Friends, as you know, I am building Alu, so I am always keeping up with the latest on DPP.

Well, the Joint Research Centre recently published the “Methodology for defining data requirements for the Digital Product Passport under the ESPR framework,” and I barely saw people talking about it. But it is a BIG deal. Let me tell you why.

Surely it looks like yet another document that doesn’t actually tell you what the EU will require from DPPs, but it does give you a sense of what the EU is thinking about. And I was really concerned that DPPs would be rolled back or shrink altogether, but I am getting hints that even if delayed, the foundation seems to be holding.

So based on this report and everything else we know, I wanted to write the all-inclusive guide to DPPs from a regulatory standpoint. The one guide you have to read, nothing less, nothing more. For now.

Heads up. A lot is still being defined and the EU will keep moving things. This is the latest based on research, not legal guidance. Use it to get smart and get moving, then loop in counsel.

The basics: DPPs, what are they?

They are digital records linked to a product through a data carrier (a QR code, NFC tag, or RFID chip), with all of the required information about that product. Think supply chain, impact, post-purchase transactions, and so on. Think of it like a barcode, but that consumers can access, or…. like nutritional facts, but for clothes.

A shopper scans a QR code on a hangtag and sees where a jacket was made, what it’s made of, how to care for it, how to repair it, and what to do with it at end of life. A recycler scanning the same code sees disassembly guidance and chemical info. A customs officer sees declarations of conformity. Same QR, different views.

DPPs are coming

The DPP is anchored in the ESPR, which entered into force on 18 July 2024 and establishes a horizontal framework (i.e., it applies across many product categories, with each category getting its own specific rules later) for sustainability, circularity, and information obligations across most physical products placed on the EU market. The actual DPP obligations apply category by category through delegated acts, with textiles and apparel in the priority queue of the first working plan.

Textile delegated acts, where the details will finally be published, were expected January 2026, now it seems like it will be in 2027. My current read: Textile Delegated Act around mid-2027, with implementation likely landing in 2028+.

This means full textile DPP obligations will likely land closer to 2029-2030. Larger brands may feel pressure earlier through pilots, customer expectations, retailer requirements, and adjacent ESPR obligations, but enforceable rules sit at the end of the decade.

And, in case there are any questions, yes, they very likely apply to you

If you place textile products on the EU market, whether through DTC, wholesale, retail partners, marketplaces, or importers, you should assume these rules will matter. Article 22 points to support and “proportionate implementation pathways” for SMEs, not a blanket opt-out.

One thing worth flagging for the non-EU crowd. The ESPR ends up placing obligations across the supply chain: manufacturers, importers, distributors, dealers, fulfillment service providers, and authorized representatives. If your product is imported into the EU, the importer carries obligations. Non-EU manufacturers can also appoint an authorized representative established in the EU to handle compliance on their behalf. The exact setup depends on how your products actually reach the EU market, but the practical takeaway is the same: someone in your value chain will need reliable product data from you, and now is the time to ask them how and start getting ready.

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What we know about the regulations

The ESPR is the regulation that brings the DPP to life, and it does the job through a handful of articles that cover both the what and the how.

A bit more color on a few of these. Article 13 is the one that gets oversold most often: the registry stores at minimum the unique identifiers (and, for customs-relevant products, commodity codes). It is not the same thing as the full passport data library. The passport content stays with the brand or its DPP provider. Article 14’s portal gives the public a searchable view, while access rights for consumers, authorities, recyclers, repairers, and other actors are defined through the delegated acts and the technical design rules. And Article 22 quietly acknowledges that a 12-person studio in Porto cannot comply the same way Inditex can.

For textiles, these horizontal rules get sharpened by a sector-specific delegated act. Current best read: draft details around 2027, final rules after that, and an implementation window that points toward the end of the decade rather than tomorrow.

So what data is required?

What you might expect to want to know about a product, and so much more: product identification, materials and recycled content, supply chain, impact data (e.g. emissions, water, waste), safety and chemical compliance, usage instructions, care tips, end of life guidance.

The Commission has not finalized the textile data list yet, but the JRC preparatory study gives us the working draft. Roughly nine buckets:

Now, DPPs can be so much more than this, but the regulation will tell you the floor, not the ceiling.

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Architecture: one ID, two ways to access

Most vendors draw the DPP as a tidy stack. A more useful way to think about it is “one ID, two ways to access,” and the whole system is built to be interoperable: different software, brands, and regulators can read each other’s data without translation.

It starts with the data carrier on the product: a QR code, NFC tag, or RFID chip. Article 10 says it must be open and standards-based, no vendor lock-in. GS1 Digital Link is the leading practical implementation today (the QR resolves to a web address rather than just encoding a SKU), but the underlying standards remain technology-agnostic. The carrier is the doorbell, not the passport.

A scan connects to the passport system, with the EU Central Registry acting as the bouncer, not the library. The Commission must set it up by 19 July 2026. It holds the identifiers needed to support verification and routing, while the actual product data lives with the brand or DPP provider.

That data sits on the brand DPP platform, run by the brand or a third-party provider. This is the source of truth.

From there, two routes branch out. A human route, where a shopper scans the QR and lands on a public-facing DPP view, while the ESPR Web Portal provides a searchable public interface for passport data across products. And a machine route through APIs and interoperable data exchange, supported by standards such as EN 18222 and EN 18223, for customs, recyclers, repairers, market surveillance, and other approved actors. Authentication mechanisms, potentially including W3C Verifiable Credentials or similar digital credential systems, may be used so that a supplier’s claim like “organic cotton” is backed by stronger evidence than a typed field in a form. Shared vocabularies and ontology mapping underneath help ensure systems can interpret the data consistently.

How unique is unique?

Under the ESPR, the DPP data can refer to the product model, batch, or item, and the exact level is set in the product-specific delegated act. The regulation says the DPP data shall refer to the “product model, batch or item” as specified in the delegated act, so the choice is not yours, it is the Commission’s.

The level matters more than it sounds, because there is an active disagreement underneath. CIRPASS-2 has leaned toward item-level identification as the architectural ideal, since it is the only level that fully enables circularity, resale, and unit-specific lifecycle data. The JRC, which writes the methodology expected to inform how the Commission drafts delegated acts, has pushed back. In report JRC145830 they flag granularity as a key cost driver, and warn that “requirements that diverge from existing industry practices, such as moving from model-level to item-level granularity where such practices are not already in place, can significantly increase implementation complexity and compliance costs…”

My current read: textiles will likely land closer to batch level first, with item-level passports more likely where the business case already exists (resale, rental, repair, luxury, high-value categories), but the delegated act will decide.

What is the JRC and what are they saying?

The JRC is the European Commission’s in-house science and knowledge service. They are not the lawmaker, but they write the methodology (JRC145830, published 2026) expected to inform how the Commission drafts delegated acts. Every requirement that ends up in the textile delegated act will be shaped by their playbook.

The methodology organizes DPP requirements into a few clean categories. The full report is long. Below is what matters most, with the secondary categories collapsed. Skim what you need.

• Unique identifiers. The ESPR sets out three: a Unique Product Identifier (UPI) for the product, a Unique Operator Identifier (UOI) for the economic operator (manufacturer, importer, distributor), and a Unique Facility Identifier (UFI) for the physical site or factory.

• Product-specific parameters (Article 7 and Annex III). This is the bulk of the textile DPP. The information requirements cover sustainability parameters (durability, reparability, fiber composition, recyclability score), use and repair information (care, repair contacts, warranty), end-of-life information (for recyclers and disassemblers), and a residual "other" bucket. The JRC's rule across all of it: include a field only if a real use case demands it.

• Substances of concern (Article 7(5)). Identification of SoC, their location and concentration in the product, and information for treatment operators. The JRC is careful here: the ESPR is not asking for full chemical inventories. It is asking for targeted, actionable disclosures that complement REACH, CLP, and POPs.

• Information required under other EU law. Declarations of conformity, technical documentation, user manuals, safety warnings, and labels like the EU Ecolabel. The JRC’s strong recommendation: reference rather than duplicate. If a piece of data is already collected under REACH, the EU Ecolabel, or another existing framework, link to it rather than ask brands to report it twice.

• Access rights and role-based visibility (Article 9(2)(f-g)). Not everyone sees everything. The delegated act decides which actors get which fields, with the rest restricted under a need-to-know logic. The JRC points to the Batteries Regulation as the working model: public access for non-confidential info, deeper access for end users and professionals, more for value-chain operators like recyclers and refurbishers, and full access for market surveillance and the Commission. Expect textiles to copy this tiered pattern.

• Data carrier (Article 10). Functional requirements only: the carrier must link reliably to the DPP through the UPI, be readable, durable, and located somewhere accessible. Technology-neutral. QR, NFC, RFID, or something newer all qualify.

• DPP registry and web portal (Articles 13 and 14). The registry must be set up by 19 July 2026 and stores at minimum the unique identifiers and the link to the data carrier. It is part of the central spine that helps authorities verify DPP compliance and market access. The web portal is the user interface on top.

• Plus secondary categories the report covers in more detail: product and producer information (the descriptive layer), clarity and usability requirements (Article 7(2)(c)), interoperability and format (Article 10(1)(d)), data retention (Article 9(2)(i)), and data governance (who updates what, when, and how).

The thread running through all of these: the JRC’s job is to make the ambition practical. They are not the ones asking for more disclosure, they are the ones asking why each disclosure is needed, who will use it, what it costs to collect, and whether it duplicates something already required. The textile delegated act will be shaped, line by line, by that test.

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European Norm Standards: more has been (sorta) defined than you think

Yes, yes, I keep hearing, we are still waiting for the delegated acts, and I get it. But actually quite a lot has been (sorta) defined. Cue European Norm standards. 🎺

The ESPR is silent on how the DPP should be built. That job sits with CEN-CENELEC JTC 24, the Joint Technical Committee delivering on EU Standardization Request M/604. As of mid-2026, the first six standards have been published as European Norms (EN), with EN 18239 (access rights) and EN 18246 (authentication) still at Final Draft European Norm (FprEN) stage and expected to publish later in 2026. Once cited in the Official Journal, they may provide a “presumption of conformity” with ESPR Article 10, which is the legal shortcut that turns voluntary standards into the de facto rulebook for every DPP system on the market.

Eight horizontal standards, designed to work across product categories rather than being textile-specific. In short, there are 8 horizontal standards, in three groups:

• Identity and physical link: EN 18219 (identifiers) and EN 18220 (carriers).

• Data movement: EN 18216 (exchange), EN 18222 (APIs), EN 18223 (interoperability), EN 18221 (storage).

• Trust and access: FprEN 18239 (access rights) and FprEN 18246 (authentication), both still in final draft.

So, the plumbing is settling fast. The first DPP system standards are now published, with the access-rights and authentication standards expected to follow later in 2026. Any DPP platform a brand picks needs to be aligned with the EN 1821x series, and vendors that cannot show conformance with EN 18222, 18223, and FprEN 18239 in particular are a technical risk. Sector content then sits on top. The textile delegated act is expected to build on these standards and add the textile-specific data points on top of the horizontal scaffold. The plumbing is landing in 2026, the textile content lands later in the decade, and brands cannot wait for the latter to get the former right. A global version is also coming. ISO/IEC JTC 5 was set up in 2026 to develop international DPP standards, so for brands selling outside the EU, the EN series is likely to become an important reference point for future global alignment.

What’s actually hard about this

The regulation gets most of the press, but the hard part is the data. Four things that will keep brands awake at night.

• You probably don’t know your supply chain. Mapping suppliers and getting them to share data is harder than building the IT.

• Someone has to verify the claims. “30% recycled polyester” will need third-party certification or authenticated evidence, not just a typed field.

• The cost is real, but no one knows the number. Estimates range from cents to several euros per garment, and the JRC’s whole pitch around proportionality is essentially: keep this number sane.

• Fines will have teeth. Member States set the levels, but ESPR requires effective, proportionate, and dissuasive penalties, with fines and procurement exclusion on the table.

So what should brands actually do now?

You cannot wait for the delegated act. Five things to start on today.

1. Talk to your suppliers. Now. Not next year, not when you know more. The data you need lives with them, and the conversation takes longer than you think. In my experience, most brands take 12-18 months, if not more, from starting to work on DPPs to fully ready.

2. Start collecting supply chain data, even if it’s just in Excel. A messy spreadsheet today beats a clean one in 2028. Get the habit going and get the suppliers used to sharing.

3. Look for DPP providers that are actually ready for Europe. A nice page and a QR code is not enough. Ask whether they follow the European technical standards and, just as importantly, whether they help you collect data (many don’t). That’s usually a real bottleneck. At Alu, we use AI to help collect, structure, and review data, because sustainability teams are usually small and the workload is not.

4. Run a small pilot before you scale. Pick a capsule collection or a few best sellers and test the full flow: where the QR sits, who prints it, what data is missing, how information moves, and which partners you need for resale, repair, or recycling. You will be surprised how much you don’t know what you don’t know.

5. Then scale. Once the pilot works, roll it out across the catalogue. Brands that pilot in 2026 will be ready when enforcement lands. Brands that try to roll out from zero in 2028 will be in trouble.

Compliance is truly just the beginning

Good for you to know all of this. Better is knowing how DPPs can unlock real post-purchase value by turning every garment you’ve already sold into a live channel back to the customer. A scan after the purchase, not just before. Repair offers when the jacket is two years old. Resale flows when the customer is ready to move it on. Loyalty mechanics that reward care, not just consumption. First-party data that doesn’t depend on a third-party cookie. The same QR code that satisfies Brussels can also be the most valuable owned channel a brand has, if you build it that way.

This is how you become your organization’s hero. Sustainability stops being the cost center everyone tolerates and becomes the growth channel everyone fights to fund. Same team, same work, completely different conversation in the boardroom.

That’s the next piece. Subscribe to learn more, and join the Alu waitlist if you want to chat about how to make your DPP earn its keep, not just keep you compliant.

PS: I keep this free so everyone can access it. If you’re getting value, consider upgrading. You get quarterly 1:1s with me and support for your trickiest dilemmas. Think of it as taking me out for coffee. ☕️

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Hello friends,

This might be harsh, but most corporate responsibility reports read like they were written to be skimmed by a lawyer, understood by only other sustainability teams, and forgotten by everyone else, you know.. scientific units like kgCO2e, unclear targets, and lots of acronyms, all adding up to a document most people will never finish. GANNI’s 2025 Responsibility Report is a refreshing exception. It’s short, clear, and honest. It misses goals out loud, explains itself, and still manages to be readable. In a year the report itself calls a “silent retreat” across the industry, there are many learnings to be had.

So, here is a quick recap:

1. Be honest about progress, even when it’s not perfect

GANNI aimed for 90% preferred materials and hit 85%. What I personally appreciate is that they put these figures right next to the targets instead of quietly hiding them somewhere a reader won’t look or just saying “we are reassessing” without sharing what actually happened.

The gap is the whole point. “85% against a 90% goal” tells you something real, and owning it is what makes the rest of the report believable. GANNI even says it’s “cautious about expressing that 2026 will lead to a further increase” on Fabrics of the Future, which is so refreshingly honest. When shoppers expect every brand to greenwash, transparency like this is what rebuilds trust.

2. Be transparent about the industry context and headwinds

GANNI just comes right out and calls it for what it is. It names the “silent retreat” across fashion, the political uncertainty, the funding gaps slowing innovation down. Its own struggles are framed against that backdrop rather than presented as a shrug of “it wasn’t me.”

This is a fine line to walk, and they walk it… prettyyy well. The context explains the difficulty without becoming an excuse. Readers can tell the difference between “here’s what we were up against” and “it wasn’t our fault,” and GANNI stays firmly on the right side of it.

3. Make it easy to understand, but don’t hide the gory details

The “Scientific Stuff” explainer on greenhouse-gas scopes and the “What is a tier?” walkthrough sit right alongside a full emissions table broken down to two decimal places, baseline and all (37,036.87 tCO2e, if you’re curious). Casual readers get the concept while the sustainability-nerds get the numbers. Genuinely, who pulls that off?

I’m amazed at how they balance accessibility and detail. Especially given all of the challenges with regulations like the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive. A readable surface for everyone, the receipts underneath for anyone who wants to check your math.

4. When you change a goal, say why

Targets shift, and how you handle that shift is everything. GANNI’s living-wage goal moved from “100% of Tier 1 suppliers” to “100% of core suppliers,” which is a narrower ask. A more nervous brand would have swapped the wording and hoped nobody noticed. Instead, GANNI explains why it shifted, and how concentrating on core suppliers, where it has the most leverage and the longest relationships, makes for more durable impact.

Framed that way, the narrowing reads as honest and a smart prioritization, not a retreat. Show the reasoning and a “backward” step can make sense.

5. Sound like a human

Two things go together here. First, GANNI renames things on purpose and tells you why. “Social Accountability” became “Safe Workplaces,” and they explain it was a deliberate move to put the human outcome front and center instead of the bureaucratic process.

Second, the whole thing is written by people, for people. With “green shoots,” a cheery “welcome!” to first-time readers, “progress over perfection,” and even “women, by women,” the comms stay warm and plain. Most sustainability comms die from being boring, not from lying, and GANNI avoids both.

The overarching theme comes down to three things: honesty, vulnerability, and clarity. As GANNI puts it, they share their journey “honestly, not perfectly," and in a year when plenty of brands chose to say less, that turns out to be the most authentic thing a brand can do.

Want to learn from GANNI itself? Join LPS on June 12 with Lauren Bartley, Chief Sustainability Officer of GANNI. Designed to help those doing this work inside brands. We know how hard it is, we got you.

PS: I keep this free so everyone can access it. If you’re getting value, consider upgrading. You get quarterly 1:1s with me and support for your trickiest dilemmas. Think of it as taking me out for coffee. ☕️

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This one is for any brand that’s been thinking about resale and have not been able to take the plunge yet.

Introduction

I discovered Pact during the pandemic while searching for the perfect comfortable lounge pant. The kind you could live in at home, but would not feel embarrassed wearing on a quick run to the grocery store. That very specific category of clothing that suddenly mattered a lot more when the world slowed down.

Once I found the fit, I stopped looking. I bought more than one pair, then more, and before I realized it, Pact had quietly taken over a meaningful portion of my pants drawer. Because it was comfortable and “clean” in the non-toxic sort of way.

So when I came across Pact Circle, I was so happy to see this from one of my favorite brands. I thought: Of course this is a brand that would eventually have to think about what happens after the purchase.

Because that is the part the fashion industry still struggles with. We have spent years focusing on materials, certifications, packaging, and claims at the point of sale. Far less time has gone into what happens once the customer has actually lived in the garment. Resale is 🔥🔥🔥 (see my recap for 2025 and predictions for 2026), and I expect many more brands to launch in the coming year.

That is why I wanted to speak with Alle Jackson and Drew Cook from Pact. Together, they bring the operational, sustainability, and storytelling side into one system. Pact Circle did not originate in marketing, but rather from operations, inventory management, and the very real challenge of dealing with returns, overstock, and waste. But now, it lives inside the brand story, and it belongs there.

Their journey

Step 1: Start with the problem you already have

Pact Circle did not start as a brand campaign or a sustainability initiative, but rather with a very real and well known business reality. As Pact scaled, the team had to confront the full lifecycle of their products, including returns, excess inventory, and the waste. Ohhh the waste... and, if you think about it, making durable basics creates a responsibility that does not end at checkout: customers keep garments longer, or want a way to pass them on.

At the same time, returns remain one of the biggest cost and sustainability risks in apparel.

“We saw that our commitment to sustainability and ethical production meant more than just the first purchase. The garment lifecycle matters.” shared Drew.

Pact Circle emerged as a response to those pressures. It was a way to extend the life of products, reduce waste, and address returns and overstock without undermining the core business. The lesson here is simple. Resale works best when it solves a problem you already have with a clear ROI combining with the right moment (which is now), not when it is bolted on as a trend-driven or marketing only initiative.

“We’ve always wanted to do this, and the timing aligned for us to build and launch the program,” mentioned Alle.

Step 2: Find the right partners instead of trying to build everything yourself

Resale can be underestimated because it is mistaken for a website feature rather than what it actually is: a whole supply chain. Meaning that authentication, grading, shipping, payouts, customer support, and returns all have to work in unison for the experience to work.

“There were so many things happening in the background for the business, evaluating product, inventory, and where everything should go.” Alle shared

Pact made a deliberate choice not to build this internally. Instead, they partnered with Treet to power resale and integrated return logistics through Fillogic. From the brand’s perspective, the setup functioned as a single system, even though it relied on multiple partners behind the scenes. This meant that Pact can stay focused on what they do best: designing and producing organic cotton staples, while relying on partners for the resale and returns part.

The takeaway is that not every brand needs the same vendors, and that resale requires operational maturity. Trying to own every part of the process often slows adoption, increases friction, and can impact the customer experience.

“Both Treet and Fillogic share our values around resale and returns, and that shared commitment made the partnership straightforward to launch and operate,” shared Alle

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Step 3: Design incentives that inspire responsible participation

Pact Circle gives sellers multiple choices. Peer-to-peer resale allows Pact’s community to engage more deeply by letting them sell gently used pieces directly to other Pact customers. It strengthens loyalty, and captures value from second-life garments, but loyalty is really the main point.

“Peer-to-peer resale allows our community to engage more deeply: our customers can sell their gently used Pact pieces to other Pact customers,” shared Alle.

The other option is how customers can get rewarded. They can receive either 80% of the resale value in cash or 90% in store credit. That decision is HUGE. Many resale programs default to store credit, which quietly nudges customers back into buying more. Offering cash acknowledges that extending the life of a garment does not always need to result in another purchase. It gives customers agency and reinforces trust. Incentives communicate what a brand truly believes about consumption, even when nothing is explicitly stated.

Step 4: Define success beyond short-term revenue

Pact does not position resale as a major profit driver. Revenue exists, but it is not the primary goal. Success is measured through customer participation, engagement, and feedback. Resale is viewed as a way to strengthen relationships and reinforce the value of products designed to last.

“We view it as a way to continue offering more to our customers.”

So what’s next? Drew shared:

“We want to continue bringing past-season favorites and long-term staples to the resale shopper. Pact’s mission is to change the apparel industry for good, and resale is a huge piece of that. We hope to see the program continue to scale and resonate with our customers.”

Conclusion

Around 80% of returns go back into full price inventory, about 15% are routed into Pact Circle for resale, and the rest are donated through partner organizations. This is the right way to keep garments in circulation and away from landfills.

Pact Circle is a system designed to support products that were meant to last in the first place. As Drew shared:

“We are proud of the durability of our items, and the Pact Circle program is a testament to the value we provide.”

What this shows is that resale works best when it reinforces who you already are as a brand. Comfortable, durable basics invite longer relationships with customers… those relationships create demand for resale… and resale, when done thoughtfully, feeds back into trust rather than novelty.

Resale is “in,” and many more brands will launch programs in the coming year, but not every brand needs the same setup, the same partners, or the same incentives.

What every brand does need is clarity: why are you doing this, what problem are you actually solving, and how does it fit into the reality of your operations?

PS: I keep this free so every sustainability professional can access it. If you’re getting value from it, consider upgrading. You’ll get quarterly 1:1s with me and support for your trickiest dilemmas. Think of it as taking me out for a coffee.

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Introduction

Digital Product Passports (DPPs) seem to be all the rage these days. Heck, I have a startup solely focused on them. So when Alexandra Kist from O My Bag said yes to a fireside chat about how she prepared and launched them, I knew people were going to show up. And show up they did.

Brands currently have around 12-18 months to be ready before the deadline (as of now because delegated acts were expected in January, and they never came, plus final dates are unknown). What many underestimate is that this is also roughly how long it can take to actually get ready. Mapping supply chains, collecting data, aligning teams, onboarding suppliers, and implementing DPPs properly is not something you do overnight.

So, if you are a brand and you have not started yet, you are genuinely at risk. Either you miss the deadline, or you rush and get it, potentially, really wrong.

For those who could not make it to this fireside chat, and for those who did but did not take notes, here are the key points from our honest conversation with Alexandra.

Key Lessons

1. Just get started, really.

Yes, I know I wrote about this in the intro, but I cannot emphasize this enough. Waiting for perfect regulatory clarity or a final definition is how teams end up rushing later, and rushing is how mistakes happen. Wrong data, frustrated suppliers, and a DPP that technically exists but does little more than comply.

Getting started does not mean doing everything at once. It means starting conversations internally, talking to suppliers, mapping what data you already have, identifying what is missing, and running a pilot, even if it is small. Every month you wait is a month you lose.

It isn’t about getting it perfect the first time. It is about learning over time when the stakes are still low.

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2. Please, for your sake, involve the whole org

DPPs are not a sustainability project. They are an organizational one.

At O My Bag, marketing, sales, customer care, production, and operations were involved early. That made decisions faster, reduced friction, and avoided surprises later.

And it makes sense:

• Product and sourcing teams hold the data.

• Operations and production manage physical execution, from labels to timelines.

• Marketing shapes how the DPP shows up to customers.

• Customer care answers the questions once people start scanning.

• Leadership controls budget, priorities, and long-term ownership.

When one of these teams is missing, something breaks, and the sustainability team ends up carrying the entire project alone. When the whole organization is involved, DPPs are easier to build and easier to maintain. When they are not, the process becomes slow, political, and painful.

But most importantly, DPPs have so much untapped potential to become core to a business’ strategy for post-purchase engagement and marketing. If only sustainability teams are involved, we risk never reaching it.

3. Provider selection is really important

Alexandra suggests not to rush this decision. She started by getting clear on what O My Bag actually needed from a DPP, both now and further down the road. She made a list, then spoke to other brands across industries to understand what had worked, what had not, and where expectations had not matched reality.

That context mattered, especially because most DPP providers are still building features as they go. This makes the relationship a genuine partnership, not just a vendor contract.

One thing to remember: customization that sounds straightforward or included on a demo call with a provider can often turn out to be either impossible or expensive. What seems flexible in theory can be constrained in practice.

The takeaway is to think of the provider as a true “partner in crime” through this. Get specific about what you want the DPP to look like, how flexible it truly needs to be, and then find the right partner for that journey. As an early adopter, you will also discover gaps in their platform and, unintentionally, help shape their roadmap.

4. Physical QR code implementation is much harder than expected

Not many people think about this upfront.

Owning the QR codes gave O My Bag long-term flexibility, especially if they ever switch providers, but it also created a significant operational burden.

Each SKU required manual QR creation, multiple file formats for woven labels and hangtags, repeated cross-checks with suppliers, and constant quality control to ensure the right QR ended up on the right product.

This is manageable at a smaller scale, but if the EU moves toward item-level DPPs, this approach becomes much harder to sustain.

So remember: DPPs live at the intersection of digital systems and physical production.

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5. Data collection is really hard work

Data collection was one of the heaviest lifts in the entire process.

O My Bag did not limit DPPs to future collections. They also applied them to core collections, which meant a much larger initial workload.

Suppliers had to do real backfill work, especially on product weights, which took significant time. Some documentation already existed, like certificates stored in a shared drive, but consolidating it, structuring it, and sharing it with the DPP provider still took a lot of work. The provider then cross-checked everything again.

So yes, it was a lot of work, but it can mean lower ongoing maintenance later, at least once your core range is covered. Of course, this looks different if you are launching new collections constantly.

Regardless, set up your infrastructure. And again, there is no better way to do that than by running a pilot.

6. Make suppliers your partners

This only works if suppliers are brought along on the journey.

DPP data collection creates a lot of real, manual work for suppliers. Weighing components, finding documents, validating data, and answering follow-ups all take time. This is not a simple upload.

What made the difference at O My Bag was the approach. Alexandra organized kickoff calls to explain what was coming and what would be expected. She also focused on how to make the process easier for suppliers, not just on what the brand needed.

Instead of repeating the same requests, they started building shared databases together. Weights for recurring components like zippers or linings were captured once and reused.

Alexandra shared that factories appreciated being treated as partners, especially compared to other buyers who simply sent requests without context.

If suppliers are collaborators rather than data vendors, the process is smoother, more accurate, and far easier to scale.

7. Consumer engagement exists, but it is still early

For the most part, consumers do not know DPPs are there. When they do discover them, they tend to be enthusiastic, but this is still a niche behavior. Early scan rates are likely to be low, often in the range of 1-15%.

DPPs do not automatically drive engagement. Brands need to actively surface them, explain why they matter, and integrate them into the customer journey if they want people to use them.

More on this below.

See upcoming LPS events

8. Impact numbers without context are hard to interpret

We also discussed what impact numbers actually mean to customers. Is 1 kg of CO2e a lot? Is 20 liters of water expected? What is considered good or bad?

Without context, benchmarks, or comparison, these figures are hard to interpret. For most consumers, raw impact data does not translate into clear decision-making.

Some final thoughts

If you are in a fashion or textile brand, do not wait and see. These regulations are coming. If you are ready when they arrive, you gain more than compliance, you will have a head start on trust, stronger supplier relationships, and a story worth telling customers. If you are not, you lose all three at once.

And one more thing: everything above is about doing DPPs right operationally. But I want to zoom out for a second, because I think we need to think about what DPPs actually are.

Done well, DPPs turn sustainability teams from a cost center into something that generates revenue. That reframes the entire conversation internally, and it makes the business case for doing this properly a lot easier to make.

Most brands are not there yet. But a few are already starting to think bigger, and that gap will matter.

PS: I keep this free so every sustainability professional can access it. If you’re getting value from it, consider upgrading. You’ll get quarterly 1:1s with me and support for your trickiest dilemmas. Think of it as taking me out for a coffee.

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Introduction

Transparency gets talked about a lot these days, but most of the time it means a PDF, a dashboard, or a line on a website. In my work helping brands prepare for Digital Product Passports, I see the same thing over and over, and over again. The issue is rarely the data itself, but rather the people behind it. It comes down to relationships, trust, access, and time, all the things that do not fit into a spreadsheet.

That is why speaking with Bridie from Arches felt grounding. Arches is based in Lisbon, Portugal and produces small run, high quality blanks for artists, musicians, galleries, museums, bookshops, and other creative clients who want to make apparel with care.

Arches is special because they live inside the supply chain. They visit their factories every week. They know their mills by name. They work with suppliers who understand what they are trying to do. It is a model that is slow, personal, and rooted in place.

Bridie’s background is in creative direction, not manufacturing, which makes the story even more interesting. Her business partner, Alan, has spent more than a decade producing in Portugal, and her third partner, Sean, has a background in luxury eyewear. Together they created a system that combines creativity, storytelling, and deep manufacturing knowledge. It is a compelling reminder that transparency is not a claim you make, but a way of working.

Guide

Step 1: Find your supply chain, and live inside it

Arches chose Portugal because the entire ecosystem is small, close, and interconnected. Mills and dye houses are nearby, many of them family owned, and because the company is based there full time, they can show up in person instead of relying on distant check-ins. Bridie told me:

There is no schedule of annual audits or last minute rushed visits, because they are there already, at the facilities, multiple times a week. They know who is sewing, who is dyeing, who is knitting, and who is overseeing quality. That proximity shows in the work, and in the trust they have built. Many of their partners have been with them for years, long before Arches existed in its current form.

For brands that operate far from their suppliers, this may sound impossible. But the principle is simple: the closer you are, the more you see. And, the more you see, the more honest your supply chain becomes.

Step 2: Choose fibers by choosing who grows them

Most of the cotton Arches uses comes from Chetna Organic in India, a producer cooperative which consists of 15,000 small organic cotton farmers. They also offer regenerative cotton for custom orders, from a project in the Brazilian region of Cariri, Ceará state. This is a project supporting 16 family farmers to create a new agro-ecological supply chain, sourced and managed by Farfarm, who also work with Veja on agroforestry projects.

This approach to growing cotton naturally among food crops such as corn, beans and watermelon is designed holistically to observe and mimic nature. With a focus on practices that conserve water and regenerate the soil, such as low tilling, crop diversity, soil cover, and a complete absence of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Bridie said:

Arches takes the same approach with hemp. They currently source it from Natural Fiber in the Baltics, a region with deep expertise in hemp and linen. Natural Fiber operates with a no-waste model, using every part of the plant for agricultural and industrial applications. Arches is also exploring options within Portugal, where the plant grows extremely well and could support the local economy. They have spoken with local growers and the Associação dos Comerciantes de Cânhamo Industrial de Portugal, but have not yet found a partner with the right processing capabilities.

Step 3: Build supplier relationships that grow with you

When I listen to Bridie, I hear how deliberate their relationship building has been. It was not quick, it was not smooth. Some factories were recommended and did not work out. Others tried but could not adapt to Arches’ model. Many wanted predictable seasonal orders, which Arches does not do. They produce consistently and in smaller volumes, which is not appealing to every factory.

What made the right partners stand out was alignment. They cared about quality, they were open-minded, they were willing to experiment, and they understood that Arches wants to make fewer things but make them exceptionally well.

Bridie shared an example I loved. One of their suppliers started warehousing rolls of fabric for them, something that is not standard practice. Another, a music lover, became excited each time Arches worked with an artist he admired and even traveled to Paris for a showcase. These things do not appear on a technical spec sheet. They only happen when there is trust and curiosity on both sides. Bridie said:

It is not about scale. It is about shared belief in the work.

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Step 4: Co-create products instead of expecting suppliers to follow instructions

Arches does not simply place orders, but rather they collaborate. They ask suppliers to try things that are outside the norm: they present new fiber models, they share research, they explain why certain materials matter, and they stay present through the entire development curve.

When they introduced their factory to regenerative cotton from Brazil, they prepared a full presentation explaining what regenerative agriculture is, why the model matters, and how it aligns with Arches’ goals. This level of involvement is rare for small brands, but it is what allows them to move suppliers in new directions.

Bridie explained how they guided a mill through developing a fleece out of hemp, something the mill had never done before. They had to adjust machines, change washing methods, and test new yarns. It was months of trial. The mill now shows this work in its showroom. It began because Arches asked for something specific and stayed with the process until it worked.

That only happens when a brand is willing to co-create instead of simply request.

Step 5: Teach people why it matters

Most people are not thinking about cotton mixing, GMO seeds, dye house minimums, or the work it takes for a mill to adjust its machines to run a high hemp blend. But these are the kinds of realities Arches deals with every day, and educating clients about them has naturally become part of how they work.

Because Arches collaborates with record labels, galleries, museums, bookshops, and artists, their work touches two layers of audiences. There is the education they do with their clients, and then the separate communities those clients serve. A T-shirt for a tour lives in a completely different world than a sweatshirt sold in a gallery shop, yet the same values sit behind both.

A cultural shift has also helped. Bridie said that the growing visibility of regenerative farming in the food world makes the conversation easier. People understand the idea there first. Once that door opens, it becomes more intuitive to explain why certain fibers matter or why some production choices cost more. It gives people a familiar entry point into a subject that can otherwise feel technical or overwhelming. Bridie shared:

For Arches, education is not a polished campaign. It happens through conversations, choices, experiments, and the physical experience of the product itself. And as people begin to understand what it takes to make something well, they start to see that value differently.

Bonus Story: Giving clothes and textiles a second life through their dye house

One of my favorite parts of our conversation was about how every year Arches runs a dye house program. It began with their own returned goods, pieces with makeup stains or small damages that could not be sold. Instead of discarding them, they started to overdye everything in a single annual batch.

Then they opened it to the community. Anyone in Lisbon can bring towels, sheets, tees, or anything cotton based that needs new life. The dye house requires a minimum load of 40 kilograms. The first year was modest. By the second year they reached the threshold more quickly. Last year they received around 70-75 kilograms.

Alan described the experience:

Some seams remain lighter, some prints resist the dye, and some items become completely transformed. Customers now save textiles for months waiting for the program. The dye technicians enjoy it because every piece is an experiment.

Bridie told me she became emotional watching how much people loved the results. It is an example of circularity that is simple, joyful, and rooted in community rather than marketing language.

Some final thoughts

What I find most compelling about Arches is that nothing they do feels like spectacle. There are no grand claims, and no sense of chasing perfection. It is honest work done slowly and with intention. It is the kind of transparency that only comes from showing up in person, staying curious, and committing to long term relationships instead of short term gains.

In a moment when the industry is rushing toward digital systems and rapid compliance, Arches shows another path. One that is physical, human, and understands that data is only as good as the relationships beneath it.

Bridie reminded me that innovation does not always look like technology. Sometimes it looks like a mill adjusting its machines to work with hemp for the first time. Sometimes it looks like a dye house bringing old towels back to life. Sometimes it looks like saying no to seasonal churn and yes to consistency and quality.

There is something grounding about that, something hopeful.

Bridie’s wish for the industry:

Who could disagree?

Less.

Better.

With relationships at the center.

Like these conversations? Apply to our community of sustainability professionals at fashion brands, La Positive Society.

Wanna change the industry? Add your name to the Alu AI waitlist and join the transparency rebellion. Because transparency should not be this hard.

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La Introduction

Most brands treat imperfection like a liability. Flawed garments get tossed aside, denied after QC checks, tossed in landfills or resold in secondhand markets. But what if imperfections weren’t a problem to hide, but a story to tell?

That’s exactly what German sleepwear brand avonté is doing with their “we are different” sale. Instead of hiding minor flaws, they celebrate them. Instead of flash sales designed to spark FOMO, they created a permanent offering that reflects their values: transparency, circularity, and calm.

In this La Purpose Brand feature, I spoke with co-founder Marlene Marx, who shared the story behind the brand, a lightweight system to handle all the “imperfect” pieces, and why customers are actually more loyal after buying from their discounted section.

A Bit About Marlene

Marlene studied textile and clothing management, fascinated by the fashion industry’s potential and frustrated by its waste. She worked as a product manager at ARMEDANGELS, one of Europe’s leading sustainable fashion brands, where she met Pia, now her co-founder.

On a supplier visit, the two found themselves standing inside a warehouse filled with unused, perfectly good deadstock fabrics. Some had been overproduced. Others were canceled by brands at the last minute. All were destined to be forgotten. They asked themselves: Why does this exist? And more importantly: What can we make from this?

Unable to let these questions go, they decided to launch their own brand. One day, Pia called Marlene from the hospital after a surgery. She told her how putting on her own pajamas helped her feel better, more secure, more like herself. That’s when the idea clicked: pajamas are personal. They’re not bound by season or gender. They work with different fabrics. They offer comfort, protection, and a sense of home.

That is the space that Marlene and Pia wanted to work within.

And that’s how avonté was born: premium pajamas and loungewear made entirely from deadstock fabric, designed to last and feel like home.

La Guide

Step 1: Rethink What Makes a Garment Valuable

When avonté first sent a production order to their supplier, they received a separate note: a list of garments that didn’t pass the quality check. But when they reviewed the flaws (a tiny snag in the weave, a slightly misaligned thread, a barely-there inconsistency) they realized something.

Unlike most brands, they didn’t discard or reject those pieces. They paid for them at full price, and, initially, they just stored them. But eventually, the idea emerged: why not sell them, transparently, as what they are?

That became the “we are different” sale. They photographed each flaw, described it in plain language, and offered the garments at a lower price. Customers responded with warmth and appreciation. The garments sold. And so, the sale stayed.

On their site, the section is framed as a curated space for “unique pieces with character,” slightly flawed, leftover items offered with honesty, not urgency.

Step 2: Build Operational Simplicity

It takes extra work. Let’s be honest about that. But Marlene and her team built a flow that makes it manageable. Suppliers already separate the second-choice garments and send a clear inventory list. These imperfect pieces are shipped with the rest of the order. First, the team processes the full-price garments. Then, they turn to the second-choice ones.

They photograph the flaw. They write a short description, usually just one or two lines. They duplicate the original product page, rename the listing as “imperfect,” and upload the edited version with the new photo.

There are no mark-downs from the supplier. The garments cost the same. That means lower margins, but stronger alignment with their values.

Step 3: Watch Loyalty Go Up

Some customers find avonté through the “we are different” section. But they don’t stop there. Marlene sees it reflected in their shopping behavior.

What starts as a discounted entry point turns into full-price conversion. For some, it’s a way to get to know the brand. For others, it’s an expression of values. Either way, it builds connection. Marlene believes it also reinforces the brand’s quality. Customers can see what a minor flaw looks like. They learn what counts as second-choice, and in doing so, understand the high standards that define the first-choice pieces.

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Step 4: Educate and Reframe

For avonté, the “we are different” sale isn’t just about clearing inventory. It’s about educating customers on the reality of how clothes are made.

Most customers don’t realize what happens to second-choice garments in traditional systems. Suppliers can’t sell them with branded labels. Often they end up at local markets, or eventually discarded.

By accepting and paying for these garments, avonté gives them a home. They also take time to explain that these are not damaged goods, just slightly different.

And customers get it. Not a single person has complained about misunderstanding what they bought. In fact, many are grateful.

Mi Take

This model makes so much sense, but not many brands do it. Because it cuts into margin. Because it takes a little effort. Because it requires a shift from perfection to presence.

There are also real operational complexities in running a program like this. Photographing flaws, adjusting product listings, clearly communicating differences, all take time. For avonté, being small and nimble made experimentation possible. But that doesn’t mean larger brands couldn’t learn from it.

And if we take a step back, can you truly call yourself a sustainable brand if your quality control process creates waste? If you don’t compensate suppliers for the labor and materials behind garments you reject? If those goods are discarded because they don’t meet an arbitrary idea of perfection?

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Maybe it’s time to rethink the system. To move from perfection to authenticity. From surface image to deeper impact.

We talk so much about circularity, yet so often miss the simple interventions that reduce waste and build loyalty. This is one of them.

Marlene’s Wish for the Industry

Let’s build an industry where we act with that awareness. Where we pay attention. Where we value what’s already made.

Even when it’s a little different.

Like these conversations? Apply to our community of sustainability professionals at fashion brands, La Positive Society.

Wanna change the industry? Join the transparency rebellion. Because transparency should not be this hard.

Subscribe to La Purpose Brand 🫒. Let’s change the world.

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I hear so many brands talking about circularity. And it typically (not always) has 3 flavors: durability claims, resale, and using recycled fibers. Don’t get me wrong, these are amazing initiatives, but there is so much more needed to be a truly circular brand.

• Durability is a prerequisite, but sorta meaningless if there is no emotional durability (a durable, well-made jacket no one cares about will end up in a landfill or the back of the closet just as much).

• Brand resale platforms are great, but many do it in exchange for store credits, which can drive more consumption.

• And incorporation of recycled fibers, which is great except that recent research has shown that they may potentially have more toxic chemicals than nonrecycled ones, and as we all know, recycling is only a band-aid, especially with plastics, which sooner or later will end up in the environment.

So when I learned about NUTT Amsterdam, I had to learn more. In case you don’t know them, they make clothes from unusable pre-loved clothes, making pieces that are as unique as they are beautiful.

How it all began

The journey started like many of us who began our sustainability journey. We had an “a ha” moment that made us realize that we no longer want to be part of the problem but part of the solution. That happened to Esther Mutsaers. One day on TV, she learned that over 50% of textile waste ends up incinerated in the Netherlands. The textile bins outside of most homes gives the illusion of sustainability, but not entirely. She decided to use her designer skills to do something about it, and that is how NUTT Amsterdam was born.

How to guide

1. Figure out the source

Sourcing high-quality, usable materials is tough to figure out. But Esther wasn’t going to let this stop her. She did anything she could, and, like a good entrepreneur, tried everything: sourcing from family, friends, neighbors, and eventually forming partnerships. Early on, people in her neighborhood would drop off bags of clothes at her door. She also formed a partnership with Symphony, a textile bin company in the Netherlands, who now sets aside garments they think she can work with, or lets her sort through the bins herself.

Using her trained designer’s eye, she evaluates each garment by hand, looking for material that still has potential. She pays attention to fabric quality, texture, weight, and flaws, assessing what might be transformed and what truly can’t be saved.

And even then, the story isn’t over. Anything that doesn’t make it into a piece still gets saved. Larger offcuts are collected for future items like tote bags; the tiniest scraps are separated and sorted for textile recycling, only if she’s confident they can be shredded and reused.

2. Make beautiful pieces

As you might know from my writing so far, sustainability on its own (unfortunately) does not sell. You have to start with something beautiful, and follow it with values. So, she sits and mulls over each piece until it inspires her to create something new.

She uses a technique called moulage, draping and pinning fabric directly onto a mannequin to shape new silhouettes. Pieces are built by hand, often combining multiple garments into one.

From the moment you see one of her pieces, you’re drawn in. The jackets are sharp and tailored, the silhouettes bold, the colors and textures feel intentional. It looks like something from a high-end concept store in New York or Tokyo. But what most people don’t realize, until she tells them, is that these garments started in a bin. A literal textile bin on a Dutch street corner.

And that’s part of Esther’s deeper mission: to help people fall in love with their wardrobes again.

The process is slow, painfully so. She has to get each piece right. And it takes time, two to three days per piece. But that is what slow fashion is all about.

That attention to finish goes beyond the design process itself. Each piece is professionally cleaned, pressed, and brought back to life. Given how much time each piece takes, they cost $400-700 each. With that price point, it’s essential that, despite being upcycled, the garments don’t look secondhand. They’re striking, fashion-forward, and often mistaken for new designer pieces.

3. Tell the story

Do I even have to say it? I sound like a broken record, but sustainability needs to inspire, it needs to make people feel something, something good.

For her, selling the clothes is only part of the work. The real mission is to shift how people think, about waste, about fashion, about their own wardrobes. And that shift doesn’t happen from a price tag or a sustainability label. It happens through conversation.

She invites people to her Salon Atelier (open by appointment) where they can browse the latest collection, hear how each piece was made, and shop in a relaxed setting with a drink in hand and good conversation all around. She shows up to markets, pop-ups, and fashion events not just to sell, but to tell the story over and over again. She shares how each piece was made, where it came from, and how it was reimagined. She invites people to feel the textures, try on a piece, ask questions. And once they understand the process, how much time and care it took, the value of the garment changes in their eyes.

They become part of the story. Once they see what’s possible, they start to imagine differently. They think twice before throwing something away.

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In a way, every piece of clothing she makes is a conversation starter. It’s a wearable story, a quiet protest against fast fashion, a small-scale act of circular design, and an invitation to rethink what we consider waste. That’s the kind of storytelling that sticks. The kind that doesn’t just inform, but transforms.

Online, she continues the conversation. Her social media isn’t just filled with product shots, it’s full of behind-the-scenes snippets: piles of donated clothes, a jacket mid-transformation, scraps on the wall, a mannequin pinned with experimental cuts. She wants people to see the whole journey, not just the polished result.

4. Find partners

In upcycled fashion, sourcing isn’t just the first step, it’s the foundation. Unlike traditional fashion, where a designer can order bolts of fabric by the meter, upcyclers work with what already exists. That means figuring out not just what to design, but what to design from. That’s why Esther, founder of NUTT, has focused on building thoughtful, long-term partnerships.

Her ongoing collaboration with Symphony, a Dutch textile bin organization, gives her access to post-consumer garments, clothes collected through public donation bins that are too damaged or imperfect to resell. These become the raw ingredients for her one-of-a-kind creations.

But 2025 marked a turning point. Through The Circle Club, a platform connecting sustainable designers and brands, Esther was paired with JOSH V, one of the Netherlands’ most recognizable fashion labels. Known for their contemporary, feminine aesthetic, JOSH V had been looking for a creative solution to a problem many brands face: what to do with returned items that can’t be resold.

These so-called “rude returns,” pieces with makeup stains, fabric snags, or minor defects, don’t meet resale standards, but still hold value. Rather than send them to outlet resellers or worse, landfill, JOSH V offered them to Esther.

The process was collaborative but hands-off in the best way. Esther received a curated selection of JOSH V returns and was given full creative freedom to transform them, respecting the original materials while reimagining their form entirely.

And the results? They’re being unveiled on the runway, at the opening show of Dutch Sustainable Fashion Week, on October 7. As part of a broader initiative by The Circle Club, 10 Dutch brands were matched with 10 upcycle designers to reimagine their waste. Each duo will present a single look, accompanied by a visual narrative showing the garment’s transformation from castoff to catwalk.

Mi Take

It is about time that we start seeing real collaborations between brands that “close the loop.” Will we see more partnerships like this such as CHANEL’s Nevold and Salsa Jeans partnership with Recovo and IVN Industria?

This partnership is more than symbolic. It’s practical, teachable, and replicable. It offers a model for how mainstream brands can start working with independent upcycling brands, not as side-projects, but as real design collaborations rooted in skill and mutual respect.

However, it’s not all butterflies and roses. The beauty of her work often clashes with the harsh realities of scaling.

That tension, between impact and access, art and economics, is the reality of many circular fashion designers. They aren’t mass producing. They’re building one-of-a-kind pieces by hand, for a tiny profit, in hopes that each one inspires a bigger shift. Hopefully, with enough of them, consumers will start appreciating their clothes and thinking of them as key pieces in their wardrobes, not one time things.

Esther’s wish for the industry?

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La Introduction

It makes me sad to say this, but the truth is, if sustainability isn’t tied to profit, it doesn’t stick. And lately, the conversation has shifted toward how it hasn’t been profitable, quoting the famous “say-do gap.”

A recent Zalando study found that while 71% of consumers say sustainability matters to them, only 20-40% actually factor it into their purchases. Why? Because most people aren’t willing to compromise on style, price, or convenience. Emotional drivers like self-expression, identity, social belonging, and that elusive je ne sais quoi still carry more weight.

But, ignoring sustainability comes with risks to brands: consumer distrust, regulatory penalties (just this year we have seen fees from $1-3.5Mn), costly access to suppliers, and long-term brand damage. Just look at what’s happening in luxury right now (see the string of luxury brands taking backlash for unethical practices). And, let’s not forget, that fashion is a unique industry. It is unique because everything is emotional, and the worst thing you can do is lose your customer’s trust.

That’s why I’m excited to share this how-to guide based on my conversation with Shakaila Forbes-Bell, the fashion psychologist, founder of Fashion is Psychology, and author of Big Dress Energy.

I first met Shakaila at the Innovation Forum back in April. Her session, titled “Moving forward: What’s the power of the industry to advance positive change and achieve a just transition?” was, in my opinion, the most impactful and interesting of the entire conference.

If you haven’t met Shakaila yet, you’re missing out. She’s one of the most kicka**, confident, and wicked smart people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, and somehow, she’s still incredibly kind and approachable. You’ll probably spot her in a bright, one-of-a-kind outfit, standing out in the best way.

I knew immediately that I had to feature her here.

A bit about Shakaila

She has always loved fashion and knew that there was more than just looks. In 2012, during her final year of undergraduate study, the Black Lives Matter movement began, and the Million Hoodie March took place in support. She became fascinated by the intersection of race, clothing, and perception, and by the power of clothing to help bring movements to life. That curiosity led her to pursue the world’s first master’s degree in Fashion Psychology at London College of Fashion.

I’ve always loved fashion, but I also knew that what we wear isn’t just about aesthetics. I loved to people-watch and to ponder what drove people to decide what they put on each day.

From there, it became clear to her that the fashion industry was missing something critical: a deeper understanding of human behavior. That realization led her to found Fashion is Psychology, write Big Dress Energy, and begin collaborating with brands and media to show that fashion isn’t frivolous, it’s one of our most powerful tools for identity, empowerment, and connection.

La Guide

Step 1: Understand why people buy

So, can sustainability sell?

It can but not always. Data shows there’s an attitude-behavior gap when it comes to sustainable spending and I think it's because people don't buy based on logic alone, they buy based on emotion, identity and desire.

People buy clothes sometimes for practical reasons, but mostly for deeply emotional and psychological ones. Harvard professor Gerald Zaltman found that 95% of consumer purchase decisions are made in the subconscious, shaped more by instinct and emotion than by logic (great read, I highly suggest it, btw).

So, why do people really buy clothes (beyond just staying warm)?

• To express who they are. The most obvious reason we all know. Style is a shortcut to identity. People dress to reflect their personality, beliefs, and how they want to be seen.

• To feel like they belong. We’re wired for connection. Clothes help us fit in with a group, tap into a trend, or signal that we’re part of something.

• To become who they want to be. Sometimes we buy for the person we’re becoming, a job interview, a new lifestyle, a fresh chapter. It’s aspirational.

• To feel good, fast. Shopping lights up the brain’s reward system when hitting “Purchase” or opening a new box. That quick dopamine hit can feel like a mood boost, a rush, a distraction, or even a form of self-care.

• To enjoy the experience. Touching fabrics, trying things on, imagining the possibilities. Shopping is sensory and can be satisfying (not to me, I tend to get overwhelmed by options), even if you don’t buy anything.

• To mark a moment. Big life transitions often come with new clothes: weddings, quinceañera parties, jobs, vacations, breakups. Fashion helps us ritualize change.

• To own something special. Limited drops and exclusive pieces give people a sense of uniqueness. Sometimes it’s not about need, it’s about desire.

• To connect with a memory. Clothing can be deeply nostalgic. A jacket that reminds you of someone, a vintage tee from your hometown, and t-shirt from your childhood. I can attest to this given my husband’s 10+ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirts.

• Because they were nudged. Retailers know how to get to people. From “only 1 left in your size” to mood-setting music and curated displays, we’re constantly being persuaded.

If logic and impact are not listed, then why would people buy sustainable clothes? For the same reasons.

Step 2: Understand why people buy from you, and align that to sustainability

Now, why would people buy your brand, based on all this?

Whatever efforts you’re making around traceability, circularity, or responsible production, they need to be in tune with your brand’s core story. When there’s a disconnect, even the best-intentioned efforts can create friction, feel off-brand, or worse, erode trust.

But when there’s alignment, something powerful happens. Your sustainability story doesn’t feel like a separate layer, it feels like an extension of what you already stand for. An extension of who you are, and who your customers want to be. That’s when it reinforces trust, builds loyalty, and creates that rare kind of brand magic consumers genuinely connect with.

So, what you need to do is align sustainability to your story. Here are some examples:

Brunello Cucinelli

• Why people buy: For quiet status and a sense of belonging to a world of refined taste. It’s about owning something beautifully made that signals success, and timeless style.

• Sustainability position: It reinforces those values, carefully made clothes, respectful of people and planet, that are built to last and be remembered.

I dreamed of a business to make profits ethically, with dignity, without causing suffering to people or offence to Creation, or at least as little as possible.

GANNI

• Why people buy: To feel part of a cool crowd. It’s about staying relevant, leaning into a rebellious edge, and not taking fashion too seriously.

• Sustainability position: It challenges the status quo. GANNI customers want to disrupt the system, not follow it. They see sustainability as part of doing things differently.

We’ve never claimed to be perfect, and we’re not trying to be. But we are committed to showing up, taking action, and challenging the way things have always been done.

Pact

• Why people buy: For comfort, simplicity, and peace of mind. It’s about feeling good and safe in soft basics that are easy on the body and the conscience.

• Sustainability position: It supports what the customer already values: clean, safe, conscious clothing they can trust every day.

Our certified organic clothing is famous for being insanely soft - not to mention it’s made using only sustainable materials free of toxins, dyes and pesticides.

Patagonia

• Why people buy: For adventure, purpose and identity, aligned with a passion for the outdoors. It’s about wearing something that reflects their values, their lifestyle, and their commitment to protecting what they love.

• Sustainability position: Sustainability makes sense because it’s inseparable from the customer’s worldview. Patagonia buyers want their gear to reflect how they live and what they stand for: adventure, responsibility, and action.

We’re in business to save our home planet.

This is how sustainability sells. But most of the time, it doesn’t. It doesn’t when it fails to reinforce the emotional connection consumers already have with a brand. When it doesn’t tap into identity, belonging, or the other deeply human needs that fashion meets.

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Take H&M, Nike, or Primark. They’ve all tried to adopt more responsible practices, and many have made great progress, but often in ways that don’t match the emotional pull of their brand. If sustainability feels like an add-on instead of something that deepens what the brand already stands for, consumers don’t care.

When sustainable products are marketed as something that will help someone to get to their social identity, boost their mood and satisfy their desire to both stand out and feel included, that's when it becomes commercially viable. So yes, it can sell but only when it’s framed in a way that resonates psychologically.

Side note: this is why “durability” doesn’t equal sustainability. It is a pre-requisite, yes, but not a guarantee. Purchasing decisions are emotional. A pair of jeans that lasts forever won’t matter if the wearer doesn’t feel connected to them. If it doesn’t fit their identity, body, style, or mood, it’ll end up pushed to the back of the closet or somewhere in the Atacama Desert, just as replaceable and disposable as any fast fashion item. And I will die on this “trash” hill.

Step 3: Take action and tell the story

I don’t mean to sound repetitive, but you gotta tell sustainability as a story.

Use the right terms. Focus on the right things.

Avoid vague labels like sustainable, green, eco-conscious, planet-friendly, climate-positive, environmentally responsible, or ethical. Not just because they are restricted under the upcoming EU Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition, but because they confuse people and erode trust. These words often feel empty or performative, especially when not backed by clear, specific actions.

In an OECD study, “nearly half of the consumers (49%) lacked information to validate sustainability claims attributed to products, and 44% expressed skepticism towards such claims.”

Instead, be specific. Tell the story of what you’re actually doing, what you’re prioritizing, what you’re improving, your progress, what’s missing, and how that connects to your product, your customer, and your brand. The more focused the story, the easier it is to communicate and the more it resonates.

As Shakaila puts it,

Blanket terms like “sustainability” have lost a lot of steam over the years. Brands need to be more specific about which type of sustainability they are tackling, as it's nearly impossible to cover all the bases. Are you focusing on the supply chain, the treatment of workers, the materials, or timeless designs, on offering a repair or recycle service? etc.

Show the impact clearly, e.g. "This saves 500L of water" is better than vague claims, which will result in skepticism that many people already have when it comes to sustainability.

Make the sustainable choice the obvious one

What would you choose?

1. Non-sustainable t-shirt that is cool and fits in with your style

2. Sustainable t-shirt that is boring and looks like every other t-shirt out there

Well, I know what you would choose, but you get the point. Too often, the sustainable option comes at the expense of taste, fit, or self-expression.

Make the better option the best one. The most beautiful. The coolest. The most unique. The highest quality.

Not just a piece that is good for the world. Good, period.

So don’t lead with the problem, lead with the upside. Talk about the cool material innovation, the clean chemistry, the craftsmanship, the story behind it all. Make it about creativity, not compromise.

Because people don’t buy sacrifice. They buy desire. They buy belonging. They buy status. And fashion, at its core, is emotional. It’s about how something makes you feel. So let’s make the responsible choice the one that makes people actually feel something.

Focus less on the problem (pollution, climate change) and more on the person your customer wants to become. They should position sustainability as stylish, forward-thinking, and emotionally intelligent. Use storytelling to show people like them or those they admire embracing sustainability without sacrificing their values. It’s about linking eco-conscious choices to status, beauty, confidence, and self-expression.

Bonus: Use your full marketing arsenal

The same tactics that are used to nudge a purchase can be used to nudge a sustainable alternative.

Use defaults and nudges to prime sustainable choices to become the norm. Build community because people are more likely to act when they see others doing the same.

One example of a brand building community around sustainable actions would be TOAST. TOAST brings people together through Mending Mornings, free monthly events where customers learn how to repair their clothes with guidance from in-store specialists. It is so cool, and I wish I could attend.

Mi take

I think it’s interesting how the role of sustainability has evolved over time.

At first, it was about reputation. Then, it was about CSR initiatives, like planting trees on volunteer days. Then, sometime in the 2010s, it became about regulatory risk. Later, more recently, it became about making money, the triple bottom line. Surveys about willingness to pay extra or boycott irresponsible brands were everywhere.

Brands dipped their toes in the water and quickly realized that simply stamping ‘sustainable’ on an item or collection wasn’t enough to sell.

Now, we’ve entered the era where sustainability is about resilience. It’s about managing supply chain risk, building operational continuity, and protecting long-term value.

But maybe it’s still about the triple bottom line. Maybe we’ve been thinking about the say-do gap all wrong.

If we spent as much time, money, and creativity marketing sustainability, crafting the story, making people feel something, as we do selling product, we’d see it pay dividends. And not just occasionally, but consistently.

Because when done well, it leads to loyalty, trust, premium pricing, and so on. And over time, that means real, sustainable growth.

Sustainability has a place in fashion that it doesn’t have in other industries. Perhaps can have even more impact. Because fashion is about emotion (i.e., meaning, and identity), and sustainability is also an emotional topic, it has the potential to transform both the entire industry and its consumers. We just have to tell the right story.

Shakaila’s one wish for the industry?

That we stop treating sustainability as a silo or an obligation and start seeing it as the most significant opportunity for creativity, innovation, and human connection. When fashion aligns with psychology, purpose, and style, that’s when it really transforms lives.

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I’m Donatela and I write to help SME brands become more sustainable. Every how-to guide breaks down how bold brands are driving real impact, regardless of size. Honest stories, practical strategies, and a little rebellion.

La Introduction

So many brands want to make the shift. But there's fear.

Fear that the new materials won't perform, that customers won't like them, that the design team won't get it.

I get it. These are all very valid, but that fear holds your brand and impact back.

Because you can change without losing your customers, your edge, or your brand DNA.

Tucked in a side street behind the Amstel Hotel in Amsterdam, I met Sophie Brada, part of the sustainability team at MR MARVIS. They’ve been leading the brand's transition to more responsible materials while working hand in hand with design and product teams.

If you don’t know MR MARVIS, their whole brand is about not changing. Because they have a permanent collection, the items they introduce never change, are never on sale, never discarded, and are always in stock. MR MARVIS is also a sustainable brand, but not in a loud way. But it's there in every stitch: local production in Portugal, tight supplier relationships, B Corp certified, and no seasonal collections.

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Behind the scenes, Sophie and the team are helping transition MR MARVIS materials to preferred options, with plans to do much more.

So how does a brand known for consistency change without… changing?

La Guide

Step 1: Figure out where you want to go, and where you don’t

Before you touch a single fiber, you need to know what makes your brand your brand, what you're absolutely not willing to compromise, and what you want to change.

1. Define what your brand DNA is, and the line you are not willing to cross.

MR MARVIS has a promise that's carved in stone:

Something that’s perfect should never change. That’s why each garment is designed to be worn and loved over time. At MR MARVIS, we offer a permanent collection, so once we launch a piece, the principles of look, fit and feel never change. When you find your perfect item, you won’t have to look again. We believe in mindful production, not overstocking and we never hold end-of-season sales.

Consistency is their entire business model. No seasons. No sales. No trend-chasing. Just full-on, unwavering consistency. It is their promise to their customers. That makes change even harder, but they’re doing it.

Your brand DNA might be different, maybe it's your stretch, your drape, your hand-feel, your prints. But whatever it is, name it. Write it down. Make it non-negotiable. Because when you're knee-deep in material samples and supplier conversations, you'll need that North Star to guide you back.

2. Figure out what, if anything, you want to change, and why.

Just because your brand DNA is sacred doesn't mean everything else is. The team got clear on what MR MARVIS was willing to evolve: the story behind the materials, the certifications, and the supply chain transparency.

We can keep our signature look while choosing better materials. We measure the impact of every style from cradle to grave using Life Cycle Assessments, so we know exactly where change matters most.

What aspects of your products could be better without changing what customers love? Where would you see the most impact? Maybe it's switching to organic cotton that feels identical. Maybe it's finding recycled polyester that performs the same. Maybe it is the dyes being used. Get specific about what's flexible, and measure the impact.

Step 2: Make the design team your best friend

Sometimes sustainability and design teams work on opposite sides of the building, barely talking, with sustainability pushing constraints down on them. This can be extremely frustrating for the design teams, and for you. Because this won’t get you anywhere.

This is why it is important to bring them on your journey as allies, as partners, and as co-creators.

1. Co-create your material guidelines.

Don't show up with a sustainability checklist and expect design to salute. An example that Sophie gives:

I don't know if you can create something nice from hemp, for example. So I can say: you have to use hemp, but then they would respond: but that doesn't really fit our aesthetic.

Instead, the sustainability and design teams are building a preferred materials manual together with their fabric specialists. Not just certifications and impact scores, but performance requirements, aesthetic considerations, and practical constraints.

They are creating a scoring system that balances sustainability with design needs. A material might score points for being organic, but lose points if it doesn't hold dye well or if it's not available in the right weight.

We try to avoid saying, “you can't do this and you have to do this.” Rather we discuss with them: “this is our most preferred material and go from there.” Give the design team a bit more of a range rather than trying to control them.

2. Keep a regular dialogue going.

The biggest shift the sustainability team made? Proximity. They didn't wait for monthly reviews or send materials over Slack. They physically join the design rhythm.

I work with the product team on Fridays. We talk about onboarding new suppliers, supplier surveys, and certifications. We also talk about calculating the impact for the styles and the difference it makes when we switch to another material.

This isn't about control. It's about being present when decisions are made. When a designer is choosing between three cotton options, you want to be there to say, “Hey, option two is organic and feels identical to what we usually use."

3. Let them lead testing.

Sometimes, it just clicks. But, you wouldn’t know without testing. For MR MARVIS, some styles are easier than others, especially the ones with textured or waffled fabrics.

We are currently testing samples of the Piqués style with recycled cotton, which is a woven fabric. Because of the weave, it is easier to switch as consumers likely would not be able to tell the difference between virgin and recycled material easily.

Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way. Designers are the ultimate quality gatekeepers, and for good reason. Sophie learned quickly that a material can look perfect on paper and still not meet the bar.

Just as many of you may have experienced, when they tried switching to recycled fibers, they found during testing that, sometimes, the fabric didn't hold up the same way.

We aim to source everything from preferred materials. But implementing it is not easy. (...) We have to balance circularity, sustainability and durability, as 100% recycled cotton, for example, may not provide the strength and longevity required for long-lasting garments.

Rather than pushing through with a subpar material, they let the design team lead the testing process. They wear the samples. They wash them. They put them through the same rigorous testing they'd do for any new material. But they give themselves more time for experimentation.

The lesson? Trust your design team. They want better materials too, give them the options.

Step 3: Turn progress into practice

1. Start fresh where you can.

Some existing products are stubborn. The fabric behaves a certain way, or the dye takes differently. Rather than get stuck trying to retrofit everything, they focused on new collections as test labs.

If we're designing new clothes, we should incorporate recycled fabrics from the start, because it's really hard to change the expectation. It's really hard to change the composition and get the exact same result as virgin materials. Try to get it right from the start because redeveloping costs a lot more resources and headaches than you think.

With no past benchmark, the team had space to create something new, and more sustainable, without the “ghosts of past fits” looming over them. New products won’t carry the weight of customer expectations. They're blank canvases where you can build sustainability from day one. So, don’t miss that chance.

2. Bring suppliers into the conversation early.

Many brands overlook the people who actually make the garments. The teams at MR MARVIS don’t. They loop in suppliers from the start, not just to fulfill requests, but to co-solve problems.

We’ve built long-term relationships with most of our suppliers, grounded in shared values. They often present us with innovative materials - and in some cases, they’ve even encouraged us to pursue certifications like GOTS, which we’re now actively working toward.

This is beyond auditing, this is a partnership. When suppliers understand your sustainability goals, they become your R&D team. They'll bring you new material options. They'll flag potential issues before they become problems. They'll help you navigate the trade-offs between sustainability and performance.

3. Accept that some things take time, and that's okay.

Sophie will be the first to tell you: it doesn't always go to plan. They've been working on switching their signature shorts to organic cotton for longer than expected because the quality bar is so high.

It has been taking us so long to switch because we promised to never change the fit, look and feel. Finding the exact same quality in organic has been much more of a challenge than anticipated.

But rather than compromising on quality or giving up on sustainability, they're taking the time to get it right. Because rushing a transition that breaks customer trust, or leaves a bad taste in your organization’s mouth, isn't sustainable for anyone.

Real sustainability is iterative. It's okay to miss a timeline if it means getting the end result right.

Mi Final Reflections

You don't need to choose between your brand DNA and better materials. You just need to be smarter about how you navigate the transition.

MR MARVIS built a system, one that has at its core what makes the brand special while pushing toward what makes it better.

The fear is real. And I get it. It can be really messy.

But the alternative, staying stuck because change feels scary, especially with upcoming regulations like EPR and ESPR, is far worse.

Your brand DNA isn't the enemy. It's your superpower, your compass.

As some say, within constraints is where creativity flourishes.

The brands that will thrive aren't the ones that resist change. They're the ones that change without losing themselves.

Last, but not least,

Sophie’s wish for the industry? “For fast fashion to disappear.”

I do too. Don’t we all?

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Introduction

I was told suppliers wouldn’t make the change. At least, not for an SME brand, not if you’re only 1-10% of their revenue, not if you don’t own the factory. But I was wrong. Suppliers will change, if you approach it the right way.

In fashion, over 90% of carbon emissions come from the supply chain. More than 75Mn people work in those supply chains, and fewer than 2% earn a living wage.I think we all understand that’s where change needs to happen. But most brands, big or small, don’t know how to make it stick.

With regulations like ESPR on the horizon and consumers demanding real transparency, the pressure is growing. Brands are expected not just to make bold claims but to back them up with action. That’s challenging enough if you’re a giant. But what if you’re a small team with limited leverage?

This guide is for you: the sustainability leads, sourcing managers, buyers, designers, legal teams, and founders doing the real work of making supply chains more ethical, more resilient, and more human.

To understand what it really takes, I spoke with Jessica Kallenberg (Head of Product & Sustainability) and Alexandra Kist (Sustainability Manager) at O My Bag, a leather goods brand based in Amsterdam.

Yes, they’ve been featured on The Drew Barrymore Show. But more importantly, they’ve become one of the most respected sustainable brands in fashion. O My Bag is a certified B Corp that has:

• Positively impacted over 22,000 lives through social programs in India

• Paid more than €57,000 in living wage premiums

• Created over 1,000 fair jobs through supplier partnerships

• Diverted more than 2,400 bags from landfills through their resale program

They don’t own their factories. They don’t have an on-site team. And yet, they’ve shifted supplier behavior through trust, consistency, and collaboration.

So, let’s learn from them about how to enact change in your supply chain, even if you are a small brand.

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The Guide

Step 1: Don’t Just Source, Scout

This is something that SME brands struggle with, a lot. Anyone who has tried to find sustainable suppliers knows the struggle is real. They may not have the right certification, things look very different on the ground, or the unexpected happens, like last-minute cancellations. Here are some steps to get you started:

Start with certification lists (as a filter, not a guarantee). Use certification lists like the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), Oeko-Tex, Textile Exchange, SA8000, and Leather Working Group (LWG) to help narrow the pool, but don’t rely on them alone. Certifications can’t tell you if a supplier matches your values, or just checking boxes. Reach out and learn more about their practices. Bonus if you find a cluster of them close to each other, because the next step is to…

Visit the potential suppliers in person. Suppliers are often located near each other in towns with a shared craft or tradition. When you’re on the ground, ask around, you’ll get names. But most importantly, visit in person to get a real sense of the supplier and whether they’re the right long-term partner. Don’t just stay in the marketing room; spend time on the production floor. Ask yourself: Do they align with your values? At O My Bag, they look closely at questions like:

• What is the relationship between management and workers?

• What does the production floor look like on an average day?

• Do the workers seem comfortable?

Only by visiting them we found the producers for us, because then you see how they interact with their workers on the production floor. We always say when new suppliers reach out to us that the first thing we'd like to see, if we're interested in working with us, is the factory floor. If we cannot see the factory, then we are not even talking.

Suppliers might not be perfect at first, but if the values are there and they’re open to growing with you, that’s what matters. For example, when one of O My Bag’s factories didn’t have the required certifications, they didn’t walk away. Instead, they rolled up their sleeves. After spending time on the ground and seeing the factory’s genuine commitment, they knew they had a real partner. But independent verification still mattered. Rather than taking a hardline “no cert, no order” stance, they chose to support the factory through the long and complex certification process, because that’s what partnership looks like.

Ask around. In O My Bag’s case, most of their suppliers have come through word-of-mouth. They even recommend reaching out to other brands for referrals, many are happy to share. In fact, O My Bag takes pride when their recommendations help bring more business to their partners.

Their first tannery experimenting with chromium-free tanning came through a personal connection. But it was on the ground where O My Bag’s founder, Paulien Wesselink, met the producer.

I was so pleasantly surprised by the beautiful surroundings and the warm welcome. At that point I had visited over 20 producers and this was the first time I saw so many smiling women, and also the person leading the organization was a woman! I instantly knew that this was the place O My Bag’s should be made.

As they grew, they needed more partners. That’s when their India-based quality partners stepped in. They knew exactly where to look, and who to trust. Nothing beats the local or “on the ground” perspective.

Step 2: Build Real Relationships, Not Paper Ones

We’ve all heard it: “treat suppliers like partners, not vendors.” But it’s true. Anyone can place an order. Building a real relationship takes time, consistency, and a genuine interest in how they work. That’s how you build the foundation for big change.

Set clear expectations early. When O My Bag brings on a new supplier, they’re clear from the start. It isn’t just about placing orders. It’s audits, surveys, social and environmental reporting, and real change, like installing solar panels or running leadership training for women. Most suppliers say yes, because they want the business. But over time, through honest and constant conversations, and shared learning, they start to understand the depth, and, the purpose, behind it.

You start talking to them about the benefits for every part involved. Having proper temperature isn’t only good for the workers, but it also means higher quality, less rejections, and saving money. By talking through the benefits for the workers, us and the producer, they can see why the change is important.

Be accountable and make the commitment. Change takes time, and so does building trust. That’s why O My Bag commits early and stays consistent. Even when they were a small slice of a supplier’s revenue, they showed up. When they onboard a new supplier, they commit to a one-year partnership and begin placing orders with a two-way Code of Conduct that also holds them accountable (e.g., not cancelling orders). They do this with the understanding that change is part of the deal. If progress doesn’t happen within the agreed timeline, they walk. That commitment and early trust is what opens the door to bigger wins.

Be present, physically and emotionally. This came up again and again in our conversation. Most brands stop by for a day or two, then disappear. O My Bag shows up multiple times a year, for 2 weeks at a time. They are on the factory floor, alongside workers, living their day to day, and gaining deep understanding. That approach builds trust, and that trust makes space for harder conversations, new ideas, and long-term change.

We like working with most of our suppliers in the Leather Complex in Kolkata, just a few minutes drive away from each other. This means that every day during our visits we spend as much time as possible on the production floor of each of the factories. We very often come into the factory while our account manager is not even there, and they're fine with us just walking in and out. For me that's a really good example of mutual trust again.

The first time you come, they show you the production floor. The second time, they take you out to dinner somewhere. The third time, you have dinner at their homes with their whole family. Our relationship has grown so much that I have attended the wedding of our supplier's relatives and visited the home and family of one of the workers in the factory. We are interested in each other's lives. We understand that they also have a business to run and always try to understand each other. It's really a relationship that we're building together.

Step 3: Change Through Collaboration, Not Control

Relationship built? Good. Now the real work begins. You start slow, taking some first steps together like running a pilot, or fixing a few issues. But real change? That comes slowly. It takes partnership, patience, and a long view.

Start slow, and trial and learn. Change takes time. Brick by brick. Trial by trial. What matters is that you keep moving forward. O My Bag started small, testing ideas, learning what works, and building trust as they go. That approach has paid off. Today, they’re able to ensure living wages for their Tier 1 workers. They run the numbers carefully, calculating the gap, working out their share, and figuring out how to distribute the premium. The process is collaborative, detailed, and rooted in the reality of each factory.

Our responsibility goes beyond paying a premium. We collaborate with local NGOs to ensure it reaches the right people and provide training on living wages and payment systems for factory owners. We also educate workers on financial management, helping them to manage their income and save for their families.

Listen to their perspective, and co-create. What seems simple from your desk might be a lot harder on the ground. Suppliers have their own realities, and O My Bag gets that. That’s why they start with dialogue, not demands. They don’t drop a checklist and a deadline. They ask questions, listen, and build solutions together. They bring in local consultants, invite feedback, and co-create a plan that actually works. That open dialogue is how suppliers go from reacting to requests to bringing their own solutions to the table. Now, some suppliers come to them with improvement ideas. That’s when you know it’s working.

When I was in India, a supplier said to me, ‘Hey, should we do this differently?’ That’s when you know it’s working. It’s no longer about enforcement. It’s about collaboration.

Choose your battles, but stay consistent. You won’t fix everything at once. Sometimes the timing’s off. Sometimes the supplier just isn’t ready. And that’s okay. What matters is showing up consistently. Keep asking about what is top of mind (e.g., safe water, feedback systems, living wages) and eventually, things start to shift. O My Bag didn’t roll out their amazing living wages program overnight. It took years of trust, small wins, and steady groundwork. Then came the bigger moves.

Production in India presents its challenges, and implementing social projects and transforming work processes adds another layer. For good reason one of O My Bag's core values is 'Change is constant, flexibility is essential'. It's crucial to remain adaptable in the face of occurring challenges.

Final Reflections

So, what can a small brand actually do? A lot, it turns out.

You can listen. You can show up. You can build relationships that go beyond a PO.

O My Bag didn’t wait for leverage. They weren’t a big buyer. They didn’t own factories. They just started, with curiosity, commitment, and the belief that good business should also be good for people. They found the right partners. They showed up. They stayed consistent. They built change, brick by brick.

Their wish for the industry?

That we can inspire other brands to see that it’s possible to sell high-quality, beautiful products and still do good for the environment and people. It’s not easy, but it is possible. I hope everyone can find their own way to do it.

No one’s saying this is easy. It’s not. It’s slow, messy, and not for the faint of heart. But it’s possible. And it’s worth it.

If you take on the challenge, remember: your suppliers are people too, with their own constraints, pressures, and goals. Change doesn’t come from control. It comes from collaboration.

And if O My Bag can do it, so can you.

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La Introduction

Name the top 5 sustainable fashion brands. Go!

I bet EILEEN FISHER is on that list.

From their website:

When Eileen started the company in 1984, she was working as an interior and graphic designer and had trouble finding clothes. She kept imagining simple, timeless pieces like the kimono, which people have worn for thousands of years. That vision led to her "aha" moment: a system of shapes that worked together to make getting dressed easy.

But it didn't start as a fully integrated sustainability approach spanning the entire garment lifecycle. That transformation happened later, and there's one person who made it all possible.

Meet Amy Hall, Strategic Advisor for Social Consciousness and former Head of Social Consciousness at EILEEN FISHER. She's the one who laid the foundation and defined a sustainability strategy before it was cool.

Amy Hall is one of those rare people who's even more impressive in person than on paper. She has this laser focus on what needs to happen, combined with a warmth that makes you want to follow her lead. She's the type who'll spend an hour helping a sustainability newbie figure out their strategy, not because she has to, but because she genuinely believes in lifting others up.

And the story on how she ended up in that role is as remarkable.

Amy didn't start in fashion. With degrees in Chinese and Applied Linguistics, she was working in education and nonprofits when she landed an entry-level role at EILEEN FISHER. Classic case of right person, right place, right time. They asked her to handle philanthropic work. Then one project led to another, and another...

Before anyone knew it, she'd built the brand's groundbreaking Social Consciousness team and completely reimagined what sustainability could look like in fashion.

Which brings us to her secret sauce: how she turned an entire company into sustainability champions.

La Guide

Step 1: Get buy-in from the top, then pack the room

This is your make-or-break moment. Without leadership backing, sustainability becomes "that nice thing the hippies (aka you) do" instead of "how we run this business." You need someone with real power, someone who believes in the mission, can knock down barriers, and will fight for your budget when the quarterly numbers get ugly. So, here is how she did it.

Start with a business case. Whether it’s reputational risk, regulatory pressure, or the long-term upside of resilient supply chains, senior leaders need to see the value in $.

In the late 1990s, sweatshop headlines dominated the news, and major brands were getting hammered for supply chain violations. Amy’s approach was brilliant in its simplicity: she created large poster boards (this was pre-PowerPoint) and invited senior leaders into a room:

“I put large posters together and had to show that there's more and more interest from the public and the media. And with a little bit of investment, look at what we could turn around and the kind of impact we could have for the people, the specific individual people in factories. And that's how we got it started.”

My tip: Look into the ROSI methodology (see EILEEN FISHER’s case study here) to calculate business case, and I am always here to chat if you need help. :)

Bring someone from the outside. There's something powerful about bringing in an outsider that brings credibility to any issue.

“There's nothing like bringing in somebody from the outside, even if you have all the knowledge inside the company. For some reason, when you bring somebody else in, it just takes on a different level of integrity or seniority or something that people want to believe.”

Once Amy secured her senior sponsor, she convinced them to fund a retreat with an external facilitator. The goal? Teach the team systems thinking and get everyone rowing in the same direction.

The facilitator organized a three-day retreat in nature with leaders from every corner of the company: design, merchandising, sourcing, sales, social impact, etc. Even Eileen Fisher showed up. The event was positioned as a privilege, and exclusive opportunity. Everyone would want to be a part of it. And it worked. That weekend, something shifted.

Mi tip for doing this on a budget: ok, so maybe you do not have the funding for a full retreat, but you can get scrappy. Reserve a short term rental for 2 nights, somewhere connected with nature, and plan the activities yourself.

Aim high, think of the art of the possible. Get people excited about the future. Get them to imagine what's possible. Then, work your way backwards in both time and initiatives. Over the course of three days, the group imagined a future 20 to 30 years out. Then they worked backward to define goals. Big ones: carbon neutrality, fair wages, responsible materials. These weren't mandates handed down by leadership. They were ideas created by the people in the room, so they stuck.

"When people set their own goals, they can't argue with the results."

Each of those goals became a seed that sprouted sub-goals, working groups, and cross-departmental collaboration. Over the years, they kept regrouping, realigning, and expanding the reach.

Amy's advice? Don't be afraid to set goals that feel far away. Even if you don't meet every one, you'll go further than you imagined.

That retreat became the launchpad for what would become a cross-functional, company-wide movement. It started with the right sponsor. Then it spread.

Step 2: Find champions, then hold them accountable

Big goals without clear ownership and accountability become wishful thinking. This is why it is important to create a structured system of champions, working groups, and regular check-ins that keeps momentum alive.

Build your super hero team. After the offsite, Amy formed the Sustainability Design Team, a cross-functional group of decision-makers who met monthly (many from that retreat). This wasn't just another committee. These were people with real authority in their areas.

"Those were people who were decision makers in the company. So there was at least one person from supply chain, one person from design, one person from merchandising, and they were like the leaders of all these areas."

This core team became the engine that drove everything else. They weren't just setting strategy, they were making it happen in their day-to-day work.

Break big goals into small, actionable ones. Big goals need bite-sized actions. You can’t have a target for 50% emissions reduction without breaking it down into smaller initiatives, and those initiatives within those, and so on. Once bold commitments were in place, each function was accountable to breaking them down into sub-goals. Each sub-goal had its own cross-functional working group, led by a representative from the core Sustainability Design Team. These groups weren’t just talk shops. They were tasked with setting clear targets, coordinating across departments, and making real progress.

Reach the tipping point. Here's where Amy's approach gets really smart. She didn't try to convert the entire company at once. Instead, she focused on reaching what Malcolm Gladwell calls the tipping point. They estimated that if 10% of the company (around 100 employees at the time) were meaningfully engaged, it would be enough to make sustainability stick.

“We were literally counting. Through all the working groups and invitations, we made sure we reached 100 people. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it was enough. That’s what made it stick.”

They tracked participation, encouraged volunteerism, and created a rhythm of monthly full-team meetings and regular touch points. Over time, sustainability stopped being someone else’s job. It became everyone’s.

Step 3: Embed into the day to day, and define structure

The retreat defined the what, the champions were the who. Now comes the hard part: the how. You need structure and operating models to make sure sustainability doesn't just sound good in meetings, it actually gets done.

Make it part of their job. Don't create parallel work. Instead, show people how their existing work connects to sustainability goals.

"If you were in the supply chain team and specifically involved in shipping, then you'd be on the task force for decarbonizing our shipping process. So it was actually drawing the people in who were doing this work already, but maybe not doing it responsibly."

Amy's example is perfect: to reduce air shipping, they needed to build extra time into the design calendar. That meant involving not just logistics people, but designers, merchandisers, and sales teams. Everyone had to understand how their decisions affected the larger goal.

"In order to ship things by sea, you have to build in an extra two months' time to the design calendar. So we had to go back to the people who decide what the items are going to be, sales, merchandising, and get them involved so that everybody can take a step back and agree to open up the design calendar."

This level of coordination required clear ownership. That’s where structure came in.

Make it clear who owns what. If people don’t know what they’re supposed to do, no one will do it. I think everyone will assume, “not me.” Amy used the RACI model to assign roles and bring clarity to each working group.

This brings me flashbacks. TLDR?

RACI is a tool to clarify roles and responsibilities:

• R = Responsible. The person who does the work.

• A = Accountable. The person ultimately answerable for the outcome, typically a senior leader.

• C = Consulted. People who provide input or expertise, typically from other departments.

• I = Informed. People who need to be kept in the loop.

It helps teams stay aligned, reduces confusion, and ensures nothing falls through the cracks.

Create rhythms that stick. The core Sustainability Design Team met monthly. Working groups met more frequently based on their needs. But it wasn't just about meetings, it was about creating a rhythm that kept the work alive.

Amy's facilitator stayed with them throughout this process, helping with educational workshops and keeping people connected to the larger systems thinking approach.

"She would help lead and facilitate educational workshops to continue to get people invested in this idea of systems thinking... Even though on a day-to-day basis, this person over here may not think they have anything to do with this person over here, their decisions actually impact each other."

Eventually, sustainability wasn't something they did, it was how they worked. Clear roles, shared goals, and structure that actually stuck.

The result? The whole organization became the sustainability team.

PS: Operating models and structures are my bread and butter. I have an open-door policy for any SME sustainability person who needs help with this.

Mi Final Reflections

Amy Hall's wish for the fashion industry rings true to many of us:

"The fashion industry knows how to talk about this stuff. The fashion industry knows what to do, but it's clear that we are not doing enough. I wish the fashion industry would actually do what it says."

Building a culture of sustainability isn't about PowerPoints or policies. It's about people. It's about tapping into purpose and getting enough people believing in it. It requires perseverance and influence.

Amy didn't start with a master plan. She started by saying yes, then figured it out from there. What followed was 25+ years of pioneering work that helped turn EILEEN FISHER into one of the most respected sustainable brands in the world.

After helping hundreds of sustainability teams while leading ESG Insights at McKinsey, I can tell you this is the recipe that actually works.

So, if you're a team of one, or two, or just under-resourced, this is your roadmap for growing your sustainability team to include your whole organization.

The question isn't whether you can do it. The question is: what are you waiting for?

Ready to break industry norms? Subscribe to La Purpose Brand 🫒. We're building a catalog for SME brands bold enough to change the industry.

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