Thread count: implementing blockchain for better fashion supply chain transparency

Heim, Hilde ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2533-5953 (2025) Thread count: implementing blockchain for better fashion supply chain transparency. In: Blockchain for good: the transformative impacts on industry, community and the planet. CRC Press. (In Press)

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Abstract

The provision of more accurate and verifiable supply chain transparency (SCT) is pressing given the untenable practices in the fashion industry that are ‘contributing directly and significantly to the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, pollution and waste’ (Arthur, 2023). The UN reports that in 2022—7 years away from the targets set—the industry was not on track to meet climate action goals (Geldard and Ellerbeck, 2023). This points to the urgency, and indeed acceleration required to meet objectives – an aspiration that can only be achieved through technological intervention (Cole et al., 2019). Technology provides efficiencies beyond the ‘DIY’ data entry capabilities of spreadsheets, product lifecycle management (PLM) systems and/or self-declaration on in-house websites. Thousands, if not millions, of data points require handling to achieve comprehensive SCT (Bain, 2024). According to Amed et al. (2019), 75% of retailers plan to invest in technology in the future, and 85% of corporations are already experimenting with technology (Chui et al., 2023; PwC, 2018). Yet, advanced information communication technology such as blockchain has seen lukewarm reception in the fashion industry. Gartner (2019) explains this as a ‘normal’ phenomenon in the ‘hype cycle’ of technology adoption. Even so, all firms—even micro firms—are already held accountable in some way, required to report and verify their business information for compliance (e.g., for income tax reporting obligations). Sustainability reporting is and will be regulated in the near future. Regardless of state level legislation, compliance will be mandated through cross-border flows and therefore affect businesses world-wide (UN/CEFACT, 2021). Beyond the already drafted, tabled and enacted laws of the mid 2020s, more stringent rules will continue to be introduced if climate targets are to be reached—possibly including added taxes on virgin fibre or fossil fuel use (EllenMcArthurFoundation, n.d.; Bounds and Hancock, 2023). These factors combined, point to the need for a system that has global coordination capabilities, and that can help address the ‘hard problems’ with which the world is presently confronted, including the disclosure of reliable, science-based measurement data and exposure that holds supply chain stakeholders accountable for their sourcing, production and end-of-life processes.