This challenge calls for a collective response, as no single entity can tackle these issues alone. Partnerships among fashion brands, suppliers, and consumers have emerged as a powerful solution to accelerate progress toward sustainability.
The environmental impact of the fashion industry extends across every stage of its value chain - from raw material extraction and production to manufacturing and transportation - underscoring the need for coordinated and systematic efforts to drive meaningful change.
The fashion market is experiencing remarkable growth due to increasing consumer demand. The fast fashion trend has become an integral part of modern consumer life, especially in the context of globalization and the rapid growth of e-commerce. In recent years, major brands such as Zara, H&M, Topshop, and Forever21 have released up to 20 new collections annually, allowing customers to refresh their wardrobes quickly.
This scenario underscores the urgent need for a collaborative approach among fashion businesses to develop a more sustainable business model.
Collaboration among fashion brands presents a powerful opportunity to accelerate sustainability efforts and drive innovation through shared resources and expertise. Research and development of sustainable materials, for example, often require significant financial and technical investments that can exceed the capacity of individual brands. By forming partnerships or joint ventures, companies can pool their resources to fund initiatives that lead to advancements like bio-based fabrics or fully recyclable fibers.
Additionally, such collaborations can enable the sharing of cutting-edge technologies, such as AI-driven demand forecasting, which helps minimize overproduction - a major contributor to waste in fast fashion. Beyond operational benefits, collaboration can play a transformative role in shaping industry-wide sustainability standards. By uniting, brands can collectively advocate for stricter environmental regulations and support global initiatives such as the Fashion Pact or the UNFCCC Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action.
These unified efforts not only strengthen the credibility of sustainability commitments but also create a level playing field, ensuring that all brands adhere to consistent environmental standards. Joint campaigns further enhance the impact of collaboration by amplifying sustainability messages and fostering consumer education. Through collaborative marketing efforts, brands can promote concepts like capsule wardrobes or responsible purchasing habits, encouraging a cultural shift toward mindful consumption. Such partnerships could also improve transparency, with standardized labeling that informs consumers about a product’s environmental impact, empowering them to make more informed choices.
Collaborative efforts also offer significant brand-building opportunities, allowing companies to strengthen their reputations while differentiating themselves in the market. Co-branded initiatives that merge the unique strengths of partnering brands can attract broader consumer demographics and generate new revenue streams. For instance, partnerships between luxury and fast fashion brands focusing on sustainability can cater to diverse market segments while emphasizing ethical practices.
Ultimately, collaboration not only positions brands as leaders in sustainability but also fortifies the industry’s resilience in the face of mounting environmental and regulatory pressures. By working together, fashion companies can drive meaningful progress and redefine their roles in building a sustainable future.
Effectively addressing the pervasive influence of fast fashion on consumer behavior presents a multifaceted challenge for the fashion industry in its pursuit of NetZero goals. Fast fashion has deeply embedded itself in modern culture, with owning new clothes often symbolizing status and lifestyle. Social pressures, amplified by peers and social media, compel consumers to prioritize trends over sustainability. Despite growing awareness of fast fashion's environmental harm, deeply ingrained habits make behavioral change difficult, requiring significant time and effort to overcome.
To drive this transition, fashion brands must foster partnerships with consumers, emphasizing collaboration and shared accountability. Educational initiatives can raise awareness of fast fashion's ecological impact, highlighting the importance of responsible consumption. Brands can create interactive platforms to showcase consumer contributions to sustainable practices, cultivating a community centered on eco-friendly values.
Additionally, involving consumers in the creative process, such as co-designing sustainable collections or offering tailored customization options, enables them to align personal expression with sustainability principles. By empowering consumers to actively participate in shaping sustainable offerings, brands can build stronger connections, nurture long-term commitment to ethical practices, and accelerate the industry's shift toward a sustainable future.
In response to growing pressure from regulators, consumers, and a commitment to corporate responsibility, many fashion brands have set Science-Based Targets for 2030 in pursuit of achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050. As part of this commitment, these brands are conducting greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories to measure their environmental impact, including Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.
However, a significant challenge arises when it comes to collecting accurate emissions data from suppliers, particularly in relation to Scope 3 emissions. Scope 3 emissions represent indirect GHG emissions throughout the entire value chain, encompassing both upstream (purchased goods and services) and downstream activities. In the fashion industry, Scope 3 emissions account for the largest share of the total carbon footprint, with material production and raw material processing responsible for an estimated 68% of these emissions. Within Scope 3, over 78% of emissions stem from upstream activities, while the remaining 22% come from downstream processes.
One of the key challenges in accurately calculating Scope 3 emissions is the lack of primary data from suppliers. Many businesses, particularly those early in their sustainability journey, have not fully mapped their supply chains or established sufficient data transparency. This data gap often leads to reliance on expenditure-based calculation methods, which can be inaccurate. Furthermore, many suppliers either lack the capability to track and report emissions data or do not feel sufficient market pressure to begin gathering this information.
To address these challenges, there is an increasing need for robust collaboration between fashion brands and their suppliers to share critical emissions data and ensure accurate Scope 3 accounting. Establishing more transparent and effective communication channels is essential for collecting and reporting data across the supply chain. One promising solution is the implementation of shared digital platforms, which streamline data collection and reporting processes. These platforms enable real-time sharing of emissions data, reducing the reliance on manual spreadsheets and minimizing errors.
Beyond improving data accuracy, fostering a collaborative environment is key to driving sustainable practices across the supply chain. Fashion brands can create incentives to encourage suppliers to adopt more sustainable practices, such as offering financial rewards or recognition programs for suppliers that make significant strides in reducing their emissions. These incentives not only help align the interests of fashion brands and suppliers but also encourage a culture of continuous improvement and innovation in sustainability.
Effective collaboration between fashion brands and suppliers is crucial for achieving comprehensive and accurate Scope 3 emissions accounting. By leveraging digital tools, improving transparency, and incentivizing sustainable practices, fashion brands can enhance their decarbonization efforts, making significant progress toward their NetZero goals while promoting sustainability throughout the supply chain.
Nearly half of apparel companies have set ambitious net zero goals, yet only a small fraction have provided detailed plans outlining how they will transform operations and collaborate with suppliers to align with the Paris Agreement targets.
Levi Strauss stands out as one of the few leaders in this area. On October 16, the company unveiled its climate transition plan, detailing both short- and long-term strategies to support its goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Alongside addressing its 2023 emissions of 3.7 million tons of CO2 equivalent, Levi’s plan prioritizes biodiversity, climate justice, water conservation, and sustainable materials.
With 99 percent of its overall emissions stemming from supplier and customer activities, Levi’s recognizes these areas as key to achieving its climate goals.
Addressing Challenges Head-On
Levi’s has pinpointed key areas for impactful change, including operational adjustments, diversifying materials, investing in emerging technologies, and fostering strategic partnerships. The company’s efforts build on its climate scenario analysis completed in 2022 and its initial validation of climate targets in 2018 by the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). Levi’s recently revised its emissions targets, focusing on Scope 3 strategies, which received new approval from SBTi in May. According to Dubuisson, this allowed Levi’s to refine its climate transition plan further.
Supporting Suppliers in the Transition
Levi’s plays a proactive role in helping suppliers transition to sustainable practices. The company offers technical assessments, funds energy audits, builds supplier capabilities, and collaborates to set and monitor goals. One example is Levi’s support for suppliers in creating coal transition roadmaps, aligning with its low-carbon fuel transition policy announced in January, which mandates the elimination of coal use across its supply chain by 2030. Dubuisson highlighted this collaborative approach as a critical element in driving industry-wide change. Levi Strauss maintains long-standing partnerships with organizations like the International Finance Corporation and HSBC bank to provide financing programs for its suppliers.
The Need for Collaboration
Levi’s recognizes the importance of working collaboratively to support its supply chain and drive industry-wide change. More than 70 percent of Levi’s supply chain overlaps with other major brands, necessitating alignment on expectations and investments. The company has been an active participant in global climate commitments, joining the UNFCCC Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action in 2018, which pledges net zero emissions by 2050. Suppliers now receive consistent messaging from brands regarding the 2030 deadline for phasing out coal, reinforced by Levi’s collaboration with initiatives like the Apparel Impact Institute, a nonprofit that funds emissions reduction projects in the apparel and footwear industries.
Driving Sustainability Behind the Scenes
Levi’s sustainability team, consisting of approximately 30 specialists, works closely with suppliers to tackle interconnected issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and water scarcity. Many team members operate in the field, fostering ongoing communication with suppliers to address these complex challenges. Collaboration with the business is key, so they meet daily with those teams to align on their direction and highlight the opportunities and impacts of their choices.
Levi’s Decarbonization Commitments
Levi’s CTAP stands out for its comprehensive support of supplier decarbonization, executive compensation tied to climate goals, and integration of water and biodiversity strategies. Levi’s plan excels in validated emissions targets, a focus on a just transition and worker well-being, and proactive stakeholder dialogue.
Sustainability as a core value
Businesses play a significant role in contributing to global environmental and social challenges, but they also have the power and resources to drive solutions for these issues, both directly and indirectly. Therefore, the journey toward sustainable development presents both substantial challenges and valuable opportunities for businesses. The way these opportunities and challenges are navigated largely depends on how management addresses sustainability issues, rather than being solely influenced by external factors. For the fashion industry, incorporating sustainability into its core values is crucial to mitigating its considerable environmental impact. This transformation is not only necessary for regulatory compliance but also to satisfy growing consumer demand for environmentally responsible products. Brands that prioritize sustainability stand to improve their reputation and strengthen their market position.
Collaborate to meet goals
The concept of relational value (RV) has gained significant attention in recent environmental and social research, highlighting the crucial role of relationships, both human-to-human and human-to-nature, in shaping values and behaviors. According to the "relational view," organizations create value through partnerships by identifying complementary resources, building strong informal trust, and sharing knowledge, while making customized investments for their partners. Moreover, the level of resource interdependence within these partnerships affects both the speed of value creation and the likelihood of the partnership's longevity.
Collaboration is increasingly seen as an essential strategy for achieving common goals across various sectors, including business, education, and community development. In the context of sustainability, cooperation between fashion brands, consumers, and suppliers is vital for meeting sustainability objectives. By combining resources and expertise, stakeholders can drive innovation in sustainable practices and products. Partnerships can enable the development of circular economy models, streamline logistics, and minimize waste throughout the supply chain.