Raw materials are the core and fundamental elements of fashion and apparel industry, also a prime suspect for climate change and sustainability challenges. The industry must cooperate for the solve issue of sustainability challenges in textile and take necessary action to meet business standards. The need is urgent, and the industry knows it: more than 85% of leading brands (by sales) have publicly declared decentralization targets for their supply chains.

According to several sources, brands that act now to secure a preferred-raw-materials supply for the future will be positioned to capture an estimated average 6% profit uplift after five years. In fact, at the high end of the range in our model, a fashion brand with $1 billion in annual revenues has the potential to tap a cumulative opportunity of approximately $100 million over five years.

Ways of reducing carbon emission

The supply chain must use materials, even with lowest environmental and social impact because of the seamlessness of the network. We can have two pathways to reduce greenhouse emissions such as:

• Using sustainably sourced recycled raw materials (this goes for all non-renewable materials but is also an increasingly important pathway for renewable raw materials)
• Using sustainably sourced renewable raw materials that are continually replenished at a rate equal to or greater than the rate of depletion.

According to BSG report data, fashion brands must use proper rules and regulations towards a sustainable future for their brand growth. It is clear that fashion brands are creating limited impact on this challenge issue so far. Upcoming regulations will cover every aspect of the operations of manufacturers, brands, and retailers in the fashion and apparel space. All life cycle stages of the product will be regulated:

• The way products are sourced (for example, to exclude human rights challenges)
• The way they are designed (for instance, the EU’s Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation)
• The way they are marketed (for example, the EU’s Green Claims Directive)
• The way they are discarded (for example, the EU’s Waste Framework Directive and the Extended Producer Responsibility)

To successfully adopt to upcoming rules and gain a competitive advantage, companies must include sustainability concerns and standards into all aspects of their operations, including design, procurement, manufacturing, labelling, marketing, business models, and financial strategies.

Sustainable raw materials sourcing and material strategy

According to the report, sourcing preferred raw materials requires reimagining high-volume materials. The top five materials that are used—and that contribute to the largest GHG footprint in fashion and apparel—are cotton, wool, bovine leather, MMCFs (such as viscose), and synthetics (led by polyester and nylon). Broadly, the options lie within two categories: sustainably sourced renewable materials (such as regenerative or organic materials) and recycled materials.

The durability and quality of the material and product are also important, and this consideration should be taken into account beginning at the design and development stage. Doing so has practical implications for brands given that the intrinsic characteristics of conventional virgin materials are sometimes lost in recycled materials, creating weaker substitutes.

A brand’s sustainability transformation can achieve impactful change in many ways—through improved forecasting to combat the issue of overstock, for example, or through circular business models such as resale and rental services. There are six principles for brands to future proof their material strategy:

Sustainability standards and certifications are critical to achieving these goals. Other major enablers include the development of cross-functional programmes and systems to enable material and product traceability, as well as the establishment of direct contacts throughout the supply chain.

To guarantee a coordinated strategy and higher data quality to fulfil regulatory standards and growing customer expectations, brands may consider appointing a head of traceability to oversee cooperation across the sustainability, legal, IT, and marketing departments.

(The report has been made based on a report published on Ethical Corporate Magazine)