'We need concrete facts and numbers': how data is driving Kiabi's sustainability progress

Kiabi

Fashion brands and retailers are facing greater sustainability reporting pressures. Whether it is investors, policymakers or customers – all stakeholders are pushing companies to report their environmental impact. However, reporting is only possible with verified data, which is crucial for measuring progress and setting goals.

In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority launched its Green Claims Code in 2021 to clamp down on vague or false statements, while in the European Union, a proposed Green Claims Directive is expected to come into law very soon. This is signalling a move from voluntary to mandatory reporting. But, fashion brands and retailers often face a key obstacle - a lack of verified data, which is required to prove sustainability credentials.

The case of cotton

Cotton has been a mainstay of wardrobes for hundreds of years, and the textile continues to play a key role in fashion brands and retailers’ collections.

However, the cotton industry has not traditionally been able to provide brands and retailers with field-level data.

This is where the US Cotton Trust Protocol can help fashion businesses. It is a data-driven programme that launched in 2020 to drive improvements in producing more sustainably grown cotton.

“The Trust Protocol uses independent verifications to bridge the gap between self-reporting and actual data, providing assurances to brands and retailers about the sustainability of their raw cotton sourcing,” explains Tara Luckman, stakeholder engagement manager at the US Cotton Trust Protocol.

“Brands receive verified data on key metrics of the cotton they consume, which helps them to monitor and report improvements to their environmental impact,” she adds. “Brands and retailers that partner with the Trust Protocol not only get access to environmental data, but traceability and communication tools for all of their stakeholders as well.”

Tackling transparency

Another key challenge facing the fashion industry is that of complicated supply chains, which can be tricky to untangle. Here, traceability tools play a pivotal role in making them more transparent and accountable.

Traceability helps brands and retailers to demonstrate compliance with sustainability standards, ethical labour practices and responsible sourcing commitments.

The Trust Protocol’s traceability solution is designed to track cotton through the supply chain, which provides brands and retailers with transparency and traceability of the fibres they are sourcing.

The program has also developed a claims framework for those sourcing US cotton or cotton grown on its members’ farms, which features information on product and in-store marketing, including use-case examples that can easily be adapted to a brand or retailer’s requirements to help them avoid greenwashing.

Drapers meets Virginie Cayzeele, head of raw materials at French lifestyle retailer Kiabi, which has more than 579 stores in 25 countries, including 350 in its home market. Cotton represents 70% of the raw material used in its range of products. It joined the Trust Protocol in October 2023.

There is a growing amount of reporting pressures on brands and retailers when it comes to sustainability. How is Kiabi responding?

Kiabi is reviewing its medium- and long-term strategies. We have set clear design goals: 100% of products must contain a majority of sustainable fibres by 2025, for example.

Additionally, we have now moved towards a sustainability strategy not limited to just addressing fibres, but that also accounts for industrial processes and manufacturing in the supply chain.

We have also adapted our 2035 vision to include environmental and social challenges in our strategies in a more ambitious way.

We definitely acknowledge the necessity of regulation in this space, and so support the goals and spirit of this, and know we must move fast. We try to align our strategies on regulation to be efficient and remain compliant. Nevertheless, we must also acknowledge that some laws are very complex and need specific resources to support everyone involved – and that can sometimes be a challenge.

How important is data as part of your sustainability progress?

From design to procurement, data is crucial to evaluate our impacts, monitor our trajectories and manage our teams. It also has a critical role in informing our strategic decisions. Our world does not allow us to take decisions based on gut feelings any longer. We need concrete facts and numbers.

Setting a goal of 100% of your products to contain a majority of sustainable fibres by 2025 highlights how important textiles and materials are to your sustainable progress. Tell us about this.

Materials are a key topic for us. For years, we knew that materials accounted for the biggest part of garment price; that it has the longest production lead time within the overall garment production; and that it impacts the look and quality of the garment. We also knew that simply continuing to grow natural fibres in traditional ways can have disastrous impacts for the environment. We now know that the process from farm to fabric accounts for a large majority of manufacturing CO2 emissions and water use. Managing this is an absolute necessity for all brands.

A decade ago, we started to select specific fabrics that allowed us to work directly with mills that are environmentally and socially audited. Those fabrics are used on our basic products and are made with fabrics that are Oekotex 100 certified. Now that most of our fibres are more sustainable, we are also focusing on manufacturing and industrial processes, and traceability back to farms in a sector where supply chains are extremely fragmented.

As part of this you work with the US Cotton Trust Protocol. What impact has it had?

The US Cotton Trust Protocol helps us to join the dots between our manufacturers and origin of our cotton. The US has always been an important source for cotton for our suppliers, and cotton is the commodity that travels the most across the world. US cotton is recognised for its consistency, low contamination rate and great fibre quality that enables lower wastage during yarn, fabric and garment production processes.

One of the many assets of US cotton is the barcode system on bales, enabling cotton to become traceable. The US Cotton Trust Protocol provides us with the traceability of our cotton coming from the US thanks to this barcode system. It is registered in units linked to our garment purchase orders on the programme’s platform. This platform actually works in parallel with Textile Genesis [which is a platform that creates traceability from fibre origin for the fashion industry]

Many US Cotton Trust Protocol farms are also adopting regenerative agricultural practices to restore soil health and biodiversity. US agriculture is very progressive and farmers are investing in technology –the US Cotton Trust Protocol can provide environmental impacts data, which is critical for us to make strategic decisions and monitor our impacts.

How important is it to you that the data is third party verified?

It is the guarantee of reliability and certifies compliance with commitments taken. It helps us to make sure that we get materials from a sustainable source and that we reduce our impact.

To find out more about how the US Cotton Trust Protocol can improve your sustainability progress, go to trustuscotton.org or email info@trustuscotton.org