Sustainability in the fashion industry is going to be a key driving force in the post-COVID world and manufacturers can align themselves accordingly.

The year 2020 was an unfortunate and unforeseeable eye-opener for the global fashion industry. With fashion weeks cancelled, stores closed, workers furloughed and unsold inventory mounting, the fashion industry took a huge blow to the face. The fashion needs of consumers took a backseat and were deferred in anticipation of a better 2021. However, the second wave of the virus in early 2021 has further set back those expectations to late 2021, with the hope that there won’t be another wave. Many scientists and green movement ambassadors have argued that the fashion industry is among the most unsustainable industries. While the concept of sustainability is not new to the industry, what started just as a ‘conscious approach to capitalism’, has taken a front seat in the apparel industry. Also, the recent developments have made it more relevant than ever.

Consumer opinion: While the year sent the entire industry into a frenzy, consumers across the world have become even more engaged in sustainability and what it stands for. A McKinsey consumer survey conducted midway through the pandemic provided some interesting insights into European consumer sentiments amid the outbreak. The survey revealed that 57 per cent of the respondents had made significant changes to their lifestyles to lessen their environmental impact, and more than 60 per cent reported going out of their way to recycle and purchase products in environment-friendly packaging. This sudden push towards sustainability should not come as a surprise; the latter half of the last decade saw brands pushing the idea of sustainability. Even though this push was intended to provide them marketing traction, the consumers were well-imprinted with this idea.

Deadstock: Another factor going for sustainability post-COVID is that brands will be in a way compelled to source more sustainably. This might not make sense straightaway but stay on. The fashion industry prior to covid-19 was moving at a rapid pace. Goods manufactured in a small factory in Vietnam were on the shelves of a New York downtown store within a month. The entire industry worked clock work to deliver the fashion that was faster, cheaper and more exclusive. The planning and logistic operations of a few leading brands were a topic for research papers. Amid all this, entered covid-19 and something just snapped. The entire model of producing huge volumes of clothes and selling them in the shortest amount of time began to be felt handicapped. Brands were left with a huge deadstock. Prior to the pandemic, it was usual practice for brands to over-order their merchandise and sell half of it at full price, while saving the rest to be sold at a discounted price at their end-of-season sales. The entire practice of ordering higher volumes was beneficial for brands since the cost of doubling the order size did not double the order value. Moreover, the end-of-season sales have traditionally acted as an organic filter for clearance of slower moving stock. The current pandemic situation has left brands with huge deadstock that they are unable to move quickly and a huge issue of how to align their sourcing to the new normal. This has pushed brands to source products in a more ethical and sustainable way.

Consumer goodwill: In order to attract consumer goodwill, various brands have specifically made changes to how they will operate post-pandemic. As mentioned by BCG in their recent fashion  sustainability report, the time consumers have spent at home caused a radical reset to their priorities which will be reflected in their lifestyles going forward. As a result, they are going to look for brands they can trust and pay attention to the “collective good,” especially in product categories like fashion and beauty that are considered close to the body. The notion that the earth is fighting back in the form of covid-19 has worked phenomenally well for brands in their marketing campaign and has cognitively made consumers more aware of the cost to the environment. Moreover, over the last year, brands have witnessed a high engagement to the social media posts that touch upon environmental sustainability as a concern. Brands are expected to continue working in this direction to attract these higher number of eyeballs and (now with wide acceptance of ecommerce shopping in developing countries) more importantly the additional thumbs.

Next steps for industry: It has been well established now that there is a massive demand on the horizon for sustainably sourced fashion. However, there is a huge chance that this demand may not be able to meet a suitable supply. Closed doors, cancelled orders, missed seasons and changes in consumer preferences have led to massive job losses and disruptions in the raw material supply chain. These factors have driven the cost of manufacturing higher which makes sustainable manufacturing and sourcing challenging. Moreover, the world’s trusted low-cost supplier i.e. China now faces the possibility of losing its preferred tag. Brands are looking to move away from China, which may further lead to disruptions in supply chains which were moving towards sustainable manufacturing. The current situation offers a great chance for China’s neighbours India, Vietnam and Bangladesh to capitalise on this opportunity of becoming economically and environmentally sustainable alternatives to China. However, a lot is needed for India to pose as such an alternative. It would come as a surprise to most but becoming sustainable may not be as expensive or burdensome as it used to be.

SIMPLE STEPS FOR IMPROVING SUSTAINABILITY

It is imperative that in order to be sustainable, hiring a garment factory consultant is fundamental. However, here are are few steps that can be considered prior to engaging a garment factory consultant

  • Procuring certified sustainable raw materials: The first andeasiest step in the direction of achieving sustainability is procuring andusing sustainably sourced raw materials. How important are ethically sourcedraw materials? Traceability right from the origin of supply chain is amuch-appreciated aspect of sustainable manufacturing. Brands and end-consumerstake pride in ethically sourced materials. Recently, cotton originating fromthe Xinjiang region of China was banned by multiple brands such as H&M,Nike, Burberry, Adidas and many others for being linked to forced labour. A similarshadow ban was put on Uzbek cotton for not being sufficiently ethicallysourced. A few examples of sustainable cotton fibres would be Better CottonInitiative (BCI) Cotton, Cotton Africa, Fair Trade Cotton, my MP Cotton, amongdozens of other organic and socially-aware cotton categories available. Thesecotton varieties are certified to be ethically sourced keeping both environmentand people in mind. Even on the polyester side, there are various recycledpolyester standards available such as Global Recycled Standard (GRS),RecycledClaim Standard (RCS). There are several sustainable alternatives for silk,wool, cashmere and other raw materials. Using these raw materials might add apercentage to your sourcing spending but use of these materials is paramountwhile dealing with brands that target sustainability. The use of thesematerials can easily make a garment manufacturer attractive to global buyers.

  • Acquiring sustainability certifications and standards:Before embarking on a journey towards achieving desired sustainability goals, amanufacturer should adopt the right standards for it to benchmark its progress.This standard must be true representation of all the pressing environmental,economical and social issues. There are multiple such sustainability standardsvarious concerns. Most of these certifications and standards are alsoaffiliated with brands, which means if you get a certain certification, youautomatically become eligible supplier to the buyers who approve of thatcertification. Choosing the right certification could help your factorybecoming more sustainable while being eligible for more orders.

  • Setting science-based targets: The United Nations GlobalCompact (UNGC), Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), World Resources Institute (WRI),and the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) partnered together for the developmentof the Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi), an initiative that suggestscompanies how quickly they need to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissionsto be in line with the global efforts to prevent climate change. The initiativeaims to halve the GHG emissions by the year 2030 with a broader target ofdropping these emissions to net zero by 2050.

The world has a limited carbon emission budget at which the global temperature rise can be capped at a manageable 2oC. SBTs acknowledge this budget and assist industries in managing their emissions through controlled allocation. These targets include a wide variety of ecological commitments to decarbonisation right from raw material production to product retail stage and even touches upon the organisational carbon management. The companies are required to choose the level of intensity to which the company wishes to support the initiative. All companies are required to set Scope 1 and 2 targets consistent with a well below 2oC pathway at a minimum. Companies are encouraged to aim higher and align with 1.5oC for maximum effect. Scope 3 emissions mostly comprise all indirect emissions that occur in the value chain, including both upstream and downstream emissions.

Thus, Scope 3 targets require companies to control these emissions. Apart from the apparent benefit of reduction in the overall carbon footprint, SBTs have other auxiliary benefits as well. These include catalysed process innovation; cost advantage and increased competitiveness; create a brand reputation, among many.

As of May 2021, more than 60 textiles-apparel companies across the world have committed to the cause. Almost half of these companies have already set their targets. These companies include some world-renowned names including, H&M, Levi’s Strauss & Co (LSC), Louis Vuitton, Under Armour and Marks & Spencer, to name a few. These brands have set the tone for the apparel industry to take a step towards becoming more sustainable. Manufacturers can easily set their SBTs making them sustainable as well as more advertisable at the same time.

While the list of simple steps for becoming sustainable might end here, there are a lot of other ways of becoming more sustainable which do require some external support. These simple steps would definitely help your factory in becoming more sustainable, but in order to be a leader in this space the support from a garment factory consultant is unequalled. A consultant would further assist you in optimising your processes and systems while also supporting you in identifying the best mix of resources needed to reduce wastages and emissions.

This article was first published in the July 2021 edition of the print magazine.