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As major fashion companies expand their supply chains globally to reduce costs, they have become complex and intertwined. However, many industries have complex supply chains. A key difference is that the fashion industry has historically been unregulated, so there has been little incentive for companies to invest in the infrastructure to gather information about their complex supply chains.
“The fashion industry is [track the product’s life cycle through the supply chain] “In the fashion industry, I think that’s an excuse,” says Lindsay Dahl, a sustainability activist and expert who currently serves as chief impact officer at supplement company Ritual and who has previously held positions at Beautycounter and various consumer safety organizations. “The journey from the cotton field to the finished product on the shelf is just as complicated in other industries. Traceability is incredibly hard, and no one does it perfectly.”
Part of the fashion industry’s problem is that brands are unable to build strong relationships with their suppliers. “A culture of top-down governance, arm’s length relationships and a lack of funding for sourcing and sustainability means that most fashion supply chains are inherently fragile,” says Donna Marshall, professor of supply chain management at University College Dublin.
When compared to other industries that generally exhibit more rigorous traceability practices than fashion, several trends emerged. First, other industries have more stringent traceability regulations than fashion and, as a result, have practiced traceability for a longer period of time. These industries also have reasons for needing traceability beyond compliance, such as consumer safety and efficacy. These are particularly important in the food and automotive industries. “To thrive in the future in the face of competition, regulation and an increasingly disruptive world, fashion companies need to change their mindset from one of penalties, risk and compliance to one of relationships, trust and innovation,” says Marshall.
Here we analyze the traceability lessons the fashion industry can learn from other industries such as food, transportation, and beauty and health. Key points include collaborating within the industry, building stronger relationships with suppliers (or applying vertical integration), and testing products for sustainability and safety indicators earlier in the production process.
food
Food has generally had more of a focus on traceability than fashion due to concerns over consumer safety (it’s important to note that worker safety remains an issue, and labor exploitation is on the rise across the food industry).
