Sustainable Sourcing: Your Latest Tradeshow Guide
At SFW, we understand the challenges brands and suppliers can face while collaborating. One of the biggest challenges in finding the best match for your brand is the need for more transparency in supply chains. Tracing the origin and journey of raw materials and products can challenge companies with complex supply chains. Another challenge is the higher cost of implementing sustainability innovations. It can lead to long-term cost savings.
As a global platform, we work through co-creation and collaboration by partnering with sourcing platforms to help fashion brands, materials suppliers, and manufacturers drive progress ethically and sustainably. Slow Fashion World has been a connecting bridge for ethical sourcing matchmaking opportunities in the fashion industry. Learn how you can start sourcing responsibly.
Make fashion better - The Benefits of Sustainable Sourcing
By embracing sustainable sourcing practices, brands and organizations can reduce their carbon footprint, contribute to environmental solutions, make a positive social impact, and drive innovation through creative partnerships with suppliers. Choosing to source ethically will benefit your business, the environment, and society.
Environmental New Solutions
Sustainable sourcing can reduce your company's greenhouse emissions. Most of the carbon footprint generated by a company comes from its supply chain. Nowadays, investors and regulators expect companies to decarbonize, so switching to low-emissions materials is beneficial to the environment and your business. Suppliers have created creative solutions to drive sustainability and production without damaging the environment.
Seaqual is an initiative to take as an example. They have transformed 200 tons of marine litter into new sustainable products, from yarns to bathing suits. They collaborate with brands and manufacturers and give another life to plastics that would end up in the Ocean.
Image: Seaqual / Website
2. Positive Social Impact
When it comes to the social aspect, we talk about building long-lasting relationships with manufacturers that ensure good working conditions and encompass diversity. You can positively impact people and communities by giving opportunities to suppliers owned by diverse individuals or minority-owned businesses.
Let’s talk about TOMS, now looking from a brand perspective. Since their start, Toms has been committed to building a better society - it all started by donating shoes to communities in need every time a customer bought a pair. Their social-driven impact actions have since expanded. TOMS invests ⅓ of profits for grassroots good, including cash grants and partnerships with community organizations, to drive sustainable change.
Image: TOMS / Website
3. Driving Innovation
Nowadays, there are many innovative sourcing options, and suppliers have the newest technologies and processes to create innovative and environmentally friendly options that probably brand themselves couldn’t achieve.
Take as an example, Bananatex® durable fabric made 100% from the naturally grown Abacá banana plants cultivated in the Philippine highlands. The plant is self-sufficient and requires no pesticides, fertilizer, or extra water. As a result, Banatex contributes to reforestation in areas once eroded due to monocultural palm plantations while enhancing biodiversity and the economic prosperity of its farmers.
Image: QWSTION I Made from Bananatex®
Where to Source - Your Latest Tradeshow Guide
Each year, international trade shows are growing their focus, leading to sustainable practices by showcasing current trends and new developments in sustainable sourcing – new brands sit alongside some larger industry veterans, and each has built an approach towards triple impact.
“I always get questions about where to source, what trade shows are the right for new brands with an ethical focus. When it comes the big word “budget” that always comes to mind to make that huge decision when investing for traveling to venues and trade shows.”
An immersive and interactive experience: Tradeshows bring together suppliers, manufacturers, and industry professionals from around the globe in one place, providing a valuable networking opportunity. By attending tradeshows, fashion designers and brands can meet potential suppliers that meet their sustainability criteria, engage in face-to-face conversation, and share and discuss potential partnerships and collaborations.
Our team gathered a list of sourcing tradeshows after attending and partnering at various events that can help you meet suppliers or showcase your business in 2023:
Premiere Vision
A biannual tradeshow in Paris and New York that provides international interactions with suppliers, businesses, and creative fashion professionals. They aim to facilitate sourcing and offer a complete panorama of raw materials and services. You can find or showcase yarns, fabrics, leathers, designs, colors, and manufacturing here.
What’s new in 2023?
To better understand the multiple offers of new eco-designed product developments and technical innovations and to facilitate your sourcing and search for committed partners, starting in July, Première Vision Paris is deploying “a better way”, a new pictogram-based program relying on 5 criteria:
Let’s connect at Première Vision - Paris
Looking to communicate your message and goals effectively? Or guidance on how to find the supplier that meets your needs? The SFW team will be attending on July 5 - connect with us and stay tuned on our social media channels to learn more about our experience at PV. And discover more on how SFW can support you in finding the best match for your needs.
Online Sourcing - CO Expo Sourcing Hub
As an alternative to in-person sourcing, CO Expo, by our partner Common Objective (CO), curates and showcases the latest guidance, innovation, leadership, and best practice in sustainable materials and products worldwide. It’s a solution if you are looking to source sustainable fabrics or production solutions or to understand your options better, you can virtually connect with the industry’s pioneers and learn from leaders in the field, attend sourcing sessions for guidance, the latest innovations, and trends, and to help you find the right sustainable suppliers without having to leave your office.
Latin American Sourcing Hub
In 2021, SFW has joined forces with CO to create a platform that highlights the suppliers, producers, and changemakers in Latin America who are committed to sustainable practices and making a positive impact on local economies. Learn more and meet the suppliers.
Image: Manos del Uruguay / Social Media
An international gathering of suppliers, manufacturers, and service providers from the textile and garment industry. They aim to create opportunities for a more efficient production timeline and minimize overstock while offering technology solutions.
This year's editions are in Las Vegas from the 7 to 9 August and in New York from the 19 to 21 of September with a focus on sustainability. They have partnered with “Hey Social Good” a social impact data analytics company that asses and verifies brands social impact to create credible value for businesses.
Image: Sourcing at Magic / Social Media
This tradeshow takes place in different cities around the world and, the next editions are taking place in Paris from 3 to 5 July and in New York from 18 to 20 July. They gather thousands of exhibitors and professional buyers from around the world and a wide variety of products from the basics to the most creative.
Texworld is composed of five universes, and Avantex Paris, is the international innovation dedicated to advanced sustainable fashion and takes place in the July edition. They bring up together startups and innovative services companies committed to providing eco-solutions and provide new processes, technologies, and materials.
Image: Texworld Evolution / Website
Neonyt wishes to drive long-term changes in the fashion industry through sustainability awareness and technology innovation. They provide a space where professionals can combine business, inspiration, knowledge, and community building in a neo-new way.
The next edition is taking place in Düsseldorf on the 27 of July in cooperation with the Green Future Club, and they will take part only in certified sustainable business with a focus on the usage of sustainable materials, production methods, and product life cycle.
Image: Neonyt / Social Media
Pure London is one of the UK’s leading fashion trade events that gatherers international brands across womenswear, accessories, shoes, and jewelry and offers seminars with the latest trends and business insight, with the opportunity to make international connections.
This bi-annual tradeshow will take place from 16 to 18 July and provides a sustainability toolkit to encourage businesses to start a journey towards a sustainable future, a step-by-step guide with practical information to reduce carbon footprint, energy computation, and sustainable packaging.
Image: Pure London / Social Media
Future Fabrics aims to reduce environmental impact by introducing fabric buyers and designers to sustainable textile and materials suppliers. This annual tradeshow offers sourcing solutions for brands to preserve and regenerate nature and biodiversity.
This year’s Expo already took place on the 26-28th June in London, and they have launched a virtual expo to showcase sustainable fabrics and key information regarding sustainability issues all year long.
Image: Future Fabrics Expo/ Website
Are you a supplier? Are you looking to improve your impact communication and find the right buyer for sustainable services or products?
At SFW, we have been collaborating with sustainable suppliers and attended physical and digital tradeshows to understand the challenges and develop better sales strategies and tools to support you in effectively communicating your impact to a conscious and sustainability-driven audience.
Book a discovery call with the SFW and see how we can work together to reach your goals.
References:
Team, Oboolo. "The Importance Of Ethical Sourcing: How Responsible Procurement Can Benefit Your Business." Oboolo, 11 May 2023, oboloo.com/blog/the-importance-of-ethical-sourcing-how-responsible-procurement-can-benefit-your-business/.
Gabriel Swain. “13 ways sustainable sourcing and procurement drive ESG efforts”. Tradogram. https://www.tradogram.com/blog/13-ways-sustainable-sourcing-and-procurement-drive-esg-efforts
Kara Anderson. “How Sustainable Sourcing Contributes to Reducing Emissions”. Greenly.Institute, 12 January 2023. https://greenly.earth/en-gb/blog/company-guide/how-sustainable-sourcing-contributes-to-reducing-emissions
Anna-Christina Fredershausen, Eric Hannon, Stefan Helmcke, and Tomas Nauclér. “It’s not easy buying green: How to win at sustainable sourcing” McKinzey Sustainability, 25 February 2023.https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/its-not-easy-buying-green-how-to-win-at-sustainable-sourcing
Haysam Eid. “Why Trade Shows are still an important marketing tool”. 31 March 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-trade-shows-still-important-marketing-tool-haysam-eid/
BANANATEX https://www.bananatex.info/
Common Objective www.commonobjective.co
Future Fabrics Expo https://www.futurefabricsvirtualexpo.com/
NEONYT https://neonyt.messefrankfurt.com/
Première Vision www.premierevision.com
Pure London www.purelondon.com/
Texworld Evolution https://texworld-paris.fr.messefrankfurt.com/paris/en.html
QWSTION https://www.qwstion.com/en/
Seaqual Initiative www.seaqual.org/about-seaqual-initiative/
Sourcing at Magic https://www.sourcingatmagic.com/en/home.html
TOMS. www.toms.com/
