Europe’s newest responsible sourcing show, Source Fashion, kicked off on Sunday with an innovative and compelling presentation of responsible fashion showcasing the inspiring stories, fresh perspectives, and future of fashion sourcing from a diverse collection of exhibitors from 25 countries and a line-up of industry renowned speakers.
Sitting alongside established global manufacturers, visitors also discovered unique enterprises and small-scale producers keen to enter the UK market and reach brands and retailers in attendance including John Lewis, Mountain Warehouse, Fila, Selfridges, H&M, Lipsy, Lyle & Scott, Joules, FILA, Perry Ellis, JoJo Mamman Bebe, Monsoon, Fatface, Lulu Guinness, Sainsburys, and Vivienne Westwood.
Commenting on Source Fashion’s offering, show director Suzanne Ellingham highlights the shows point of difference, saying: “For 85% of exhibitors here, this is the only show they go to, so what visitors see is totally different to other sourcing shows. Not only have we doubled in size since launching in February, we anticipate scaling up further so it becomes the must-attend responsible sourcing event in Europe. Over the last 2 days we have welcomed some of retails biggest hitters, including heritage and luxury brands, and established high street retailers who are keen to explore and source from a diverse mix of audited exhibitors. Not only do we showcase large scale audited manufacturers from China but new country pavilions including the Philippines, Madagascar, and Ethiopia who offer unique products with incredible stories behind them, and inspirational social enterprises where an order can make unbelievable difference to a community.”
Jean-Pierre Aguis, fashion category sourcing manager at John Lewis commented on his visit to Source Fashion, saying: “The show has been really good, I’ve had some interesting conversations with manufacturers, and attended a few talks which were really insightful, this is the second time we have attended Source Fashion and it is a great fashion show. I had very interesting conversations with suppliers from Madagascar which is not an area we currently source from, but the products they brought are very impressive so I have taken away quite a few interesting contacts.”
Vito D’Antoni, product developer and production manager at Lulu Guinness loved the convenience and offering, saying: “The show has been great, so much going on here… so many exhibitors and products to discover. To have everything in one place here in London, covering all the product categories from different territories is exactly what we want.’
Exhibitors have been equally upbeat. Wen Zhang, business manager at Chinese exhibitor Jiangxi Vatica Co said: “Source Fashion has been amazing, we’ve seen lots of good brands and had a great show! We focus on sustainable materials, and making environmentally friendly products, and the customers have really been looking for this. This is the first time we are in Britain, and it is super exciting.”
Running alongside the show’s high energy and inspirational catwalk shows, the Source Fashion content programme across the first two days, delivered stimulating, informative, educational and hard-hitting conversations around the future of fashion and sourcing.
On day one, following her headline catwalk presentation, Sarah Regensburger spoke to sustainable stylist Rebekah Roy in a no holds barred chat about her life, inspiration and the future of her brand and sourcing sustainably.
In a call out to manufacturers to innovate with new responsibly produced materials Regensburger also stated her desire for more flexibility with minimums: “It takes a lot of research to find new manufacturers and source new materials and shows like Source are amazing for that. One of the biggest challenges for young designers is we’re still trying to find our market, we’re still trying to find what we sell, and who we sell to and it’s an ongoing journey. I’ve been doing this for 3 years now and I still sometimes order things that don’t sell. Part of the journey is trying to find out what sells but the minimums can be too high so we end up having stock left. As a sustainable brand I don’t want to have stock left over. High minimums are tough for young designers.”
Offering advice to those looking to source more responsibly she added: “When you’re really trying to do something good it doesn’t have to be perfect. We can all make small steps towards better future. That is one of the ethos’s of my brand, that we all have the power to change the world and that’s individually, step by step. We’re working on it, that’s the goal to have a better future.”
Insider Trends’ futurist and trend forecaster Jack Stratten explored the disruptive innovators, new business models changing the shape of retail and the shift from ‘sustainability’ to ‘transparency’. Whilst luxury remains the biggest growth sector and luxury purchases deemed as currency, Jack says: “It makes it worthwhile investing in sourcing and telling the story behind products.”
Brands can’t hide, he says, and the future of good retailing is committing to overall ethical strategies and system change. With resale becoming a more mainstream trend, Jack sees enormous potential for scaling up resale, and although he highlighted the complex relationship between cost and sustainability and the gap between consumer intent and action, the future of retail needs to see a shift towards non-sustainable products becoming more expensive and sustainable ones less expensive. AI continues to play an important role, particularly for ethical sourcing. Jack said: “AI can help reduce waste, retailers need to be open to how technology can help reduce waste.”
The opening seminar panel on Monday ‘What does the UK’s new unilateral preferences trade agreement mean for global sourcing?’ with Karen Johnson, Sofie Kinsey and Rupert Casson from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development (FCDO) and Department for Business and Trade (DBT) offered invaluable insight into the UK’s new legislation – the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS). It removes or reduces import duties from 65 developing countries, leading to £770million per year of reduced import costs and up to £2billion in trade benefit by 2030. Supporting three core objectives; Sustainable Growth, Supply Chain Resilience and Strengthening Economic Ties between the UK and fast-growing developing economies, the DCTS scheme positively impacts 3.3billion people across the 65 countries, which export nearly £23billion to the UK each year.
Countries across the world including Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Cambodia, and Algeria, have been grouped into 3 preference tiers; Comprehensive Preferences, the least developed countries who receive 99% of products duty free; Enhanced Preferences, economically vulnerable countries who receive 92% of products duty free, and Standard Preferences receiving 65% of products duty free. “These changes will make it easier for developing countries to export to the UK but will also make it easier and more economically viable for UK buyers to source from developing countries,” said Rupert Casson.
Ellingham’s vision for Source Fashion is not only looking at the beginning of a product, but also its end of life, and the content programme on day two reflected that ethos. She says: “I’m passionate about promoting responsible end of life of fashion as much as the production of it. As we move forward as a show, we’ll continue to grow, opening up responsible global sourcing in new regions and bringing true diversity. I am looking to partner with brilliant companies and innovators who focus on the circular economy, end of life, and the reduction of waste.”
At midday, SATCoL’s presentation on its revolutionary polyester textile recycling solution, Project Re:claim showcased how challenging it is to undertake fibre to fibre recycling. And, while this new game changing technology aims to turn 100% polyester textile waste and end of use garments into commercial grade rPET which can be used to spin into whole yarns, the key message was to keep end of life in mind when designing new products.
Ellingham took to the stage to host a panel with Angela Gaskill, head of sourcing and buying at N Brown, and Jenny Holloway, CEO at Fashion Enter. Titled ‘Responsible Sourcing and production: How Technology and partnerships are changing the waste and returns game’, the panel delved into the importance of collaboration in the industry to create circular production and reduce waste. One of the key pillars discussed was the impact returns has on business and how to reduce this through technology.
“As part of our digital transformation, we bought a 3D body scanner 5 years ago; led by our inclusivity around customer and understand all shapes and sizes irrespective of gender, the scanner collects data to help us make sure we can adapt a pattern to make sure it fits better. We know that not every size 12 is the same, and having the nuances of sizing gives us the understanding of how small adjustments to really improve a fit. The body scanner, and the anonymous data we collect from it, is imperative in to building back into our circularity.
“On some of our core styles that we have worked on using the 3D processer on for not only fitting, but also design as well, we’ve seen up to a 5% reduction in returns. Bear in mind for most retailers who are pure-play online, your biggest supplier is the customer – the biggest percentage of supplying in and out of your warehouse is returns; from a waste point of view, the biggest impact you can have on your bottom line is by reducing returns – by even 1% can add a lot of money on your P&L, it’s significant,” says Angela.
“A huge aspect on seasonality is psychology within the industry; and it needs to change. Having a full end-to-end view of what’s in stock, how you can repurpose, how you can remarket styles is the only way to face these challenges. Every part of what you do can create newness, whether it’s new stock or creating something new from something you’ve already got, it’s how you use this technology to achieve this, and the data is key in this circularity,” she added.
Continuing the conversation during her talk ‘The business of sustainability: How to go green whilst staying in the black, Zoe Bayliss Wong, retail expert and former director at Depop, highlighted the impact of clothing production which doubled between 2000 – 2015. “Sustainability”, she said, “is subject to various interpretations, it’s lacking regulation, proper certification, proper legislation. Green is actually becoming grey. True sustainability is more than just the E of ESG.”
She went on to explore how manufacturers, producers, and retailers can do good while making money. “We know things are bad. We are exploring new alternatives, green cars, solar panels, removing sequins and glitter from our ranges, but we need to do more. We want businesses to tackle change but are they actually doing anything useful. Maximising profits is at odds with sustainability. It’s not possible to just stop producing. How do we change this seesaw, so profit benefits the plant.” She added, “Clothes need to be designed to be re-used, make things that are easy to disassemble, use single materials, materials that can be repurposed.”
