Supplier Meet-Ups are private, off-the-record conversations open only to suppliers, held once per month. They are an initiative of the Fashion Producer Collective, supported by the Asia Garment Hub. 

February’s meet-up was an extension of January’s conversation about traceability (read a summary of January’s chat here). Participants were looking to understand which platforms and methods their peers are using to meet increasingly stringent traceability requirements. Which platforms are other people using? Who is paying for it? Is it brands? Is it manufacturers? Is it specific to cotton or also other fibers?  Who owns the data? How much does it cost (both the platform itself and internal staffing requirements)? 

We discussed the need to more systematically exchange notes on these questions. Could it be worth trying to crowdsource this information through an open document? No firm decisions or plans were made – people seemed to be feeling a bit overextended – so an open question to the sector: do you think this would be useful? Has anyone already done it? 

As in January, we also spent quite a bit of time talking about data equity, which participants seemed to perceive as the root cause of traceability woes. Indeed, there seemed to be consensus that suppliers owning the data they pay to generate (and having some control over how it's used and their privacy) is an area that would benefit from a joint position statement. 

We brainstormed a bit about what a position statement might look like and how it would work. We also exchanged notes with an external organization considering putting forward a position on data equity. Was this something the two entities could work together on? Again, no firm decisions were made, and discussions remain underway. Another open question to the sector: do you think this would be useful? Are there models we could/should look at?

Are you interested in taking any of the ideas we’ve discussed forward? In a nutshell, the Collective is a group of self-organized, producer-led, projects worth more than the sum of its parts. Anyone can pitch a project to the Collective - whether you are a producer or not. More information here. 

In order for a project to get the greenlight, two conditions must be met. First, it must be a meaningful opportunity to amplify producers’ voices.  Second, a minimum of three producers want to engage, are willing to give the time and resources and see value in the collaboration.  Before formally launching, the project must also secure requisite funding. To pitch a project, contact constantia.chirnside@giz.de.

Next month’s supplier meet-up will revert to our standard format: One supplier shares a specific challenge they’re facing and the group talks through different strategies for tackling it together. More often than not, the challenges raised during these sessions are shared, and, occasionally, they catalyze more formal collaborations.