From a lack of transparency to a business model that squeezes those at the bottom, fashion's supply chains can be a sustainability nightmare. There's a disconnect between the consumers who buy clothes, the retailers who sell them, the designers who conceive of them and all the different suppliers further down the chain, who cut and sew them, produce the textiles and the raw materials.

And while the fashion industry has been very effective in optimising shareholder wealth, it has been less so when it comes to creating wealth for other stakeholders – in particular suppliers and workers.

The current system favours ‘buy cheap, sell high’, compressing the cost of production. Suppliers find themselves competing on price and are often forced to compromise on employment standards to stay in business.

So what's the alternative? In this Episode we ask, how can we create positive sum relationships, rather than zero sum transactions in the fashion supply chain? What happens when we start to view suppliers and workers as true stakeholders rather than simple as costs?

Simone sits down with Sergio Tamborini, CEO of Italian luxury textiles leader Ratti Spa. Clare discusses transparency with Remake Our World's Ayesha Barenblat, and profit sharing with Rituraj Dewan, cofounder of the Indian social enterprise 7 Weaves Silk.

Find out more at https://ethicalfashioninitiative.org/

Our music is from the original production From Kabul to Bamako, music directed by Saïd Assadi.

This podcast was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

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