Sourcing news and archive

Gerry Weber partners with PDS subsidiary Techno Design for sourcing

German fashion and lifestyle brand Gerry Weber International AG has entered into an exclusive strategic global sourcing partnership with Dusseldorf-based Techno Design GmbH, a subsidiary of global fashion infrastructure company PDS. As part of the partnership, Techno Design will take over the existing sourcing operations of Gerry Weber from 1st...

BusinessFeatured

Rana Plaza - ten years later

How many times have we rolled our eyes when there was an emergency drill, maybe at school, work or college? Happening at the most inopportune times (just like a real emergency) - we may get up grudgingly, follow a dedicated co-worker or fellow student to an emergency meeting point and from there to the nearest exit. Grumbling about the...

Business

Bestseller, C&A, H&M, Inditex, Otto Group and PVH Corp. commit to Pakistan Accord

As the member brands of the Pakistan Accord’s steering committee, Bestseller, C&A, H&M, Inditex, the Otto Group and PVH Corp. have affirmed their commitment to the workplace safety program. They will act in close collaboration with their Pakistani suppliers and other stakeholders in the coming weeks as they take steps towards the establishment...

Business |Interview Featured

ILO director on sourcing in Bangladesh: “Results speak for themselves”

Bangladesh has come a long way as a ready-made garment manufacturing country in recent years and is well on its way to displacing China as the world's largest exporter. Given the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013, which marked the low point of the country's garment industry, how did the country rise to its current top position in such a short...

Business |Interview Featured

GIZ coordinator: “Low labour costs alone will not guarantee Bangladesh's economic development”

What are the advantages of Bangladesh as a sourcing location, how has the situation changed since the Rana Plaza disaster and what does the future hold for the world’s second largest sourcing country? FashionUnited discussed these and other questions with Werner Lange, cluster coordinator at the German association for international development...

Business

German Supply Chain Law comes into force on 1st January 2023

The “Act on Corporate Due Diligence in Supply Chains” was passed by the German Bundestag in June 2021 and will come into force in a few short days - on 1st January 2023. It will initially cover large companies with 3,000 or more employees, and from 2024 also companies with 1,000 or more employees. What does this mean for companies? From Sunday,...

Business

Seidensticker invests in capacity planning

Producing clothes and getting quantities right is a tricky business that has been taking its toll on the environment for decades. Overproduction and full warehouses are common problems that the industry has to deal with, be it on manufacturer, brand or retailer side. Many of them thus downsize order quantities to avoid these issue but may then...

Business

Pakistan finally announces International Accord workplace safety program

After a decade-long push towards safer garment factory in Pakistan, the International Accord was finally announced on Wednesday, cheered on by 187 brand signatories, Pakistani unions and NGO witness signatories. The new agreement is modelled on the Bangladesh Accord, which was signed after the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse. “After years of...

Business

Kik commits to Pakistan Accord

In view of fires and industrial accidents in Pakistan's garment and textile factories, calls for a Pakistan Accord are growing louder. This would be an extension of the International Accord on Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry, which Pakistani garment trade unions have been calling for since 2018. It is based on the...

Business |BACKGROUND Featured

A visit to one of Bangladesh’s green garment factories

Once considered a cheap sourcing location with unsafe factories by some international buyers, Bangladesh has come a long way in just ten short years: After the deadly fire at Tazreen Fashions in 2012 and the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in 2013, Bangladesh sourcing seemed at an all-time low, its reputation tarnished as a manufacturing...

BusinessFeatured

Sustainability Leadership Award recognises 18 green factories in Bangladesh

Let’s imagine a land where garment workers had factories that provided a safe and pleasant working environment with greenery to spend their breaks in, additionally state-of-the-art machinery, free health care and child care, a fair price shop to do groceries, integrative policies for specially abled workers, empowerment training for female...

BusinessFeatured

Made in Bangladesh Week asserts Bangladesh’s position as reliable sourcing destination

The first ever Made in Bangladesh Week (MIBW), which concluded on Friday, managed to not only put Bangladesh on the map but also highlighted the many advantages this sourcing country provides. By doing so, the event turned the “Made in Bangladesh” label - originally connected with fast fashion and cheap labour - into a mark of quality and...