Our Model | Fashion Producer Collective

Here are some examples of activities producers have proposed that we’re currently working on kickstarting. Whether you’re a producer interested in potentially opting in, or generally see value in these activities and want to support them, we’d love to talk.

AN APPAREL SUPPLIER'S GUIDE TO PRIORITIZING BANG-FOR-BUCK CLIMATE INVESTMENTS

A practical guide made by and for producers to figure out which climate investments make the most sense for your factory. It helps you calculate which proven interventions have best ROI, biggest impact, what fits your context, and how to explain those choices to others.

PRODUCER-LED GUIDELINES FOR BRANDS: HOW TO OPERATIONALIZE DUE DILIGENCE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CSDDD & BEYOND

Producers come together to write the playbook on how brands should operationalize due diligence requirements.

LEGISLATION COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE

A peer group for suppliers to connect, share challenges, and learn from each other on how to navigate legislation. Compliance should not fall on one team alone. Real change happens when the whole company is involved - but how can sustainability managers within factories achieve this?

What We Do

We are a producer-led sustainability think tank that enables manufacturers to think together, act together, speak together, and create change together when they have a shared interest in doing so, and without compromising hard-earned business relationships.

Practically, that means we don’t publish official positions or represent our members. Our job is to listen and to support our members to come together on the things where they have a shared interest in doing so. For example, if just five manufacturers want to come together and work on a project, they can. If they want to be publicly affiliated with that work, they can. But if they prefer to be anonymous, that’s okay too. We do not set the agenda. Our role is to make it easier for producers to lead the work they want to do, with the people they trust.

How It Works

Manufacturers decide what we do. Participation is always opt-in.

When a member (our members are producers) has an idea, we shape it into something other members can support. If enough producers opt-in, meaning they are willing to give time and/or money to the activity, we move forward. If not, we wait. Every activity has a life cycle. Everything is transparent. No one is expected to join if it does not serve their priorities.

We categorize the things our members might want to do in four ways:

Producer-led collaborations that result in a specific output. This might be a guide, a white paper, a tool, or a shared position or beyond.
Time-bound groups of manufacturers formed around specific issues, aiming to engage non-manufacturers — such as multistakeholder initiatives in the sector, brands, policymakers, and others — with a unified, collective voice.
Time-bound peer groups for producers focused on a single topic. Built for learning, application, and shared support.
Small, curated groups of producers that meet regularly to explore questions, build trust, and imagine what sustainability could become. These are spaces for people who want more than to make the current system a little better. They are here to help shape and articulate what comes next.

How we work with non-producers

If you are a brand, policymaker, funder, or organization working in sustainability, you are welcome here too.

We work with non-producers in four key ways:

First

You can support producer-led work. When our members initiate an activity that others see value in, participating manufacturers may invite external stakeholders to contribute time, expertise, or funding. If you're open to supporting this kind of work, the best way to show that is by signing up for our newsletter. That’s where we share opportunities to engage, contribute, and stay connected to what producers are building together.

Second

We support organizations that want to improve how they engage with producers. For example, if you're a brand seeking to ground your sustainability strategy in real production insight, or an MSI working to build more effective relationships with producers, we can help.

Third

Through our Hubs, we support manufacturers already working with external entities to align and speak with a single, collective voice on shared issues. If your organization engages manufacturers and wants to explore creating a Hub, we’d love to connect.

Finally

The best thing you can do is engage with the thought leadership content we’re creating.

Current Producer-Led Activities