Why is it So Hard for Fashion Brands to Be Transparent?
Transparency in the fashion supply chain has become a significant issue in recent years as consumers, advocacy groups, and regulators call for streamlined accountability to ensure that products are produced responsibly and sustainably. However, traceability–the ability to track a product from raw materials to finished goods– is one of the main challenges that brands face in increasing transparency in the fashion supply chain.
Despite increased pressure and growing calls from stakeholders for greater transparency in the fashion industry, many major brands have yet to disclose information about their supply chains fully. According to the Fashion Revolution 2022 ‘Fashion Transparency Index,’ 50% of the world's largest fashion brands disclose little or no information about their supply chain. Only 12% of brands worldwide provide information about their raw material suppliers.
The complex global nature of the fashion industry makes transparency a challenging goal. The supply chain for each garment is unique and involves multiple stages and countries, making it difficult to track products from raw materials to finished goods and ensure that they are produced responsibly. Manufacturers often outsource specific tasks to smaller companies, creating additional layers of abstraction that can shield the overarching brand from liability and make it difficult to verify and ensure that suppliers adhere to ethical and sustainable practices, such as fair labor standards and environmental regulations.
As a result, brands are often hesitant to share information about their supply chain due to concerns of damaging their reputation if issues are found throughout their production process or at the factories they contract with.
In addition to the complexities of the global garment industry, monitoring the practices of suppliers has traditionally been an expensive endeavor for brands, especially for those with a large number of suppliers. This cost can be a barrier to increasing supply chain transparency.
To address these hurdles, a new technology called FibreTrace® MAPPED has emerged to provide a digital solution for tracing the global textile supply chain from origin fiber to retail. Using blockchain technology, FibreTrace® MAPPED creates an immutable record of all the steps in a product's supply chain, tracking and mapping all relevant documents, such as product certificates, purchase orders, and shipping documents, to create a complete overview of the product's journey from raw materials to the final product.
Brands can register on the platform, upload their company details and products, and invite other supply chain members to join, allowing for 20/20 visibility of the supply chain, including simple reporting mechanisms for tracking progress.
“The software is cloud-based and acts as a tool to centralize social and environmental credentials aligned with specific purchase orders or transaction history within the supply chain,” a FibreTrace representative explained to SFF. “Using blockchain technology, data is securely stored in a way that links to the moment a transaction occurred. FibreTrace® MAPPED has been designed so that all data is owned by the user and can only be accessed by third parties that account owners have approved to connect with on the platform.”
While the newly launched platform will always offer a free subscription model, in the next 12 months, an upgraded version of FibreTrace® MAPPED featuring more advanced features will be released for $125 USD per month.
“Supply chain tools can often be costly and complex for smaller fashion and textile brands to implement. FibreTrace® MAPPED was released as a complimentary tool at no cost to the industry to remove the financial barriers that brands and businesses often face when trying to implement supply chain traceability solutions. MAPPED is system agnostic and can integrate with various product and data management systems and tools. It allows users to set up their company profile, add colleagues, register their own sites, and invite partners across the supply chain. Users can upload order and shipping documentation and incorporate existing environmental and social compliance credentials in various formats, making the program easy to implement within any organization. FibreTrace® MAPPED works with any fiber, material, certification, document, data, and integration in one intuitive system where all information is protected, private, and secure, making it simple to use by anyone and any supplier or business within the industry.”
Experts agree that transparency is a fundamental aspect of sustainability. Without it, brands lack the ability to understand the extent of their progress and what they can accurately communicate to consumers.
“FibreTrace® MAPPED offers visual mapping of global supply chains, including supplier name, type, and location. Users of MAPPED can share information and documentation within their network with internal stakeholders along the supply chain or even publish and promote information to a consumer-accessible platform, empowering consumers in their purchase decisions and understanding the global textile supply chain.”
For new technologies to significantly impact the fashion industry, widespread adoption is critical. While FibreTrace® MAPPED is a promising tool that can provide transparency in the supply chain, its impact will only be felt if it is broadly embraced by brands, suppliers, and other stakeholders in the industry.
To achieve full transparency in both internal and external aspects of the fashion industry, it is crucial to have an in-depth knowledge of supply chains, which new technologies like FibreTrace® MAPPED assist in obtaining. Nevertheless, true transparency goes beyond just using the right technology; it requires a commitment to openness and accountability in every aspect of supply chain management.
To learn more about the newly launched FibreTrace® MAPPED digital traceability, click here.
