A new open source and free usable tool kit was developed by the Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) and Deloitte. It is intended to provide a meaningful overview of the effects of the industry and serve as a guide for strategy ratings. It was specially developed for sustainability teams in the fashion industry and is intended to help them understand, measure and use large amounts of data in order to advance positive changes. It was taken into account that these teams are often small and have limited resources.
“There was a need for a common understanding, transparency and an acceleration of this transition,” said Cecilia Dall’acqua, a strategic partner at Deloitte and head of Deloitte Global Hub for Fashion, when the tool kit was presented at the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen.
The development lasted seven months. The tool kit depicts the value chain with its various activities, from the farmer: inside to the end of the life cycle of a product. There are a total of more than 20 activities and 88 sub -activities for the various stakeholders: inside. So you can understand what role you play in the value chain and what effects you have. Targeted reporting and transparency were taken into account from the start, as well as connections and cooperation between different stakeholders: inside, to accelerate the transition.
In the accompanying report on the toolkit, Deloitte and GFA also listed seven steps to overcome obstacles. These serve as the starting point for the strategy, the operation and management of a company when analyzing the effects and development of implementable plans.
Why does the fashion industry need another tool?
Dall’acqua explained that the question ‘Why another tool?’ the starting point was. “We have so many, it will be confusing. Based on the needs that we started to discuss, we saw the need to promote a tool, the company helps to focus on your data. The data you report really must understand to the fullest.”
Serkan Tanka, Vice President of Business Development at the Dakota Garment Group and Companies, agreed. However, he pointed out that data should not only be charged at the factory level, but also at other levels in order to get a holistic picture. “This is very important, because data collection is one thing. The most important thing is to understand why we collect this data for our teams and for other suppliers: inside,” he added.
Against this background, Deloitte and the GFA saw the need to introduce a separate tool: “We saw some tools that were only intended for a certain part of the value chain. We wanted to act really wide and cover the various aspects. But it should also be used by large brands and various members of the value chain,” said Dall’acqua. “And so that you can understand your supplier: the farmers can also use it: inside it can use it to understand what effects you have if you choose different types of production or different types of use of raw materials,” she added.
Another aspect was the consideration of current and upcoming legislation. “When we talk about effects, we have the tool on the ESRS, the new European standards for reporting. CSRD have to report to give help, but also to help them think about the strategy behind it and to focus their goal, ”confirmed Dall’acqua.
Compared to existing tools, such as the HIGG Index, the new toolkit would complement them and at the same time enable strategic reflection. “The HIGG Index can make you set priorities, and this can give you a look at what has been overlooked. Maybe I have a blind spot in my value chain, which I did not take into account,” noticed Dall’acqua.
How can a centralized data record in the fashion industry help identify effects?
Companies can use the centralized data records that the tool kit provides for their own target strategies, but also for common goals with suppliers: inside in the larger value chain. “Sustainability strategies have to concentrate on where they have higher effects or where they have the greatest chances. This tool will help make this conscious decision about the strategies within a company,” said Dall’acqua.
“If we look at a more collaborative landscape, as we have already mentioned, this enables you to identify from your supplier: inside and your raw materials, what effects there are and work with a common goal. It is not just about requesting data, but also about working together, minimizing these effects or even taking advantage of the opportunities you have found,” she added.
What are the advantages of the tool companies?
For Tekla, a brand based in Copenhagen with a focus on household goods and home textiles including nightwear, any kind of support that SME can receive with regard to the expansion of the team is welcome. “What we are looking for in a tool is as much as possible. At the moment it looks like this: product footprints, traceability, but also increasingly EU conformity, including reporting frames,” confirmed Pippa Smart, sustainable chief sustainable at Tekla. “And then we are also looking for a kind of technical support so that we can centralize and visualize data, which is very important for internal commitment.”
“If you have not yet done it, I would really advise brands of every size to map your supply chain and to understand it beyond your animal 1 relationships. And I think the other advice I would give, and what was a focus at Tekla is to actually work on these supply chain relationships and really build them up with the commitment, because their effects have to be shared,” she must also be shared, “added it,” In addition.
For Tanka it is crucial to make well -founded decisions about a company in which they could invest – the Dakota Group works as a supplier with global brands, has factories in Asia and has both the production of clothing and the production of fabrics. “All of this information must support this instead of coming from Buyers and others. But the most important thing is the cooperation to see the same in the same tool, even regions and countries.”
Benchmarking is also an important aspect. “Do we do it? Do we do enough? Because we are already doing many things, but then we can make a comparison. Are there better areas, better levels and regions? Then we can learn from each other. This can be really helpful for us,” said Tanka.
A demo version of the Fashion Impact Toolkit is currently available. The full version with more than 3,000 effects will go online in September.
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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