Industry taskforces
Fashion Taskforce
The Fashion Taskforce is committed to being leaders and exemplars to the global fashion, textile and apparel sectors, working to accelerate the transition towards a more sustainable future. The Fashion Taskforce will begin work on a Digital ID system designed to inform consumers of the sustainability credentials of their garments, through the development of verifiability around what can be considered as a sustainable fashion product. The group is also exploring how regenerative farming practices, across raw materials, can reverse the damage being done to the planet.
The Fashion Taskforce operates as an industry sub-group of the SMI and is chaired by Federico Marchetti, Founder of the YOOX Net-a-Porter Group. Its members are drawn from across a range of brands, platforms and retailers from all over the world, including; Brunello Cucinelli, Burberry, Chloé, Eon, Gabriela Hearst, Giorgio Armani, Johnstons Of Elgin, Moda Operandi, Mulberry, Selfridges, Stella McCartney, The Dubai Mall, Vestiaire Collective and Zalando.
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Letter of Intent
Download the full Letter of Intent
The Fashion Taskforce recognises the key role that the fashion industry must play in individually and collectively driving and accelerating the transition towards a more sustainable and circular economy, through its deep engagement with suppliers and customers.
The Fashion Taskforce has focused its attention on delivering action across two specific areas throughout 2021 and 2022, which includes:
1. Unlocking Circularity through Digital ID
Consumer shopping habits have changed dramatically in the last year, with an increased interest in sustainable assortments. The workstream will work towards a common definition for sustainable products and explore how protocols such as the Digital ID can unlock new services for customers while delivering circularity at scale.
2. Regenerative Farming
For brands, the highest environmental impact takes place at the very beginning of the supply chain — at the raw material level. A significant source of raw materials for apparel are agricultural products such as cotton, linen, wool, and leather. The workstream will explore how a common approach to regenerative farming practices can represent a concrete solution to reduce emissions, with a focus on nature-based solutions.
Membership composition
The Fashion Taskforce is chaired by Federico Marchetti, Founder of the YOOX Net-a-Porter Group. Its members are drawn from across the global fashion industry, including:
Mohammed Alabbar
Thierry Andretta
Riccardo Bellini
Maximillian Bittner
Chris Gaffney
Natasha Franck
Marco Gobbetti
Gabriela Hearst
Gabriele Maggio
Giuseppe Marsocci
Anne Pitcher
Lauren Santo Domingo
David Schneider
Riccardo Stefanelli
HRH The Prince of WalesThe fashion industry is one of the biggest polluters on the planet and so if we are to tackle climate change, we need to make clothing production much more sustainable. To do this correctly, we need cross-industry collaboration that goes beyond borders and brands. That is why I am so pleased that some of the world’s top fashion businesses have joined forces to transform the industry and work to ensure our fashion choices don’t cost us the planet.
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Federico Marchetti, Chair of the Fashion Taskforce and Founder of the YOOX Net-a-Porter GroupI am deeply honoured to have been asked by His Royal Highness to lead this Taskforce. The fashion industry is an incredibly creative and economically powerful world but if it is to survive and indeed thrive in the future it has to use technology to put sustainability at the very heart of its operating models. It is what consumers are demanding and it is what the planet desperately needs.
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Digital ID
The Fashion Task Force announced the rollout of the Digital ID, a transformational technology that uses data to inform customers of the sustainability credentials of their purchases and facilitate the delivery of circularity at scale, at G20 2021.
Giving products a Digital ID, will allow key players in the fashion value chain — including manufacturers, brands, retailers, resellers, and recyclers — to provide unprecedented transparency and traceability of the products they sell. It will also unlock new circular services for customers, such as care and repair services, as well as ones focused on resale and recycling.
The ultimate objective is to provide customers with access to credible information about how products are designed, manufactured, and distributed, and thereby, empower customers to make more informed sustainable purchase choices. At the same time, the lifecycle tracing element of the Digital ID system aims to extend the longevity of products and enable brands to scale circular business models.
Members of the Task Force have committed to begin the Digital ID roll out process within their brands, along with the adoption of a circular data protocol.
Learn more here
Regenerative Fashion Manifesto
On Wednesday, 20th April 2022, the Fashion Task Force announced its new Regenerative Fashion Manifesto, which has been developed in partnership with the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance led by scientist Marc Palahi.
In signing up to the Manifesto, the Fashion Task Force members are committing their brands — which are amongst the biggest names in the fashion industry — to a progressive shift towards Regenerative Fashion — a circular bio-based industry that is inclusive, climate and Nature-positive — using newly created or restored regenerative landscapes as the basis for circular bio-economy value chains.
Regenerative landscapes are resilient, biodiversity-rich, and deforestation-free. They produce a diversity of goods and services such as food, energy, and biomaterials, as well as ecosystem services — including carbon sequestration. Such regenerative practices empower local and indigenous communities, support their prosperity, and respect their ancestral rights.
Download the manifesto here
Further information
For roundtable and taskforce enquiries please contact the Sustainable Markets Initiative Secretariat:
Email: info@sustainable-markets.org
For media enquiries please contact the Sustainable Markets Initiative Communications team: