Scaling Sustainability: How Big Brands Can Leverage Small BrandSustainability Breakthroughs with Emerging Tech

(Vogue Business inspired article)

There is a dual call for action at hand; the fashion industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions, and the call for genuine sustainability has never been louder. Consumers are not just calling for transparency, they expect it, with Deloitte’s research revealing that 57% of shoppers are willing to pay more for sustainable products if brands can back these claims with proof.Brands that fail to adapt will risk falling behind. One solution to this is learning from small innovative brands, from this, larger players have the opportunity to scale these practices through the use of emerging technologies. Widespread adoption of these sustainable practices has the power to redefine an industry urgently in need of transformation.

This new era of sustainability presents challenges for the industry but also significant opportunities. Brands that embrace sustainable innovation can increase profitability while enhancing their social responsibility. As Jade McSorley, PhD researcher in sustainability and co-founder of Circular Fashion Company Loanhood, explains, “The data is out there to prove that actually, they will generate more revenue by adopting these sustainable approaches rather than just dismissing them.” Businesses making sustainability a higher priority can secure their future in a market increasingly favouring accountability over short-term gains.

A lot of smaller players, when it comes to sustainability, are outplaying big corporations. Due to having fewer stakeholders allowing for experimentation and niche focuses, when they make sustainability their mission, their practices seem to align more genuinely. Isabelle Alexander, owner of Capri Swimwear, is a tribute to this and has implemented many methods to ensure she stays true to being a sustainable brand.

“For me, sustainability is something that’s all the way throughout the business. It’s not just about the product, but almost more importantly about the processes behind the product,” she explains.”

Low Waste Policy And AI

One notable takeaway from Alexander’s business model is her low-waste policy. In order to do this, all the offcuts from producing her swimwear are placed in carpet underlay and sports insulation filler. This type of innovation is very beneficial for improving the sustainability issues within the fashion industry, as it allows materials that would otherwise end up in landfills to be repurposed.

However, when it comes to bigger businesses, replicating these innovative practices of smaller companies comes with challenges due to their scale. Larger corporations have a significantly higher production volume, which naturally results in more offcuts. Therefore, the logistics of sorting, collecting, and redistributing these materials can quickly become a logistics puzzle. This is where AI could provide scalable solutions. AI-powered sorting systems can categorise and track offcuts based on material, quality, and reusability. Due to AI’s effective tracking of these offcuts, efficient repurposing can be carried out. These systems can analyse the most viable options for reuse and ensure that materials are redirected to industries where they are needed most. Tech expert Tomi Agbaje explains that “AI can track everything from raw materials to

carbon emissions, and with blockchain, it’s easy to verify the entire journey of a product.” This capability allows brands to monitor the full lifecycle of materials and improve transparency by ensuring that offcuts are efficiently reused rather than discarded.

Innovative Materials

Small brands are showing significant innovation through advanced materials but accessing these materials can be challenging for example, Alexanders notes that, “The cost side does have a bit of an implication. I can remember when I first saw some bra cups made from coffee beans...but the minimum order quantity I had to buy was in the thousands.” Although these small brands take the time to research these alternative materials, they come with complications, as buying large quantities without the high demand defeats the sustainability behind it as more waste will be produced. However, big brands can utilise these materials because they have the demand. These types of developments being adopted on a wider scale could lead to a big change. However, it is important for big brands to ethically engage with smaller brands and give them credit for their innovations to avoid exploitation.

Supply Chains and Blockchain

While there is huge potential for collaboration between small and large bands, there are some barriers. One major barrier being the disconnect between big brands and their supply chains. Alexander notes, “When you get to big businesses, they have no idea who is behind their first tier of suppliers.” This lack of understanding of the practices being carried out within their supply chain enables unethical practices to flourish. This further diminishes consumer trust as well as amplifies exploitation and harmful impacts on the environment.

Contrastingly, Small brands often can have a more direct understanding of their supply chain because they can work closely with suppliers. This enables them to ensure their whole process is ethical and sustainable. Therefore, for larger brands, replicating these sustainable practices comes with hurdles, as supply chains are complex and opaque.

Blockchain offers a huge opportunity for big companies to start having control over their supply chain. Agbaje states, “Blockchain will be huge for transparency. Consumers want to know the story behind their clothes—where they’re made, how, and with what materials. Blockchain can verify all of that, making the entire supply chain more accountable and visible.” By integrating blockchain into their operations, big brands can bridge the gap between their large-scale production and the innovative, sustainable methods used by smaller players.

In addition to AI and blockchain, 3D printing and 3D fitting are two more technologies that

larger brands can harness to scale sustainability. Capri Swimwear are already using 3D fitting tominimise sampling waste. The adoption of this translates into not only higher efficiency but also the guarantee of better-fitting products produced with fewer materials. “We can sample something, make a few tweaks and go to production instead of seeing two to three samples”,Alexander explains. 3D printing, with its annual 32% growth rate in the fashion industry, as stated by Statista, enables brands to produce items on demand rather than overproducing, which could significantly reduce waste.

Looking Ahead

The fashion industry stands on the cusp of potentially pivotal change. The combination of

smaller brand's innovation and emerging technologies such as AI, 3D printing, fitting and

blockchain all allow for big brands to carry out sustainability on a bigger scale. However, as Jade McSorley highlights, it’s crucial to evaluate these advancements holistically: “Not only how sustainable we are about approaching design or businesses, but also what impact that may have on different communities, people, and nature. Often, we exist in a bubble, solving one problem but creating another elsewhere.” Balancing these complexities is essential for a just and sustainable future. So the question now is- will the fashion industry leverage its collective power to scale sustainability globally, or will it let these challenges become missed opportunities?