Burstein, Mark. “Fashion Supply Chain Transparency Takes Center Stage.” Forbes, Forbes Technology Council, 7 Apr. 2023, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/04/07/fashion-supply-chain-transparency-takes-center-stage/?sh=341291665d69.
Fashion supply chains have recently been put under pressure by fashion retailers to provide evidence of being ESG compliant. ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance, and it is a set of standards that investors use to deem a company environmentally friendly (as well as not violating other human rights issues). The process of checking that a fashion supply chain is ESG certified is a lengthy process, and only happens so often, as only 350 companies were surveyed by CGS (a popular surveying company) in the last fourth of 2022.
I’m glad that companies are putting pressure onto their suppliers to be more eco-friendly, but it is clear that a lot of environmental impacts and working conditions are still being put under wraps by these suppliers, and I think they will continue to get away with doing so for a very long time. Companies need to be stricter with their suppliers, and need to be okay with taking the risk of maybe cutting off a big supplier if it means helping the environment.
More transparency is a good thing when it comes to the fashion supply chain. In fact, we should have more transparency for all supply chains. We know that some countries use child labor and terrible conditions for workers, so opening up our ability to see what’s behind the things we buy is important and a first step towards improving things.
Thank you for reading my article and responding to it. I agree that this move will hopefully be a step forward for the fashion industry, and maybe it will help prevent child labor.
This topic is one that I really feel is understood. People today are very focused on trends and fast fashion products so companies have to use cheaper materials to mass produce those products often causing environmental harm in the process. Do you think the fashion industry is hopeless in slowing down or do you think there is a chance for change?
Thank you for your response and for reading my article. I don’t think the fashion industry is hopeless in slowing down, and I do think there is a chance for change. Once we push for more environmentally friendly options in the rest of the market, fashion will stand out as the odd one out, and most consumers will probably redirect to eco-friendly brands.