The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the International Apparel Federation (IAF) to develop a shared vision for equitable and sustainable global supply chains for the apparel and fashion industry.
A key element of the collaboration will involve the creation of industry roadmaps and frameworks that will help raise the voice, engagement, and influence of manufacturers, while also targeting efficiencies that will reduce the number of social and environmental assessments that unnecessarily burden producers and other industry stakeholders.
Andrew Martin, executive vice president at SAC explained: “We believe this collaboration will enable us to harness our collective strength in our work on areas from decarbonisation, to purchasing practices and more, and will see us co-create solutions that drive rapid progress at scale.
“We are at a critical point for our planet and now more than ever, we must work together to solve the industry’s most urgent and systemic issues, and doing all we can to elevate manufacturer voices and perspectives is essential not only for the SAC but our industry as a whole.”
Specifically, the IAF and SAC will collaborate on projects to deliver the decarbonisation of the industry in line with internationally recognised targets.
They will also work together towards industry-wide alignment and implementation of responsible purchasing practices, while also identifying and implementing opportunities to ensure that manufacturers’ voices and influence are represented in the development of legislative initiatives, measures, and policies that impact the supply chain, both on relevant policy stages and with key policymakers – on a regional or national level and from a global perspective.
Matthijs Crietee, Secretary General, at IAF added: “It is the IAF’s conviction that the impressive range of challenges faced by our industry can only be met by brands, retailers and manufacturers working in unison.
“Hence, as IAF, we have embarked on an ambitious programme to create structural links between such global initiatives as the SAC and the global apparel manufacturing community that IAF represents.
“Organising the inclusion of manufacturers is not only the just way forward, it is also simply imperative to achieve the necessary results as an industry. Good collaboration is complex but rewarding and this agreement will facilitate and push IAF and SAC to make it happen.”
This latest collaboration also complements the SAC’s recent launch of its updated strategic plan, redefining its mandate of “evolution for impact” — a focal theme that now drives its strategies, initiatives, and partnerships, building on the strong base SAC has created over the last decade.
