In recent years, the fashion industry is increasingly being pointed out for the part it has played, and continues to play, in the destruction of our environment. Not only that, but regular exposés in the press also reveal the devastating societal damage it can wreak. With brands being linked to dark supply chain pockets of underpaid workers working in terrible conditions - with the culminating example being the atrocities of the Rana Plaza disaster or, more recently, the alleged use of forced Uyghur labour by several well-known fashion brands.

So the question remains, as always, how can we accelerate meaningful change to this damaging industry and steer it off its unsustainable path?

The first issue to highlight is that fashion has historically been an opaque industry when it comes to their supply chain behaviour. Whether brands have deliberately turned a blind eye to their own impact is a different story for each business. But the lack of obligation to provide insight has meant the overall industry has coasted by with a distinct lack of direct accountability, with a top-down approach to manufacturing creating dense layers between a product and its raw materials.

Highlighting this lack of transparency is nothing new. But there is an important knock-on effect to address. The industry’s opaqueness has negatively affected consumer purchasing behaviour. With brands not expected to provide answers, customers have been programmed to not ask questions about the provenance or impact behind the clothes they buy. This means that consumers are buying clothes without fully understanding the hidden costs of the garments they buy. By doing so, fast fashion has conditioned us to expect a T-Shirt priced at rock-bottom prices - without considering the hidden costs or the practices employed in achieving those levels.

The first piece of good news on this, is that a consumer shift is happening, with the evolving consumer demanding more insight into the impact behind their clothes. Depending on what source you take, upwards of 90% of Millennial and Gen-Z customers want businesses to break down ethical and environmental impact for them to see.

This means some brands are taking meaningful steps to gain insight into every nook and cranny of their supply chain. Driven not only by a desire to behave the right way, but also by the fear that the evolved customer will start to look elsewhere.

But how can we turn 'some' brands providing transparency into all brands? There are two driving factors that can meaningfully speed things up: regulation and technology.

Let’s start with the obvious one: regulation. What form regulation should end up taking has been an endless debate over the last few years but having a properly regulated industry is a crucial step in weeding out bad actors. And proper regulation means brands will need to offer total transparency. A closely regulated supply chain will also rebalance the scales and address the current disadvantages for brands that are behaving in the best interests of our planet and society. Because offering a bikini for 99p may make it an accessible purchase but is simply not possible if you are 'doing the right thing'.

The complication of regulation, of course, will always come down to the details. But we need to start somewhere, even if imperfect, and this can be refined over time. Because relying on the industry to regulate itself has so far led us nowhere.

So then what of the role of technology? As consumers (hopefully) continue to evolve and demand transparency as a purchase requisite, brands will need to understand how to make this information easily accessible for consumers. Either that, or they risk going out of business.

Here is where technology can play a crucial part. If brands can create a digitised supply chain that offers full transparency of the garment’s creation and impact (warts and all) - and if consumers can have easy access to it, they can start to make more informed decisions. This digital footprint could even be certified by a regulatory body to ensure authenticity/validity of data.

If more brands offer up easy access to supply chain stories, we can start to create new habits in the consumer where, pre-purchase, the consumer instinctively checks an item's provenance. Ideally there is an easy digital solution for the information at point of sale.

With supply chain stories becoming more the norm, we can also hopefully turn around the consistent narrative of negative supply chain stories and start to highlight positive ones. We know the power of storytelling in the industry to drive change. But instead of needing the equivalent of Nike's child labour accusations or the recent multi-brand accusations of deforestation in the Amazon, we can show aspirational stories that other brands can look up to. These positive supply chain practices can hopefully drive awareness and change as much as the negative ones.

The end goal remains the same. How do we improve a vastly damaging industry? Transparency is going to be a key requirement in driving the change that's needed, which means that brands must unpick the intricacies of their supply chain. Consumers must analyse and demand insight into areas that aren't normally shown and brands must give full access to consumers, not leaving a single part hidden in the shadows. Transparency and visibility remain a big part of the answer. But we just need to figure out the quickest way to realise this.

By Edzard van der Wyck, CEO & Co-Founder - Sheep Included

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