Downward angle icon Downward angle icon. Analysts predict the value of cloud computing could more than double between now and 2029. Bee32/Getty images The fashion industry may soon face new laws requiring sustainability transparency. Cloud computing allows fashion companies to share data and reduce manufacturing waste. This article is part of our “Build IT” series on digital technology trends disrupting the industry.
Across the fashion industry, companies are bracing for the EU Green Claims Directive, which could be passed as early as next year.
The directive will require brands that make sustainability claims to back them up with evidence and label their products accordingly. The GCD will have a global impact as it applies to all companies advertising to EU consumers.
The GCD still faces many hurdles, but if passed, it would force long-overdue change in the industry. The directive would allow consumers to visit a website or scan a QR code to see evidence of a garment’s fabric composition and manufacturing methods.
But before that can happen, brands need to be able to source and share sustainability data both internally and with their retail partners. Cloud computing could be the key to doing this in a granular and efficient way.
Cloud computing is becoming more popular
Cloud computing delivers on-demand services over the internet, from storage to software. It’s touted as a huge cost-saver for businesses, allowing them to pay for the services they need rather than relying on in-house servers. It’s also a way to streamline processes by aggregating data in one easily accessible hub.
The cloud computing industry is growing rapidly, with analysts predicting that its value could more than double between now and 2029. And the fashion industry is slowly starting to realize the potential of cloud computing.
In recent years, big names like Mulberry and Net-a-Porter have started partnering with Eon, a cloud-based technology company that specializes in adding customer-focused services like digital IDs, QR code labels that can be scanned for details, product authentication and styling suggestions, while DressX, which allows users to “wear” digital clothes through photos and videos, uses Google Cloud.
Yet cloud computing hasn’t received much attention when it comes to sustainability data. Bharati Rathore, a business lecturer at the University of South Wales, is one expert spreading the word. In her report, “Fashion Transformation 4.0: Beyond Digitalization and Marketing in the Fashion Industry,” she says the fashion industry needs to embrace new technologies to survive.
Cloud computing is a way to “efficiently store and manage vast amounts of data – everything from customer preferences and purchasing behavior to inventory levels and supply-chain details,” Rathore said. He added that cloud computing also provides a central place for data sharing, making it easier for employees around the world (for example, a design team and retail store managers) to keep up to date with each other.
In the report, Rathore said cloud computing is one of the few digital tools that, if used properly, can “revolutionize the way fashion is designed, produced and consumed”.
Towards transparency
It’s no secret that the fashion industry has historically abhorred transparency, but this is slowly changing thanks to companies like Fashion Cloud, an insights platform that works with over 700 fashion brands and 25,000 retailers.
Fashion Cloud uses cloud computing to collect data and insights, making them easily accessible to all stakeholders, from website designers who upload and describe products on brand websites, to retail managers responsible for in-store operations. The company works with brands ranging from major online retailer Zalando, which averages 50 million customers per quarter, to Dutch design house Studio Anneloes, which equips every product with a “footprint” tab that shows its environmental impact.
“Fashion is a terribly outdated industry,” says Fashion Cloud co-founder Aries Ter Cuille. “Every retailer has their own processes, so there’s nothing standardized. What we do is make sure retailers have access to critical product and sustainability data from brands, and we help brands along their journey.”
The GCD is meant to crack down on greenwashing and vague, hard-to-substantiate claims about “eco-friendly” clothing, but it’s a big stumbling block for brands used to being less transparent. Of the brands Fashion Cloud works with, only 50 “share their sustainability data in an automated way,” Ter Kuil said. But he added that there are “350 brands that have sustainability data but aren’t ready to share it yet.”
Communication is a key challenge in letting customers know exactly where their clothes come from. “Brands and retailers want the same information: where the clothes were made and how many units were sold,” Ter Kuil said, referring to where the clothes were made and how many units were sold. “But they do that right now in separate spreadsheets. We’re trying to automate those processes.”
Simplicity is also key. Ter Kuil says the average age of fashion buyers – the retail salespeople who decide which products to stock in department stores and online shops – is between 50 and 60 years old. “Usually the people who use our tools are people who don’t like software, so everything has to be intuitive,” she adds. “You can’t have five passwords for five different brands. It just doesn’t work. The process has to be the same, it has to be simple.”
Benefits for clothing retailers
Cloud computing also offers huge benefits to retailers: “For fashion retailers, fast, data-driven decision-making is essential for inventory management, store expansion and market adaptation,” Alan Holcroft, UK manager at cloud computing company Cegid, which supports more than 85,000 retailers, including French fashion retailer Cotélac, told Business Insider.
Easy access to purchasing data means retailers are more likely to buy only what they can realistically sell. For example, if only 10 of a dress are sold in one location per month, it’s completely unrealistic to buy 500 and expect them to sell. Cloud computing also helps retailers avoid overbuying inventory, a major driver of the fashion industry’s textile waste problem. (It’s no secret that brands sometimes prefer to burn unsold stock rather than discount it.)
That’s not to say cloud computing is inherently sustainable. Data storage “has a larger carbon footprint than the aviation industry,” cloud anthropologist Steven Gonzalez-Monserrate wrote in a 2022 research report. Cloud computing relies on data centers, which need energy-intensive air conditioning to keep servers from overheating. These centers also require irrigation, which can consume large amounts of water resources needed by local communities.
There are still many fashion brands that don’t seem prepared to meet the requirements of GCD, and Ter Kuile says part of the problem is that the conversation in the fashion industry is too focused on abstraction rather than action.
Data sharing through cloud computing is by no means perfect, but it is a practical step that allows information to be tracked at every level of product creation and, more importantly, shared with customers who need it.
“You don’t need inspiration to be more sustainable and transparent,” Ter Kuil said. “You need a process that actually makes it happen.”
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