20/07/2022
Three key take-aways from the Europe trip meeting brands, fellow innovators, and industry think-tanks.
1. Product-claims related regulations is providing significant 'tail winds' to accelerate the industry towards more authentic, sustainable and traceable supply chains. Until recently, the drivers were primarily changing consumer preferences, peer pressure, and ambition/vision of top leadership.
2. There is no 'silver bullet' to address the complex issue of traceable supply chains in a highly fragmented, global and at times opaque industry. It requires the hard-work of authentically engaging suppliers, creating win-win value preposition, and a lot of cross-functional thinking cutting across technology, sourcing practices, and change in legacy behaviors/mindsets.
3. Finally, we will get there! - I have never sensed such strong "winds of change" across the industry. The intensity of innovation is really unprecedented from bio-based to waste-digesting textile materials, innovative tracers to isotope mapping for origin verification, water-less dyeing to all natural dyes, circular to rental business models, more robust LCAs to bottom-up energy models for carbon impact, supply chain mapping to digital token-based chain of custody.
I am not sure if the industry has seen such level of innovations across the entire value chain. It's an immense inspiration to see young innovators, at times fresh out of college, investing their prime years in solving these pressing challenges. It gives me optimism about the future of the industry, and a deep gratitude to have the opportunity to address one of the major industry pain points.
Congratulations to 2022 GCA winners - Re:elastane, Rubi Laboratories, saltyco®, BIORESTORE, Wadhwani AI and PLSTC. You have set the ceiling even higher!
