In 1973, Cotton Incorporated debuted a brand image for cotton fiber and the cotton industry that has had a lasting impact on cotton usage and consumer sentiment. Today, the Seal of Cotton can be seen on products across 70 countries, and 8 in 10 consumers say they are familiar with the trademark.

The seal stands for three C’s: cotton, clothing and comfort. “Consumers love cotton, they trust it, and it has an emotional connection that no other fiber has,” said Kim Kitchings, senior vice president of consumer marketing at Cotton Incorporated.

Kitchings spoke with Sourcing Journal's features editor Kate Nishimura about the origin of the Seal of Cotton trademark and major milestones in its 50-year history.

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Cotton pricing depends on various factors, including basic supply and demand. Due to pandemic pressures, the market experienced volatility as circumstances changed rapidly. Although Supima and other extra-long staple cottons are unique in the market, these premium fibers have also been riding a pricing rollercoaster.

Listen to the chat between Lewkowitz and Sourcing Journal founder Edward Hertzman to learn why higher cotton prices are not necessarily a bad thing.

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Namza Akter remembers being on her way to her office in Dhaka when she heard about the 8:57 a.m. collapse of Rana Plaza. Before the workers rights activist and Bangladeshi Awaj Foundation founder learned there were more than 3,000 workers inside, more than a third of whom would be found dead in the rubble, her first thought went to news reports from the day before about factory workers complaining about cracks in the building, she told attendees at the Sourcing Journal Sustainability Summit.

Many of the workers told management they did not feel safe going back to work, but were told if they didn’t they wouldn’t be paid for the entire month, meaning the previous 23 days of labor would have been all for naught.

“There was a large shipment, a political strike, so the factory manufacturers told them if they do not go for work they will not get salary. They had four days until the end of the month, so they didn’t have the option, didn’t have the choice," said Akter. 

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As brands seek to say more about sustainability, they need facts to back up their statements. This is where supply chain visibility comes into play, enabling communications to go beyond greenwashing.

“You can't have sustainability without traceability,” said Buxton Midyette, vice president, marketing and promotions at Pima cotton organization Supima. “If you don't know where a product comes from, you really can't speak credibly about sustainability.”

Listen to this chat between Midyette and Jasmin Malik Chua, sourcing and labor editor at Sourcing Journal, to learn why brands need traceability now more than ever and how AQRe builds on Supima’s previous traceability initiatives.

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An efficient fashion supply chain has a lot of moving parts. It requires retailers, brands and suppliers to gather, centralize and act on sustainability compliance data in real time—across many teams and time zones. Visibility is key. Traceability is essential. But how can you build a collaborative supply chain ecosystem that goes beyond compliance? And how can you enhance it with communication to further drive positive change within the industry?

 Lauren Parker, director of Sourcing Journal’s Studio Team, digs into these questions with Katrina Duck, enterprise account executive of supply chain technology company Inspectorio.

 Watch the fireside chat to lean:

·      How SAAS platform Inspectorio works with some of the biggest brands and retailers in the U.S. and Europe—from Crocs to Dick’s Sporting Good’s to Target

·      The biggest pain points it hears from clients.

·      How Inspectorio’s RISE platform has expanded with new capabilities from its initial launch as a facility audit tool.

·      How can RISE helps identify and manage risk areas around the world, so companies can make informed decisions.

·      How companies can share information to save time and money and reduce audit fatigue

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Having a net positive impact is often associated with carbon reduction, but to truly improve the world, companies must go beyond environmental responsibility to address the entirety of ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance).

As part of their corporate social responsibility initiatives, both Pima cotton organization Supima and fashion brand Michael Stars have embraced educational and youth-centered causes.

Listen to this fireside chat between Supima president and CEO Marc Lewkowitz, Michael Stars co-founder and CEO Suzanne Lerner, and Sarah Jones, senior editor, strategic content at Sourcing Journal, to hear how both companies are tackling social action.

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When Interloop rolled out its Vision 2025 strategy in 2021, it set many targets for growth across its apparel manufacturing business. But the core to this five-year plan is its investment in people.

By 2025, the Pakistan-based apparel and hosiery manufacturer aims to increase workforce diversity by 30 percent by employing thousands of women in executive and non-executive teams. Additionally, the company has a goal to upskill 80 percent of workers on future competencies across all operations, product development, supply chain management and general management.

During a fireside chat with Sourcing Journal's founder Edward Hertzman, Faryal Sadiq, vice president, sales and marketing at Interloop, highlighted Interloop’s focus on creating conditions and culture that promote equity by driving change to ingrained systems of inequality.

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Pandemic-era supply chain relationships have not always been on equal footing, with suppliers occasionally having to foot the bill for order cancellations and brands sometimes being left in the dark on the raw materials within their products.

Paul Magel, president of application solutions at CGS, is adamant that it will take two to tango for any buyer-supplier relationship to thrive in the increasingly convoluted supply chain environment.

Listen to this chat between Magel and Sourcing Journal founder Edward Hertzman to hear why shared risk has become a necessity as legislation has further-reaching impacts on the supply chain.

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The fast pace of consumer demand combined with global supply chain disruptions is putting manufacturers on their heels to keep up—but Interloop knows it is more than capable of adapting to current uncertainties. In fact, the hosiery manufacturer has robust plans to more than double its current apparel capacity from 20 million to 45 million pieces.

“Flexibility is the name of the game,” said Faryal Sadiq, vice president, sales and marketing at Interloop. “We were seeing disruptions every three or four years, but now we’re seeing it every three to four months, so our reaction time has to be a lot faster.”

Based in Pakistan, Interloop has taken measures to ensure flexibility for its partners, expanding its production presence to Sri Lanka and contracting manufacturing out to China as part of its push to diversify its capabilities.

In a fireside chat with Sourcing Journal's founder Edward Hertzman, Sadiq and Shelley Rider, president, Interloop North America, shared the benefits of this type of collaborative planning in fostering supply chain flexibility.

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Tackling sustainability within international cotton supply chains cannot be done with a one-size-fits-all plan. Both goal setting and measurements must account for the variety in global conditions. 

Better Cotton remains cognizant of this fact as it reviews its standard to target greenhouse gas reduction and regenerative agriculture, among other pressing sustainability issues. “Although it’s one standard, it really does need to be adapted locally wherever you go,” said Alan McClay, CEO of Better Cotton.

Listen to the fireside chat between McClay and Sourcing Journal sourcing and labor editor Jasmin Malik Chua to learn more about Better Cotton’s sustainability goals and environmental and social initiatives, and why sustainable practices are linked with preventing farmer poverty.

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