The fashion industry accounts for approximately 10% of all global carbon emissions. The industry is taking steps to transition to a low-carbon circular system, however, it is difficult as fashion has long, dispersed, fragmented supply chains and is notoriously secretive. Even though many companies claim to focus on sustainability, their focus is on waste, pollution and environmental issues, with social issues relatively ignored. Geographical distance between buyers and suppliers and imbalanced power relations prevent the transition to environmentally and socially sustainable supply chains. Environmental sustainability practices can and are used at the expense of social sustainability and there are trade-offs not only between business goals and sustainability but also between environmental and social sustainability practices.
The majority of existing supply chain practices and research has pursued an instrumental logic and put economic benefits before environmental and social interests. Trade-offs exist between environmental and social sustainability practices, with little known about the social outcomes of environmental sustainability demands by companies. Economic pressure and power disparities in the supply chain have led to multiple scandals and issues. Problems often occur at supply chain stages far removed from the brand-name company and are therefore difficult to predict or eliminate. Until now, concepts of justice and the relationship between justice, resources and behaviour have been ignored. Environmental demands need a parallel focus on justice and fairness. It is challenging to make systemic changes within an industry characterised by mistrust, exclusivity and that places economic benefits ahead of environmental and social interests; fortunately, due to the scale of the industry and that women are the majority of fashion workers, these challenges also present significant opportunities for economic, social and environmental development.
Fashion’s Responsible Supply Chain Hub (FReSCH) takes an interdisciplinary approach to these challenges and explores how environmental practice implementation can also ensure social and economic justice in complex fashion supply chains. Existing research is primarily limited to survey and case-study methods, which are insufficient for understanding the complexity of sustainability in supply chain management. By responding to the need to extend beyond the single firm/brand and their first tier suppliers, FReSCH moves theory, method, practice and policy forward by investigating the complex trade-offs, tensions and opportunities between economic, social and environmental practices and outcomes across supply chain levels. In order to ensure that the transition to a low-carbon circular economy happens in a fairer and more inclusive way, FReSCH focuses on justice, ethics of sustainability transitions, tensions, opportunities and unintended, unplanned or unforeseen outcomes of sustainability. As a just transition can only happen by including people at all supply chain levels, this project includes companies and workers at multiple stages in the supply chain. In addition, FReSCH responds to the call for research into sustainability practices of SMEs, and how and why SMEs pursue sustainability practices and goals.
