Before it becomes a garment, fashion starts in a field: a field of cotton, a grazing flock, a forest, and increasingly, a source of risk. Fashion’s competitive advantage has always depended on a network of people, processes, skills and territories that turns raw material into a finished product; today, that same network is exposed to economic and climate-energy pressures that put the whole business at stake.
Quality and creativity are now at risk. Not because ideas are lacking, but because the ability to turn them into products depends on a supply chain that is increasingly exposed to economic and climate-energy pressures. This is precisely where supply chain engagement takes on a different meaning compared to the past. Born as a decarbonization tool, it is today becoming a strategic lever for strengthening the value chain as a whole.
The Italian fashion supply chain comprises around 60,000 companies, of which more than 99% are micro-enterprises and SMEs. It is here that more than 80%1 of a brand’s Scope 3 emissions is also concentrated, together with the wealth of skills that makes it possible to turn creativity into products of excellence. Yet it is precisely this segment of the value chain that has historically received the least investment, the fewest tools and the least support in facing the transition. These very same companies are today under pressure from rising energy costs, scarcity of raw materials, and, more generally, from the economic consequences and the disruption brought about by extreme weather and a changing climate. Sustainability has come to represent an entry point for addressing these issues. Promoting access to renewable energy can reduce suppliers’ exposure to energy cost volatility. Investing in soil health and the availability of raw materials means preserving the very quality from which the product is born. Supporting investment in more efficient technologies can reduce consumption and emissions, while also improving precision, quality and production capacity. Investing in the supply chain therefore does not only mean accelerating decarbonization: it means strengthening its resilience, mitigating the risks that threaten production continuity.
If the goal is to strengthen the supply chain, the first step is to understand it. You cannot transform what you do not know. And for a fashion brand, this means knowing your own Scope 3.
For many, knowing your own Scope 3 begins with estimates based on secondary data. This provides an initial picture of the impacts. But it is only through the collection of primary data directly from suppliers that it becomes possible to build a faithful representation of the production reality, and identify where to intervene for the greatest impact.
To support this journey, in recent years the sector has developed increasingly specific and vertical tools. One example is WALDB, a database developed by Quantis, together with brands, to improve the accuracy of Scope 3 calculations in the fashion sector. Using data specific to the fashion supply chain, WALDB allows brands to identify emission hotspots more accurately, and therefore better guide their decisions.
The next step is to collect primary data directly from suppliers, an activity often made complex by the fragmentation of the supply chain. To address this challenge, Quantis contributed, together with The Fashion Pact, to the development of a standardized questionnaire for collecting environmental data. The goal was to harmonize brand requests, reduce the time suppliers spend on reporting, and improve the quality and comparability of data collected along the value chain. The questionnaire is now publicly available and represents a shared tool to facilitate supply chain engagement.
An initial picture of the impacts.
A faithful representation of production reality — and where to intervene for the greatest impact.
Two tools support this journey:
A database developed by Quantis, together with brands, to improve the accuracy of Scope 3 calculations in the fashion sector — helping identify emission hotspots more accurately.
Explore WALDB → The QuestionnaireA standardized questionnaire developed with The Fashion Pact to harmonize brand requests and improve the quality and comparability of supplier data.
View the questionnaire →Measurement, however, is not the finish line. It is what makes action possible.
Knowing your own Scope 3 means identifying hotspots, understanding which materials, processes and suppliers contribute most to environmental impacts, and using this knowledge to define clear targets. Starting from the defined objectives, measurement then makes it possible to build concrete roadmaps for achieving them, identifying priority actions and interventions to undertake. It is from this knowledge that truly effective supply chain engagement projects take shape, that is, pathways that progressively guide suppliers in developing the skills needed to translate data into strategic and operational actions.
Once shared targets have been defined and the main decarbonization levers identified, the measurement work makes it possible to relate the emission reduction potential to the associated costs and economic benefits. This phase, in turn, makes it possible to identify and prioritize the most effective interventions. If the goal of sustainability is to build resilient systems, capable of lasting and adapting over time, the solutions identified must be effective from an environmental point of view, but they must also be economically sustainable.
This also requires understanding suppliers’ level of progress and advancement on these issues: not all companies have the same skills, the same tools or the same capacity to invest. Mapping this information, including through dedicated matrices, allows brands to calibrate support based on each supplier’s actual needs.
The availability of financial resources is often the main barrier holding back medium and small companies from pursuing ambitious climate and environmental sustainability programs. In these cases, brands and NGOs can make a difference, facilitating access to funding and incentives for adopting more efficient technologies. Beyond financing, brand support can extend as far as developing technical guidelines, procurement policies aligned with climate goals, training programs, and moments of exchange between clients and suppliers.
Understand which materials, processes and suppliers contribute most to environmental impacts, and use this knowledge to define clear targets.
Turn objectives into concrete roadmaps, relating emission reduction potential to associated costs and economic benefits to prioritize the most effective interventions.
Not all companies have the same skills, tools or capacity to invest. Dedicated matrices help calibrate support to each supplier’s actual needs.
Brands and NGOs can facilitate access to funding and incentives, and extend support through guidelines, procurement policies, training and exchange with suppliers.
Brand support can extend to:
A concrete example of this approach is Fashion Leap for Climate, an initiative developed by Quantis, initially together with ABOUT YOU, ZALANDO and YOOX NET-A-PORTER, which has grown progressively over time. To achieve their Scope 3 targets in line with the Science Based Targets Initiative, the three founding e-tailers of the initiative needed to progressively engage supply chain partners as well, asking brands and suppliers to define climate targets and providing the conditions for them to be achieved.
Fashion Leap for Climate was in fact born as an engagement program, combining training, technical support, gamification and peer exchange, to guide partner companies in measuring their own climate footprint and defining Science Based Targets. The learning journey is blended: it combines self-paced training materials, gamification elements and live webinars with a community dedicated to peer exchange. Thanks to this approach, participants, in successive cohorts over time, reported a marked increase in both understanding of and commitment to Science Based Targets.
Brands that manage to guide the transition of their own supply chain will, in addition to achieving better results on the sustainability front, preserve the know-how on which their competitive advantage is based.
For this reason, brands that manage to guide the transition of their own supply chain will, in addition to achieving better results on the sustainability front, preserve the know-how on which their competitive advantage is based, strengthen the resilience of their supply chain, and create the conditions for brand creativity to continue translating into products of excellence.
- Source: Quantis estimate based on the average ratio between Scope 3.1 emissions and total Scope 3 emissions across a sample of leading global fashion brands and groups, selected among the largest companies by revenue and/or market capitalization with public disclosure of their carbon footprint in sustainability reports. ↩︎
