There is pressure on the fashion industry to clean up its supply networks as the 2025 climate targets draw near. Although there are still obstacles, new laws, technological advancements, and a slow change in the power relations between brands and suppliers could help the sector reach its goals, reported Vogue.
In 2023, "traceability" gained some traction as a buzzword, but there were several obstacles facing global supply chains at the time, including pricing rises, protests against living wages in industrial hubs like Bangladesh and China, and extreme weather. According to Dr. Hakan Karaosman, an academic and the chair of the Union of Concerned Researchers in Fashion, "people in power fail to understand how dynamic and alive supply chains are." "Supply chains are dynamic social and ecological domains, not just static landscapes."
Anja Sadock, head of marketing at supply chain transparency and traceability platform Trustrace, believes that three key trends will shape the supply chain in 2024: increased industry cooperation through knowledge sharing; a better comprehension of the necessity of obtaining primary data at the product level (instead of assuming effects); and the adoption of digital product labeling.
This year, new laws are anticipated to have a big effect. The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, the Waste Framework Directive, and the Ecodesign Criteria for Consumer Textiles are three major frameworks that will have a significant impact on the industry in 2024 when their mandatory reporting requirements start to roll out, according to Urska Trunk, campaign manager at Changing Markets Foundation. "It ought to serve as a reminder to the fashion industry that they must welcome change head-on," she argues.
Companies who are delaying compliance need just consider the US, as there the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act has been in effect for the past eighteen months. Data released at the end of last year shows that during this time, US Customs Border Protection (CBP) had detained clothes and footwear valued at $46 million. In 2023, the CBP was able to win an additional $64 million in funding for enforcement, and US lawmakers are working to make the law stronger by plugging any gaps that currently exist.
Regulations, activist organizations' lobbying, and heightened awareness of overproduction haven't stopped big corporations from withholding fundamental facts like production volumes. According to Karaosman, "we just need to be honest about the volumes and we should talk about them." Scientists require this data in order to make precise predictions about how the fashion industry will reduce its carbon footprint. "Fashion brands need to understand how to implement operational strategies that will enable their supply chain partners to prosper in addition to helping them maintain economic viability."