The objectives are similar: to help the fashion industry improve its environmental performance. The method, however, is based on the same premise: the value of sharing. Lineapelle 107 (February 11-13, Fieramilano Rho) was the venue for meetings between Fashion Pact and Leather Leaders. These projects are promoted respectively by the Élysée Palace to push international fashion giants towards sustainability and by UNIC – Italian Tanneries and Spin360 to define scientifically valid bases (finally, after much negative press).
The value of sharing
The Fashion Pact promotes collective action aimed at reducing emissions, increasing efficiency, and building long-term resilience in the sector’s supply chains. Starting in Italy and in collaboration with trade associations, the project has given rise to the European Accelerator, which is a tool for promoting decarbonization. The first step is to define a questionnaire (optional and non-exhaustive) for collecting key environmental data. This is a way to harmonize questions to suppliers, promote clarity, and reduce administrative burdens.
“With the European Accelerator, we have managed to strike a balance between the need for brands to obtain solid environmental data”, comments Edoardo Zegna of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group, “and the effort required of suppliers to produce it. Trust, open dialogue, and a willingness to find common ground are the key factors that make this initiative possible”. The questionnaire is available not only to groups that have signed up to the Fashion Pact (including Chanel, Kering, and Prada, to name a few) but to everyone.
The value of leather
“The Leather Leaders project stems from a question”, summarizes Fabrizio Nuti, president of UNIC: “How can we give leather its rightful value when certain rankings on the sustainability of materials penalize natural materials in favor of synthetic ones?” On this basis, explains SPIN360 CEO Federico Brugnoli, 20 brands and 13 tanneries have come together around a roadmap: to define, within five years (because certain results cannot be improvised), the position of leather, as well as its margins for improvement, in 30 areas of intervention identified on the basis of current laws, standards in use, and the sustainability reports of the fashion companies themselves.
Willingness to be transparent
“Acting individually makes no sense”, explained Chiara Bonatti of the Ferragamo group, “when the impacts and responsibilities are collective”. The leather supply chain has taken up the challenge. “Customers no longer just ask for the product”, comments Nicola Balsanti of Masoni Industria Conciaria. “They want more information to help them make their choice. Participating in the project also means building relationships of trust”. “Harmonizing sustainability requirements allows for alignment along the supply chain and transforms complexity into shared and measurable objectives”, echoes Pietro Pantani of Incas. “A shared vision is what transforms a supply chain into a truly cohesive, committed, and progress-oriented ecosystem”, adds Giuseppe Minervino of Russo di Casandrino. “We also need collaboration from our suppliers”, concludes Valentina Ceriani of Antiba, “because more than 90% of our impact depends on purchases”.
Read also:
- Together we can: the Leather Leaders roadmap passes through Lineapelle
- Chemistry and Leather: Dialogue in the Supply Chain starts from Florence
