To deliver safer, greener chemicals for the apparel industry, Verdant Innovations wants to look 20 years ahead. In 2022, the company burst on the scene to debut FIBRE-PURE™, its first line of specialty green sustainable chemicals geared toward textiles and nonwovens. Thus far, the line ranges from binding and coating applications used for healthcare gowns, masks and scrubs, to deodorizers and antimicrobial protection for apparel, athleticwear and performance wear. In a recent fireside chat with Sourcing Journal's business editor Glenn Taylor, Matthew Short, business development manager, Verdant Innovations, explained how the company conducts a holistic Predictive R&D process based on projections nearly two decades down the road, instead of those required by today’s standards. Meanwhile, David Sasso, industry advisor, Verdant Innovations, highlighted that a chief concern among many brands is the impact of greener, safer more sustainable chemicals on the bottom line—both on a manufacturing and retail level. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virtual design has been a gamechanger in the fashion industry in streamlining sampling and speeding product creation. However, there is still room to optimize and standardize these digital tools to ensure that the image created on screen matches the eventual physical product. Taking inspiration from industries like aerospace and automotive, Clothing Tech LLC has created parametric CAD technology that enables designers to tweak garment proportions using parameters, or measurements. Clothing Tech's president Bill Wilcox spoke with Sourcing Journal features editor Kate Nishimura about what makes its Garment Digital Twin different and how standardization could evolve digital design. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite how ubiquitous the term “sustainability” has become, the definition remains vague and open to individual interpretation. As consumers are seeking out lower impact products, this lack of standardization or clarity can lead to confusion. “In today’s world, sustainability means so many different things to brands and consumers,” said Marc Lewkowitz, president and CEO of Supima, the promotional organization for American pima cotton. “The consumers’ choice to go and find sustainability or what they think means sustainability is still challenging, other than generic claims. It’s hard to identify and it’s almost impossible for a consumer to know exactly what sustainability looks like in a product.” Listen to this fireside chat between Lewkowitz and Sourcing Journal founder Edward Hertzman to hear why paying for sustainability comes down to the consumer and how laws will raise the bar and onus for backing up claims. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maintaining quality standards is a rudimentary business goal, but the actions taken to protect product value can have wider implications across a company. One best practice for improving quality is stronger supplier knowledge and collaboration, according to Rick Horwitch, chief of supply chain & sustainability strategy, global retail lead at Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services. Going past tier 1 and knowing every link in the chain allows companies to not only shore up standards, but also navigate disruptions. “There’s a lot of conversation now in regards to supply chain mapping as it relates to traceability,” Horwitch said. “But I would argue that is not just a traceability issue; this is now a business and sustainability issue.” Listen to this chat between Horwitch and Sarah Jones, senior editor, strategic content at Sourcing Journal, to discover the role of quality in consumer sentiment and satisfaction and why sustainability and quality go hand-in-hand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to digitizing the complex apparel supply chain, the fashion industry has been slow to adapt, often because of hard-to-break manual habits. But the benefits of end-to-end digitization hits many touchpoints, including design and development, cost optimization, production planning, fabric control and shop floor execution. In this fireside chat, Lauren Parker, branded content manager of Sourcing Journal, sits down with Akash Shah, managing director of solutions provider COATS Digital to discuss this “connected technology software arm” of Coats Group, and why the fashion supply chain urgently needs a digital transformation of the fashion supply chain. Watch the fireside chat to learn: ·      Why COATS Digital more recently acquired technology companies FastReact, GSD and ThreadSol and how the new “connected whole” is greater than the sum of the parts. ·      How COATS Digital integrates production planning, method time-cost benchmarks and fabric optimization. ·      How digitization and a connected supply chain boosts sustainability and mitigates product waste ·      What is holding the fashion industry back from truly digitizing and how to reverse old-fashioned mindsets ·      Why end-to-end digitization is challenges along complex supply chains, and what to focus on first Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Modern consumers demand a lot from their footwear, and that means going beyond stylish design and a comfortable construction. Shoes must perform, whether they’re made for sport and recreation or casual use, and shoppers value lightweight silhouettes that are durable and retain their shape through wear and tear. On top of all these specs, consumers also want to see brands deliver footwear that is made more sustainably. It's a tall order, and BASF chemical company has put considerable R&D into these challenges, especially for the hyper-competitive athletic footwear market where performance is a crucial and defining characteristic. Watch the fireside chat to learn:  ·      How BASF’s new material technologies enhance various types of footwear ·      How BASF materials material complement supercritical foam technology (SFC) and how BASF was a leader in studying the technology for footwear. ·      How BASF’s two proprietary materials—Elastopan and Elastollan—differ from other PU (polyurethane) or TPU (thermoplastic urethane) products in the footwear industry ·      How BASF materials offer freedom of design within increasingly important 3D printing and injection molding techniques. ·      How shoes made with Elastopan and Elastollan are more sustainably created and sustainable in their end of life.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the keys to cracking the code of footwear sustainability is reducing and managing waste. Currently, about 90 percent of shoes end up in landfills, where they begin to break down, but never fully decompose due to the materials used. This problem informs innovation at insole manufacturer and supplier OrthoLite. “How can we develop true end of life solutions for footwear—focused on product and process—to ensure that we are providing true circular solutions so that footwear has a place to go versus a landfill,” said Kristin Burrows, OrthoLite’s chief brand officer. In a conversation with Kate Nishimura, features editor at Sourcing Journal, Burrows discusses how OrthoLite is tackling footwear waste and why recycling isn’t the absolute solution for sustainability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apparel production is often prone to defects—particularly in the finishing process—whether it be stains, holes, untrimmed threads or stitching defects. Unfortunately, brands often don’t leverage systems that can gather insight that could determine the root of the problem and help train a factory on corrective actions. Even if a merchant is collecting high-quality data, it is often done manually and accessed by users across different departments and countries, according to Michael Bland, senior partnership director at supply chain compliance solutions provider QIMA. In a fireside chat with Sourcing Journal business editor Glenn Taylor, Bland discussed the importance of digitizing data collecting and reporting capabilities to mitigate product defects and reduce quality control issues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trimco Group is a trims, labels, packaging and store decorations solutions specialist, and as a stakeholder of the brands’ supply chain, they are directly concerned by the evolution of the regulations. Trimco has developed expertise in this field and designed an industry-specific solution for global brand clients to track and trace their supply chains. With the new Product DNA digital platform and in-house compliance team, Trimco accompanies brands in their sustainability journey. Trimco's tagline “Together, We Act” underscores that commitment. Lauren Parker, branded content manager of Sourcing Journal, sat down with Camilla Mjelde, compliance and sustainability director of Trimco Group, to discuss the myriad challenges of knowing what you need to know. Watch the Fireside Chat to learn:  ·      How, and why, a trims, labels, and packaging company got involved with tracking and tracing, and how Trimco is in a unique position to help companies push out their messages. ·      How Trimco’s three-tiered Product DNA supports brands to unlock their supply chain traceability and visibility value.  ·      How global brands can navigate the labyrinth of global regulations that sometimes conflict from country to country.  ·      The legal and social consequences of non-compliance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The fashion industry has increasingly embraced 3D design and digital “virtual twins” to speed up the manufacturing process, replace physical samples and save money. But the technology hasn’t always delivered when it comes to solving the industry’s biggest pain points.  One serial entrepreneur who’s been reducing manufacturing costs in the automotive, aerospace and electronics industries for 40 years recently applied his expertise to the fashion industry. The resulting company is Clothing Tech LLC, and its patented product is called the Garment Digital Twin™. In this Fireside Chat, Bill Wilcox, president and founder of Clothing Tech LLC, sits down with Kate Nishimura, features editor of Sourcing Journal, to discuss the software and its many advantages, namely speed and precision. Watch the fireside chat to learn:  ·      The difference between designing in 3D and visualizing in 3D and why it matters ·      How Clothing Tech’s Garment Digital Twin™ creates a digital definition that is instantly readable by a computer ·      How more precision design significantly reduces the return rate for garments ordered via e-commerce ·      How Clothing Tech’s Garment Digital Twin™ embeds the tech pack right into the pattern   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Enhanced performance textiles cool you down when you’re hot, and help keep you warm when you’re cold. They also help you sleep better, perform better athletically, and stay cool and collected when it counts.  Such thermoregulatory properties might sound like science fiction, but Cocona Labs developed its proprietary 37.5 Technology directly from nature. The company’s creator found he could withstand the high levels of heat in Japan’s volcanic sand baths due to a mineral that balanced heat gain and heat loss through moisture management. Fast forward to today, where the company has harnessed this technology and embedded it into textiles for apparel, footwear, bedding, home goods and more. In this Fireside Chat, Edward Hertzman, founder of Sourcing Journal, sits down with Scott Whipps, EVP global apparel, and Beth Amason, VP of fabric innovation, at Cocona Labs, the makers of 37.5 Technology. They explain how their natural mineral technology works to enhance the textiles of their brand partners, and how it also creates a more sustainable product. Watch the Fireside Chat to learn: · What the number 37.5 specifically represents in thermoregulation and how its technology can be applied to textiles · How this technology has been proven to increase athletic performance and endurance, both for professional athletes and the sports enthusiast · How 37.5 Technology is different from wicking or phase-change technology · How Cocona Labs partners with its brand partners to help them explain the technology to their consumers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Already aspiring to deliver “the greenest ecosystem that denim has ever seen,” Crescent Bahuman Limited is taking other supply chain imperatives head on with the launch of its “Smart Factory 4.0” journey and implementing tracing technology from PaperTale. The digitization investments come as the denim manufacturer aims to fortify its ongoing sustainability and transparency initiatives with the support of more granular data. Listen to the chat between Zaki Saleemi, vice president of Crescent Bahuman, and Edward Hertzman, founder of Sourcing Journal, to learn how the company's Smart Factory supports "intelligent decision-making." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Of all the takeaways from the pandemic period, one of the most crucial is the value of strong partnerships. Fabric sourcing firm Concept III saw firsthand how the trials of Covid-19—from freight issues to factory closures— strengthened the working relationships along the supply chain. In its own operations, the U.S-based company was a trusted source of on-the-ground information for both brands and mills as travel slowed down. Amid factory furloughs and changing personnel, the sourcing agency also provided consistency and industry knowledge to its partners. “Because of our long-term relationships and our partners, we are able to give real, truthful, factual information that is allowing the brands to continue to evolve and do their business,” said Chris Parkes, managing partner at Concept III. In this chat with Sourcing Journal founder Edward Hertzman, Parkes explained how his company worked with brands to navigate the challenges of the pandemic and why working with an agent is smoother than dealing directly with manufacturers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than ever before, companies must know the intricacies of their supply chains. Chief among the pressures to better understand where exactly goods stem from is a growing spate of due diligence legislation, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) in the United States. Signed in December and going into effect in June, this law expands the burden of proof for importers. Companies bringing goods into the United States already face Withhold Release Orders (WROs) on products with certain materials—including cotton—that were thought to be associated with forced labor in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. With UFLPA, the scope of banned imports extends to all merchandise with an origin in the XUAR—whether or not there is evidence of potential forced labor. This conversation between MeiLin Wan, vice president, textile sales at Applied DNA Sciences; Andrew Samet, principal at trade consulting firm Sorini, Samet & Associates; and Edward Hertzman, founder and president of Sourcing Journal, covers what to expect as UFLPA goes into effect. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If one proposed piece of legislation passes, fashion brands could soon encounter a harsh reality that could cost millions if their supply chain isn’t up to snuff. While brands have already had to wade through significant and often confusing legislative changes in 2022 via the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, they may need to freshen up on the terms of the recently introduced Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act, commonly referred to as the New York Fashion Act. Despite the locality its informal name implies, the bill carries vast global implications, Mark Burstein, executive vice president and industry principal at supply chain software provider Logility, explained in a conversation with Sourcing Journal founder Edward Hertzman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to moving fashion goods around the world, the logistical challenges are not easing up. Zero-tolerance Covid measures have parts of China under a prolonged lockdown. Labor shortages and conflicts are grinding the gears on the West Cost of the U.S., as negotiations with the port workers get off to a slow start. on top of it, capacity, congestion, and pricing continue their uncertain dance. Any one of these issues would be challenging on its own, but collectively, it’s a perfect storm of chaos. Vincent Iacopella, executive vice president growth and strategy at freight forwarder Alba Wheels Up, sat down with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman to discuss the issues and uncertainties, and help chart a path forward.  Watch the fireside chat to learn:  ·      If there is any reprieve on the horizon regarding dealing with China. ·      How geopolitical conflicts like the war in Ukraine is impacting the global flow of goods. ·      What’s happening domestically regarding negotiations between the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) ·      What inflation and a cooling off of consumer demand means for the push-pull of congestion and capacity, and where to go from there. ·      How technology can help companies alleviate some of today’s most pressing logistics issues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The supply chain bottlenecks that have persisted over the past year have led many brands to worry about delivery delays and rising freight and raw material prices. And while getting the shopper the product swiftly is a top priority, brands can’t afford to ignore quality assurance issues that can occur from the source to the store. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, footwear brands in particular have wrestled with this problem, as more orders are delivered with the incorrect soles, the wrong color or even a different upper material than expected. In a recent chat with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman, Paul Bridge, deputy vice president of global footwear services at testing, inspection and certification company SGS, identified the three major issues in footwear production today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fashion brands and retailers might use stylish products, hip branding and slick marketing to set themselves apart to consumers, but on the supply chain side of things, differentiation excellence takes a logistical turn. Here, seamless technology and scale economics have emerged as major competitive differentiators, and it’s often where brand and retail successes are won or lost.  In this Fireside Chat, Chirag Patel, president of supply chain technology company Bamboo Rose, joins Shaker Natrajan, chief supply chain officer at American Eagle Outfitters, to discuss the role technology plays in driving supply chain agility and resilience and why it's worth the investment. Watch the video to learn: ·      How retailers can shift the perception of the supply chain organization from a cost center to a strategic differentiator ·      The role technology plays in driving supply chain transformations and economies of scale ·      How American Eagle Outfitter’s partnership and collaboration with its supply chain partner community via its Edge Network drives supply chain visibility and agility  ·      How supply chain synchronization (i.e., 2nd and 3rd tier suppliers and international logistics partners) supports great customer experiences even amid an optimized domestic distribution network ·      How supply chain agility and responsiveness across domestic and international networks enabled American Eagle Outfitters to introduce new products and brands to market at record speed to keep pace with consumer trends and expectations  ·      How retailers can surmount their old mindsets to adopt robust software for managing supply chain fluidity     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fashion companies have not typically had full visibility into their supply chains. But in response to increasing calls from consumers for transparency, the apparel industry is aiming toward more oversight of each step in the production process. “The textile supply chain is inherently filled with opacity because that provided the flexibility and cost advantages that manufacturers could leverage to gain business and do volume. That is changing,” said Marc Lewkowitz, president and CEO of Supima. One of the forces currently pushing business on this path is the need to verify the provenance of raw materials to demonstrate ethical labor and environmental practices. Another incentive is the desire to tell an authentic Made in America brand story. In a recent conversation with Sourcing Journal president Edward Hertzman, Lewkowitz and apparel brand Save Khaki United’s creative director David Mullen discussed how both their companies’ Made in America foundations allow for greater transparency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“If you can't measure it, you can't improve it,” said Paul Magel, president, application solutions group of software solutions company CGS. “And if you don't have the visibility, you don't even know what you're measuring.” Even a fully transparent supply chain has so many moving parts and independent “bubbles” that need to be digitalized and linked for visibility and real-time tracking. It’s all about collecting data—and using it effectively. The urgency doesn’t stop with direct suppliers, either, as vendors increasingly sub-contract out work, putting overall compliance at risk. When it comes to visibility, from tracking worker efficiencies across the world to inventory allocation across DTC and wholesale channels, a solid cloud-based software system will be the backbone of any enterprise for 2022 and beyond. Watch the fireside chat to learn: ·     How supply chain visibility can better manage product quality and costs  ·     How one of CGS’ clients reduced non-productive “off-standard time” by 90 percent ·     How companies can prioritize where to focus their dollars when aiming for visibility ·     What area of the supply chain is often overlooked but can reap rewards if better tracked  ·     Why saying ‘what we don’t know can’t hurt us’ is no longer an excuse   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With so much “haziness” in today’s apparel supply chain, Sorona® is determined to give brands and consumers alike the confidence that they are getting high-performance fabric backed by true sustainability claims. In launching the Common Thread Fabric Certification Program for Sorona® in 2020, DuPont Biomaterials made this a reality. Those interested in certification must submit fabric swatches to a laboratory for testing in order to gain a certificate for a minimum level of Sorona® bio-based content, as well as quality and performance, which then results in access to approved logos, marketing materials and more. For supply chain partners, the program goes back to one imperative, according to Alexa Raab, global brand and communications leader at Sorona®—educating the consumer. Raab spoke with Sourcing Journal founder Edward Hertzman about Sorona's Common Thread Fabric Certification Program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apparel demand has reached a new level of unpredictability. During the pandemic, the purchasing behavior pendulum has swung from weak sales amid early lockdowns to revenge spending in 2021. Historical data is therefore no longer a strong predictor of market performance. Retailers are also contending with supply chain disruptions, including expanded lead times and shipping schedules that threaten on-time arrivals of goods. The major risk has shifted from overstocks to understocks, and retailers have adjusted their buying strategies accordingly. In AlixPartners and Sourcing Journal’s recent “2021 Fashion in Focus” survey report, industry executives said they were planning for delays by buying earlier and ordering larger volumes of goods. But buying far out essentially means “buying blind,” explained Joe Schmitt, a managing director at AlixPartners.   As the industry adapts and learns from pandemic pressures, there are still uncertainties in how to navigate planning. “I don't think anyone has a clear game plan moving forward around what exactly they need to do,” Schmitt told Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman in a recent podcast conversation. “I think the theme is really, ‘How can we be as flexible as possible while still being differentiated in the market?’ And that balancing act is what everyone's trying to figure out right now.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part of the appeal of producing garments in Peru comes from the homegrown natural fibers, including cotton and alpaca. And while these raw materials are attractive for their quality, they also boast strong sustainability credentials. As Rizal Bragagnini, executive director of the Peru Textiles Exporters Association, explained, these fibers have the added benefit of durability. For instance, in tests, extra-long staple pima cotton retains its color through at least 140 wash cycles. If garments can last and look better for longer, their impact to the environment is lessened. This is the message of Peru Textiles’ latest marketing campaign. With the tagline “Find the true value behind Peru Textiles,” the promotion invites buyers and shoppers to explore Peru’s sustainability and quality. Peru Textiles is aiming to make its production even more sustainable. In 2020, the exporters association set out to make Peru the most sustainable apparel production market in the world. Bragagnini noted that this quest to be the leader in sustainability is a work in progress. During a recent discussion with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman, Bragagnini and Mario Ocharan, director of export promotion at tourism and trade agency PromPeru, detailed the efforts underway to move Peru’s apparel sector in this direction, including renewable energy sources and carbon reduction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following a challenging pandemic period for the global garment industry, Peru’s apparel sector is bouncing back. Exports are up over 2020, and according to Mario Ocharan, director of export promotion at trade and tourism organization PromPeru, the nation expects shipments to meet or exceed 2019 levels. In a chat with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman, Ocharan and Rizal Bragagnini, executive director, Peru Textiles Exporters Association, spoke to the state of Peru’s textile trade and the role that the garment industry is playing in Covid-19 recovery. While the U.S. remains a significant export market for Peru, representing about half of all trade, Peru has increased its business in other parts of the Americas such as Canada, Colombia, Chile and Mexico. Nearshoring has been gaining ground for some time, but the South American nation has become even more appealing amid transportation disruptions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amid the retail disruptions of the pandemic, consumers began shopping online more than ever before. But escalating e-commerce sales are not solely a positive for retailers’ profitability. In AlixPartners and Sourcing Journal’s recent industry survey: “2021 Fashion in Focus: Investing in a Future Forged by Adversity,” respondents were largely split on whether the growth in online sales had an accretive or dilutive effect on their business, and a number were unclear on the impact. Serving a customer in store has a different cost structure than fulfilling online orders, and the labor, operational and other expenses for the latter can add up. This makes it more difficult to calculate the actual net financial result of digital sales, explained Bryan Eshelman, a managing director at AlixPartners, in a recent conversation with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman. “It is a hard, tangled web of costs and activities to untangle and really truly understand,” said Eshelman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Online retailers have a recurring returns problem, especially in the footwear category where they can be as high as 30 to 40 percent. As e-commerce continues to grow at an exponential rate, this challenge will unfortunately only become more prevalent. But, one company is combining 3D foot scanning and artificial intelligence (AI) in an effort to eliminate the issue entirely and give consumers the right shoe fit every time. Aetrex recently unveiled FitGenius, an AI platform that is now integrated into their foot scanning technology. The program works by matching shoppers’ unique foot profiles, which are gathered from a foot scan in store, with a retailer’s footwear catalog.  In a chat with Sourcing Journal, Larry Schwartz, CEO of Aetrex, spoke about the data that can be collected during a foot scan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For sourcing professionals, the pandemic has served up a seemingly never-ending series of logistical quagmires. Factory shutdowns, transportation capacity constraints and cost spikes, and raw material shortages forced companies to adopt plan B, C or even D. Outside of the direct effects of Covid-19, environmental disasters and geopolitical upheaval threaten to abruptly cut off supply or derail shipments. And when time is of the essence, it pays to have planned ahead. “Companies have to start thinking about developing their own contingency plans and risk-mitigation playbooks,” said Murali Gokki, managing director at AlixPartners, who leads the company's apparel and fashion services as part of the retail practice. “These need to be institutionalized; they no longer have the luxury of waiting for an event to happen and then putting their best brains in a room to think through a solution.” Listen to this episode to learn how to navigate freight hurdles heading into the holiday season, what it will take to scale nearshoring and onshoring, the hidden impacts of inflation that are hurting bottom lines, where to start with digital design and production management tools and how companies should approach the supplier-buyer relationship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the pandemic, home goods sales have soared as consumers prioritize spending on their living spaces. At the same time, shopping migrated online and individuals gained more time to investigate their purchases, leading them to invest in quality, organic and sustainable goods. Eco-mindedness is not solely a millennial or Gen Z trait. During a recent conversation with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman, Corinne Bentzen, CEO of bedding and bath product retailer The Company Store, explained that consumers across all generations are considering the environmental impact of their purchases. “The baby boomers are becoming more responsible as they are bringing grandkids into this world and they want to leave a better footprint behind,” Bentzen said. Discover more about how consumers are weighing sustainability in their home purchases and why TENCEL™ is a fit for The Company Store’s promise of conscious, comfortable linens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For fashion to break out of its disposability rut, it needs to focus on quality. And quality begins with using materials that can last. A key tactic to reduce a garment’s impact is to get more use out of it. Being able to wash and wear something 40 times instead of five times makes a huge difference in the overall calculation of its environmental cost, explained World Textile Sourcing (WTS) CEO Luis Antonio Aspillaga during a recent discussion with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman. “Sustainability works when the garment has a longer life,” Aspillaga noted. Hear more about WTS’ experience working with TENCEL™ and how quality relates to sustainability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sustainability has been a top talking point for the apparel supply chain in recent years, but it’s safe to say that mere awareness doesn’t cut it anymore. Results are a must. To get there, brands have to set “measurable and quantifiable” goals, according to Min Zhu, Ph.D., technical director, U.S. and Canada softlines at SGS North America Inc., a testing, inspection and certification company. But when the sustainability conversation extends beyond the brand, suppliers typically need more explicit directions and training to set these goals in motion. “The training that we provide to the supply chain should not just end at the Tier 1 supplier,” Dr. Zhu said in a conversation with Edward Hertzman, founder and president of Sourcing Journal. “We should go as far as we can reach to ensure the mutual understanding of the brand’s commitments, goals and expectations—this is critical.” Listen to hear about SGS's Sustainability Ambitions 2030 roadmap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Got data? Of course, you do. Most companies are drowning in it. But useful data? That’s a different story. “Talk to brand executives or decision makers today and no one’s really saying they don’t have enough data,” said Dan Leahy, co-founder and CEO of retail product decision platform MakerSights. “But ask people within a brand responsible for bringing products to market: ‘Do you have the data at your fingertips important to guide the actual decisions you need to make?’ then the results are a lot more mixed.” In this chat, Leahy discusses why the need for actionable data is more urgent than ever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While the Covid-19 pandemic hit most retailers hard, it created uniquely intense challenges for Hotter Shoes. The vast majority of the footwear retailer’s sales were to older customers who patronized the company’s brick-and-mortar stores. These customers, who are not digital natives, were among the least likely to shift to buying online. Hotter needed to build up its e-commerce presence and appeal to a new group of shoppers at the same time. While the company implemented First Insight’s “Voice of the Customer” predictive analytics to make more accurate design, buying and pricing decisions back in December 2019, the comfort footwear manufacturer and retailer has since gained a longer-term benefit of its deep digital transformation: attracting newer, younger shoppers. In this chat, Ian Watson, CEO of Hotter Shoes, and Greg Petro, CEO of First Insight, talk with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman about how Hotter Shoes has expanded into a younger customer base. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sustainability doesn’t always have to be a hefty investment. For apparel brands that don’t know where to begin tackling sustainability, starting small can be a great way to build out a more eco-friendly supply chain. As brands prioritize using more sustainable raw materials, adopting circularity initiatives or setting science-based targets, they often overlook labeling as an area for quick improvement. And while sustainable labels may be a cost-effective means to reduce waste, developing these labels also reflects a deeper, more holistic commitment to brand sustainability goals, according to Jimmy Christopher, group sustainability officer at apparel labeling and packaging solutions provider ITL Group. In this chat with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman, Christopher and Sabine Watson, ITL Group’s global brand manager, discuss how to make labels more sustainable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marks & Spencer is listening to its customers. Five years after enlisting First Insight to assist in determining design, buying and pricing for lingerie products, Marks & Spencer (M&S) has scaled up the company’s “Voice of the Customer” product testing. The U.K.-based retailer has since expanded the consumer-driven predictive analytics software platform to more than 50 departments in apparel and footwear, covering both its own private label brands and third-party brands, according to Elaine Wheeler, head of digital product development at Marks & Spencer. In a chat with Edward Hertzman, president and founder of Sourcing Journal, and Greg Petro, CEO and founder of First Insight, Wheeler noted how testing has been fruitful for M&S. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While there are numerous new tech platforms to help retailers improve efficiencies on their sales floor, a system is only as good as the frontline workers who use it. Brick-and-mortar retailing has already suffered greatly—with consumers migrating to e-commerce faster than you can say “free shipping”—and the frontline work force now is being tasked with more complex jobs. This leads to sub-optimal job performance, outright mistakes and high turnover. “Before, employees just had to put the stock out, work with the customer and ring up the register,” said Michael Appel, president of retail consultancy Appel Associates and the former CEO of retail chain Rue 21. “Now, we've added all these software solutions, payment solutions, buy online, pick up in store [BOPIS], ship from store, and more. Things that didn't even exist before now make an employee’s job much more complex. And it’s tougher for them to feel mastery.” It’s all about data, which the Axonify platform gathers via AI. Via the daily learning tasks, the system can see who knows what, and who needs more work in certain areas for optimal learning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Customer demand is becoming more unpredictable by the minute, putting retailers on the defensive as they try to understand how to optimize their product merchandise offering, services and experiences. In today’s world, to get the supply and demand equation right, retailers must generate as much data as possible from product testing. “They need to rely on data to anticipate as opposed to react,” said Greg Petro, CEO and founder of First Insight. “The winners will anticipate. And the anticipation is the challenge. You can’t rest on a historical data point at this stage or leverage intuition to a large degree. It does not make sense economically any further.” Listen to this chat between Petro and Edward Hertzman, founder and president of Sourcing Journal, to hear about First Insight's Next-Gen XM Platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The mass cancellation of apparel orders throughout the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in an excess supply of raw materials that manufacturers and suppliers quickly pivoted into the products that survived the chopping block. That left a dearth of inputs once new orders began to flow again. This chain of events put supply chains under unprecedented pressure, and created questions around the quality and integrity of the resulting finished goods. In the case of raw materials, the biggest concern would be swapping out fibers from nominated suppliers for whatever’s on hand, according to Wayne Buchen, vice president at molecular-based supply chain security company Applied DNA Sciences. And retailers that don’t have a full grasp of their supply chain might not even be able to tell the difference between a high-quality or low-quality fiber. The Applied DNA Sciences team built the CertainT® platform specifically to enable brands to handle their own internal materials tagging and testing, whether at the yarn level or when the finished product arrives at the company warehouse. Listen to this chat to hear Buchen discuss this “tag, test and track” method. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than ever, apparel brands are tasked with adapting to a global environment that they have no control over. With higher sustainability standards among consumers and growing ethical concerns about textile origins, brands can no longer remain ignorant to the nature of the raw materials they are sourcing. Raw material provenance, in particular, became a flashpoint when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) on all cotton merchandise and tomatoes originating in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where it is widely believed that the goods are being produced with forced labor. As a result, importers are being held responsible for ensuring the products they plan to import do not exploit any forced labor, or face financial consequences. This puts them at major risk, but brings to light the need to invest in supply chain authentication capabilities, said Wayne Buchen, vice president of strategic sales at molecular-based supply chain security company Applied DNA Sciences. Listen to Buchen discuss Applied DNA Sciences' work with agricultural commodities merchants to tag cotton in the U.S., aiming to help more brands build a more secure supply chain while they wean off Xinjiang-based cotton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s apparel supply chain is in dire need of an accountability check. As brands today deliver bold promises such as “ethically made” jeans or “sustainably sourced” jackets, more consumers are demanding the proof behind these statements. But while there are many actors throughout the supply chain, it is ultimately the brand that is still responsible for the authenticity and traceability of the apparel it sells, according to Wayne Buchen, vice president of strategic sales at Applied DNA Sciences, a provider of supply chain security, anti-counterfeiting and anti-theft technologies. “The brands are the people who took the responsibility to ship that order with a tag that said ‘organic cotton,’” he said. In a recent chat with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman, Buchen said apparel retailers and brands are often still too reliant on traditional supply chain authentication methods. And the issue is becoming more challenging as fashion firms are continuing to move production closer to the end consumer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert McMillan of Dearborn Denim discusses the appeal of Made in America denim, and how it makes for a more sustainable product. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blackhorse Lane Ateliers founder Han Ates discussed the ways in which his brand is practicing social sustainability and creating a London aesthetic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kings of Indigo’s Tony Tonnaer discusses how his sustainable foundation helped him navigate the pandemic, and what he has in store for 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeanologia’s CEO Enrique Silla discusses the company’s contributions during Covid-19 and what it learned from the pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rudolf Group’s Alberto de Conti discussed Hub 1922’s latest innovations launched during Covid-19 that will have a lasting impact on the denim industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maurice Malone of Williamsburg Garment Company talks about the state of diversity in denim and the benefits of DTC beyond a pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transparency may be seen as a major buzzword throughout the apparel supply chain, but to build “the greenest ecosystem that denim has ever seen,” Crescent Bahuman Limited knows it has to be 100 percent transparent about the materials being woven within its denim products to embody the sustainability principles that have driven the company for nearly three decades. Zaki Saleemi, vice president of Crescent Bahuman Limited (CBL), understands that for the Pakistan-based manufacturer, maintaining such high standards comes down to knowing where every material comes from, whether it’s the raw materials, the trims or the stitching threads, as well as the chemicals used in the process. Saleemi spoke with Sourcing Journal founder Edward Hertzman about the company's transparency efforts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As digital transformation takes shape across not just apparel, but all industries, speed to market and customization continue to become greater demands for consumers. The rise in content platforms such as Spotify and Netflix, as well as delivery services like Amazon Prime, has produced an expectation that individualized tastes need to be catered to at all times. Omer Kulka, chief marketing officer at Kornit Digital, says that a successful on-demand production process requires three characteristics: it must be completely sustainable, flexible and presented as a standalone technology without relying on processes from third-party suppliers that are not there. In this conversation with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman, Kulka said that personalization and mass customization remain important to on-demand production as more apparel businesses turn to co-creation, which he describes as “one of the best ways to create that linkage, that bond between consumers and the brands.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apparel overproduction remains one of the biggest costs on both the industry and the environment. In fact, Omer Kulka, chief marketing officer at printing solutions provider Kornit Digital, estimates that between 20 and 25 percent of manufactured apparel goes unsold. Such alarmingly high numbers indicate that apparel needs a better way to produce that not only keeps garments out of landfills, but also saves significant amounts of natural resources in the manufacturing process. In this fireside chat with Sourcing Journal president and founder Edward Hertzman, Kulka asserts that on-demand production is the next step to ensuring sustainability within the supply chain. “When you produce on demand, what happens is…that instead of trying to sell what you’ve produced, you’re producing what you’ve already sold,” Kulka said. “That doesn’t reduce the risk. That eliminates the risk completely. Somebody actually buys something, and only then are you manufacturing it, so you’re not sitting on any inventory that’s at risk.” Listen to the conversation to find out how on-demand could significantly curb apparel’s impact on the environment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices