-specific sustainability pact to create a space that allows actors in the luxury sector to aggregate together to exchange best practices, share suppliers and more. He believes that if the luxury sector wants to see meaningful change when it comes to sustainability, coming together – even as competitors – as necessary.

LVMH wasn’t the only one offering an olive branch to competitors in an effort to work collaboratively. Allbirds unveiled their zero-carbon shoe, "M0.0NSHOT", along with an online toolkit, "Recipe B0.0K", which provides detailed information about the shoe's creation process to allow other businesses and rivals to draw inspiration to make their own sustainable products.

Crafting the narrative: How to communicate around sustainability

Setting targets and shifting business operations to achieve a sustainable business model is only one piece of the puzzle, and retailers and brands are now considering what the best practices are when it comes to communicating their sustainability efforts to consumers. In today’s world, taking a stand on sustainability is no longer a nice-to-have, but rather a necessity, and green hushing, when organisations stay silent regarding their sustainability efforts in an effort to avoid greenwashing accusations, is no longer acceptable.

In a talk titled ‘What comes next for communicating sustainability?’, the panelists discuss the ways organisations can properly communicate this complex topic to their consumers effectively. The impacts of greenwashing are damaging, and consumers are pushing back on greenwashing claims and are demanding to be informed by retailers.

According to Shakaila Forbes-Bell, Founder of Fashion is Psychology, consumers do not want brands flooding them with information and policies, but rather they want accurate information allowing them to be well-informed. Furthermore, she states that consumers desire the power to make informed decisions and require positive reinforcement that they are making good decisions by choosing sustainable products, and retailers who provide positive reinforcement can differentiate themselves from the competition in the eyes of the consumer.

When it comes to avoiding sharing misleading information, the panellists urged retailers that they ensure their statements are science-based and must include accurate and robust data in order to substantiate their claims.

Other panellists reiterated the importance that businesses should not treat sustainability as a marketing trend and instead need to make a commitment to make sustainability marketing systemic and to avoid getting caught in the cyclical marketing trends.

To further help businesses communicate around their sustainability efforts and actions, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Climate Change launched The Sustainable Fashion Communication Playbook, a guide designed to outline how to align fashion communication with global climate goals. It offers actionable frameworks for communicators to counter misinformation and greenwashing, reduce messaging the perpetuates overconsumption, redirect aspiration to more sustainable lifestyles and empowers consumers in their role as citizens to demand greater action from businesses and policymakers.

UNEP also presented The Eight Principles for Sustainable Fashion Communication, which includes a list of dos and don’ts, checklists and case studies for communicators to reference.

Resources like the ones provided by UNEP are key as the era of superficial sustainability claims and unethical practices are nearing its end as policies will compel companies to take full responsibility and accountability.

Regulation and profitability: An age-old question

The industry is subject to regulation coming down the pipeline, especially in Europe. The conference featured various conversations on policy, attempting to make complex regulations easier to understand.

What was of consensus, however, was that regulation is needed – the fashion industry will not change unless this happens. So now the industry acknowledges that regulation is needed what next?

Many businesses are struggling with the incoming regulations as there is a huge lack of resources. Not all brands and retailers have equal access to resources and businesses are operating in different countries with different policies coming from all directions, and many are finding it hard to stay afloat, unless they are a big industry player that has ample access to resources. So, what could help mend this unequal playing field and lack of resources? Harmonisation from policymakers can help, but a vital resource that many businesses need for survival is money. Investment and cash flow will be necessary for businesses to keep their heads above water as the slew of regulations ensues.

For brands and retailers, in a talk titled, ‘The Race to Net Zero: Decarbonising the Supply Chain’, panellists emphasised the importance of investing in tools that help measure sustainability efforts. For example, Marks & Spencer and Target are harnessing impact intelligence platform, Worldly, that delivers data specific to supply chain, products and operations to help retailers improve its product sourcing, carbon footprint and more. James Schaffer, Chief Strategy Officer at Worldly, discussed how platforms like Worldly can be the key needed to help the industry close the data gap by providing data, and in turn, insights.

We have also rounded up a selection of interesting startups that may be worth investing in for our members to support their path to sustainability:

• Carbonfact: Scalable life-cycle assessments to help brands and retailers lower their carbon emissions.
• IDFactory: End-to-end global supply chain traceability solution made to address the following challenges: lack of traceability, lack of transparency, supply chain disruption risk and supply chain sustainability risk.
• Reverse Resources: SaaS platform to match textile waste with the best possible recycling solutions, enable predictive transparency and build data-driven supply chains.
• Retraced: Platform that supports fashion and textile companies to digitise and trace their supply chains, efficiently manage their compliance data and gain full transparency down to the raw materials.

Conclusion

While we have seen little pockets of progress over recent years when it comes to sustainability, it is safe to say that the fashion industry is not moving fast enough. The overall mood of the conference was somewhat ominous as business leaders feel the pressure of facing crack-down regulations in the EU. While regulation is needed to see real progress and change, the transition to comply is no easy feat for businesses as they try to remain profitable.

2022 White Paper

Credits: IADS (Kaitlyn Lim)