Travelogue: Listening and Learning in Pakistan With Artistic Milliners and Diamond Fabrics
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Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
Cascale Elevates Collaboration in Accelerating Collective Action at ZDHC Event
Cascale was deeply appreciative of ZDHC for recently having Carolina van Loenen, director of stakeholder engagement at Cascale, participate in ZDHC's Convention Week event in Amsterdam. Celebrating a decade of ZDHC's transformative progress in the industry, the event featured a week of sector-focused meetings, cross-industry collaboration, and technical deep dives. It brought together global changemakers to share insights on how to shape the future of responsible production and sustainable chemical management. Van Loenen joined a panel to discuss how sustainability initiatives can better align, reduce duplication, and improve outcomes for suppliers, brands, and the planet. The panel was moderated by Janne Koopmans, collaborations director at ZDHC Foundation, and included Carolin Franitza, stakeholder manager at OEKO-TEX, Francesca Rulli, co-founder at Ympact, and Maria Pulido, global advisor, sustainable trade stakeholders and partnerships at Amfori. Van Loenen emphasized the need to move beyond fragmented efforts, noting that some manufacturers undergo as many as 200 audits a year, an overwhelming challenge which can hinder real progress. Reflecting Cascale's mandate to foster pre-competitive collaboration, she reiterated that most environmental and social challenges — such as factory emissions or excessive overtime — cannot be solved by one brand alone. Van Loenen noted that when competitors align on shared expectations, data systems, and improvement frameworks, it helps create a level playing field and clearer market signals for suppliers. She shared that insufficient cooperation among numerous sustainability initiatives in the apparel and textile industry has slowed progress, leading to duplicative, overlapping, isolated, and at times contradictory audit and improvement programmes, resulting in fragmentation and suboptimal outcomes. Highlighting the importance of collaboration and partnerships, a value proposition for Cascale members, Van Loenen delved into some real-life examples of collaboration in action, including a recent grant-funded pilot project with the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) and ZDHC. Developed under the umbrella of the apparel alliance program, the Factory Improvement Journey can help brands and supply chain partners clarify how different environmental programmes such as the Higg FEM, Supplier to Zero and Aii Clean by Design can optimize the use of existing tools without duplicating efforts. She shared how the project supported alignment by creating a Data Matrix, which mapped key data points across the three programmes - a first step toward a more open and interoperable data model, reducing audit fatigue, making environmental due diligence more efficient, and thereby consolidating sustainability programmes. She invited other sustainability assessment tools and improvement programs to join the initiative and industry stakeholders to join existing endorsers of the publicly available guidance. Van Loenen's concluding remarks reiterated the urgent need for collective action to achieve meaningful progress. She highlighted the importance of amplifying supplier voices, fostering industry alignment, and true collaboration to accelerate collective action to address complex issues facing the industry. She urged like-minded multistakeholder initiatives to take bold action on data sharing as well as companies to leverage the extensive data insights of tools such as Cascale's Higg Index suite of tools, and The Better Buying Partnership Index (BBPI). These tools offer actionable insights and are designed to drive efficiencies, reduce costs, and enhance both environmental and social performance, ultimately contributing to more resilient supply chains. Visit 3BL Media to see more multimedia and stories from Cascale
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Cascale 2024 report finds sustainability leadership opportunity in apparel
The non-profit organisation, formerly the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, said 2024 was pivotal, marked by a phase of reinvention, the formation of strategic alliances, and action across the entire system. 'In 2024, we didn't just rebrand: we refocused. Our members are calling for more clarity, better alignment, and faster progress. This report highlights the steps we've taken together, how we're convening the industry in more focused, effective ways, and where we must go next,' said Cascale board chair and Solidaridad sustainable fashion senior policy director Tamar Hoek. Key developments and organisational growth in 2024 The report revealed that Cascale made notable progress in enhancing the Higg Index, with the introduction of Higg FEM 4.0 aimed at better environmental performance measurement throughout supply chains. In collaboration with Worldly, the organisation further integrated its Higg Index tools into the leading sustainability data analytics platform, facilitating improved data management. The Higg Index is a framework to measure sustainability performance in the apparel sector. Progress in decarbonisation efforts Cascale's expanded the membership of its Manufacturer Climate Action Program (MCAP) to 57, aiming to potentially reduce CO₂ emissions by 419,607.92 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Additionally, Cascale released the inaugural Industry Decarbonisation Roadmap in partnership with the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) and Reset Carbon. Progress in decent work data alignment Cascale initiated a strategic process leading to the acquisition of selected assets from Better Buying Institute in February 2025. This deal is expected to promote responsible purchasing practices and help achieve Cascale's goal of Decent Work for All. Cascale CEO Colin Browne said: '2024 was about unity in purpose. Through industry-wide initiatives, deeper stakeholder engagement, and policy innovation, we laid a foundation for the next phase of impact.' Global policy presence and advocacy Cascale saw its global policy influence grow with the publication of its Global Policy Priorities paper and active participation in policy roundtables in Brussels, Copenhagen, and Paris. The organisation also worked alongside the Social & Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) to craft a joint vision statement and initiated a secondment with the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), contributing to the development of new sustainability reporting standards. Strengthening industry collaboration Cascale established independent partnerships with BGMEA and Open Supply Hub, while also formalising an agreement with ZDHC to harmonise sustainability protocols. The co-publication of the Apparel Alliance Supply Chain Taxonomy with industry partners aimed to standardise reporting frameworks for enhanced transparency. Cascale Higg product tools director Joël Mertens said: 'The development of a shared perspective of the apparel supply chain tiers will provide clarity to our industry and enhance future communications and tool alignment strategies. We look forward to the continuation and release of this work with our apparel alliance partners.' Member engagement and educational initiatives With over 300 members worldwide, Cascale saw active member participation in various programmes, including the Fashion LEAP for Climate e-learning initiative and the GIZ PDP Solar Rooftop Initiative. In addition to these initiatives, the organisation launched the "Source of Good" podcast to share practical applications of sustainability tools and leadership stories from around the world, reaching listeners in 51 countries. In a separate development, Cascale appointed Harsh Saini as interim CEO, effective 1 August 2025, replacing Colin Browne, who will step down from his role on 31 July, in a decision made out of 'personal choice'. Saini previously held senior executive roles at The Fung Group and Nike and currently serves on Cascale's board of directors. "Cascale 2024 report finds sustainability leadership opportunity in apparel" was originally created and published by Just Style, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Associated Press
5 days ago
- Associated Press
Cascale Urges Outdoor Industry To Prioritize Sustainability for Long-Term Resilience
Joleen Ong, senior director of brand and retailer membership at Cascale, recently joined a panel of industry experts at the Outdoor Retailer Industry Day in Utah to discuss external factors impacting the future of the outdoor industry. The 'Under Pressure: Understanding the Continuing Forces Redefining Outdoor Business' panel explored how brands are responding to tariffs, supply chain disruptions, sustainability demands, evolving consumer values, and boycotts of American products, offering actionable insights on building resilience and driving impact in a rapidly changing landscape. Moderated by Suzanne Stroeer, owner of Dreamland Safari Tours and founder of AWExpeditions, the discussion also included Laura Schaffer, vice president of integrated marketing, brand amplification and impact at Orvis, and Jenni Staudacher, vice president of supply chain at Salomon. Ong highlighted the impact of tariffs on supply chain decisions on brands, not only on costs but also on sourcing and planning. She noted how abrupt factory exits in response to trade shifts could result in unpaid wages, an increase in contract labor, and weakened supplier trust, which could subsequently dull the market signal needed for suppliers to make CAPEX investments for decarbonization. On the importance of embedding responsible purchasing into governance, Ong shared how leading brands build cross-functional alignment — between sustainability, sourcing, and finance — in order to make decisions that reflect long-term priorities, not just a short-term response to tariffs, thereby shifting from transactional to strategic sourcing. She emphasized the need to consider key trade-offs between local and global sourcing, urging sourcing professionals to consider localizing the sourcing of trims, raw materials, and components, which, in some cases, need to be imported to ensure supply and demand are met. Delving deeper into resourcing and deprioritization of sustainability initiatives, Ong noted that brands are doubling down on efforts despite tight budgets, reframing sustainability as a business continuity issue in alignment with growing regulatory requirements. She highlighted how brands with long-term supplier relationships are more resilient when capacity is limited. Ong also pointed out how brands are increasingly integrating sustainability KPIs into sourcing scorecards, rethinking what they measure and refining their metrics to reward trust, on-time delivery, emissions progress, and social performance, instead of prioritizing cost as a top scorecard metric, which can unintentionally penalize sustainability. Ong shared insights on how competitors within the same market can collaborate to drive systemic change in sustainability. Reflecting Cascale's mandate to foster pre-competitive collaboration, she emphasized that most environmental and social challenges, like factory emissions or excessive overtime, cannot be solved by any single brand in isolation. Ong underscored the importance of competitors aligning on shared expectations, data systems, and improvement frameworks to level the playing field, sending clearer, more consistent signals to suppliers across the value chain. Reflecting on the recent Cascale Forum, which took place in Ho Chi Minh City, Ong shared insights from the event, where 42 percent of attendees said aligned brand requirements are key to accelerating decarbonization. She emphasized the importance of brands collaborating —on shared KPIs, improvement programs, or supplier scorecards — to reduce duplication and give factories confidence that sustainability progress will be rewarded, not penalized. Ong shared how Cascale is encouraging brands to integrate climate and labor data more deeply into sourcing decisions — not just for reporting, but for actual business decisions, which is essential to driving a shift from ambition to accountability. She concluded by urging the outdoor industry to treat sustainability as a strategic infrastructure, not a side initiative, to build a future-proof industry. Visit 3BL Media to see more multimedia and stories from Cascale
