The new geography of eco-responsible sourcing The - Première Vision Paris
How and to what extent are environmental and eco-responsibility concerns redefining the global mapping of textile sourcing? This was the question addressed by the conference “How does eco-responsible fashion reshape sourcing strategies?” (Wednesday 12 February, 5-6 pm, Fashion Talks Area, Hall 6), a talk presented by Gildas Minvielle, Director of the IFM’s economic observatory and of the Première Vision – IFM (Institut Français de la Mode) chair, which since 2016 has been conducting high-level research into the economy of creative materials for fashion.
In Europe, there has been a trend towards stabilising the volume of textile imports since 2015, and diversifying Asian sourcing countries in favour of countries other than China. Thus, Myanmar moved up from 25th to 9th place in the rankings of the 25 largest suppliers between 2010 and 2019, while countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam and Pakistan also significantly increased their exports. This undoubtedly reflects a desire on the part of European companies to better manage their stocks and unsold goods, with one of every two purchases in France now bought on sale, reflecting falling consumption in the Euro zone from 2007-2008 onwards. Yet it is also indicative of a growing awareness of the environmental impact of textile waste.
An overview of French sourcing aligns with these trends. The value of imports from China has fallen slightly (from 33% in 2014-2015 to 27% in 2019) while the value of imports from the Asian zone has risen (from 23% in 2014 to 33% in 2019). Imports from Mediterranean countries (16% in 2014 vs. 14% in 2019) and European countries (20% in 2014 vs. 17% in 2019) have remained relatively stable. Buying plans for 2020 seem to confirm and even magnify these trends: 37% of those interviewed said they would like to decrease their imports from China (49% remain unchanged), while 53% said they intended to switch to Vietnam, and 38% to Bangladesh.
Poised on the fine line between financial strategy and ecological concerns, restrained production and the need to optimise logistics naturally favour local suppliers. For example, by 2020, plans to import from Portugal see a significant increase (52% of those interviewed say they intend to import from this country, with 43% remaining unchanged), plans to import from Romania remain unchanged (63%), while Tunisia and Morocco continue to be key suppliers. Similarly, while long-term sourcing, i.e. sourcing from far-off countries, remains predominant (47% in 2019), medium-term sourcing is on the rise (from 31% to 35% between 2018 and 2019) and short-term sourcing emerges in the 2020 buying preferences for a third of those interviewed (35% stating a desire to increase local sourcing, with 65% remaining unchanged). This is a new indication of the need for brands to build their collections as closely as possible to trends, but also of their growing attention to quality and ethical factors such as traceability, a respect for high environmental and societal standards, and the reduction of textile waste (37% of retailers said they want to decrease their volume of imports in 2019, as compared to 10% in 2017).
This same imbalance can be seen in the actions taken by companies to adopt a sustainable and responsible approach. While the traceability of materials (38%) and the use of sustainable, certified and recycled materials (28%) now play a key role in company strategies, 22% of those surveyed stated that they have not yet taken any specific action in this direction. The call for traceability naturally goes hand in hand with an increased pursuit of transparency – now a stated concern for 80% of producers (compared to 65.2% in 2018) – as well as a renewed interest on the part of French producers in relocating to Europe outside of France (37.7% of those interviewed said that they would consider relocating to Europe by 2020).
In short, the green and virtuous path of fashion has been mapped out, but much remains to be done.
Find the other reports of the Première Vision conferences in our programme section.