Clothing Brands Pledge Greener Supply Chains

Clothing brands including Stella McCartney, H&M, Eileen Fisher and Inditex/Zara are working with environmental nonprofit Canopy to develop a roadmap to make their supply chains more sustainable and conserve endangered forests.

The group, as part of  profit Canopy’s Fashion Loved by Forest initiative, says it will advance the following priorities:

• Creating a shared “knowledge map” of the viscose supply chain to further understanding of raw fiber flow into fabric, enabling brands to eliminate endangered forest fiber from their clothing within the next three years;
• Supporting long-term conservation solutions in high-priority forest regions such as Indonesia’s rainforests and Canada’s rainforests and Boreal forest; and
• Supporting the development of sustainable alternatives such as fabrics made from recycled materials and agricultural residues such as straw.

Last year Eileen Fisher, Quiksilver, Prana, Patagonia, Lululemon Athletica and other global clothing brands with revenues totaling more than $4 billion partnered with Canopy to develop purchasing policies that aim to end the use of endangered forest fiber.