Data-driven sustainability and organizational readiness for sustainable transformation are two major trends predicted to drive change in 2023, according to the Institute of Management Development.
Some fashion brands are proactively leaning into this movement.
TrusTrace, a global software as a service (SaaS) company with a platform for product traceability and supply chain transparency in fashion and retail, announced that Renfro Brands has selected the TrusTrace platform to support its traceability efforts.
TrusTrace will support the legacy designer and sock and legwear manufacturer’s sustainability and community impact goals and as well as its clients including Polo Ralph Lauren and Sperry, by providing standardized supply chain mapping and digitized, easily shareable material tracing data.
“Renfro Brands is committed to making a positive impact on the world and sees supply chain traceability as an important factor in achieving their goals,” TrusTrace CEO and co-founder Shameek Ghosh said. “Using the TrusTrace platform, Renfro Brands will be able to centralize its current supply chain data for continued compliance with laws such as the UFLPA, as well as measure and document progress towards its sustainability goals.”
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Renfro Brands has a longstanding commitment to both sustainability and community impact, brought to action through its Project Footprint program, which launched in December 2021 in conjunction with the celebration of its 100-year anniversary as a public recognition of its ethos, “a life well-lived, is lived in socks,” which keeps the company accountable for fostering better employment opportunities for more people, continuing to give back to the communities where Renfro works and lives and making every effort to preserve a healthy planet for a better future.
To date, 100 percent of Renfro’s suppliers—the company declined to state how many it has—have achieved at least one sustainable certification, including Oeko-Tex, GRS and ISO. Renfro said it aims to use sustainable yarns and materials in 100 percent of the products it produces by 2030. Currently, 30 percent of its packaging components are recyclable or reusable, with the goal of reaching 100 percent by 2030.
“The TrusTrace platform is a pivotal tool that will help people globally achieve a life well-lived, by protecting our planet now and for future generations,” Jonah Buelin, SVP supply chain of Renfro Brands, said. “Achieving our sustainability goals is a top priority for us at Renfro Brands. TrusTrace will standardize how our supply chain mapping and material tracing data is captured, digitized and shared.”
The partnership comes at an essential time as new regulations are put in place to enforce greater accountability and transparency.
“As a company that is committed to helping people globally achieve a life well lived by protecting our planet, the partnership with TrusTrace is a timely and collaborative decision made to help move Renfro Brands closer to achieving this goal. The criteria for material traceability within CBP’s requirements regarding the UFLPA created a level of complexity in capabilities that TrustTrace enables us to address more effectively,” Buelin said.
“Further, TrusTrace is a pivotal and complementary tool that is the newest building block addition to Renfro’s Compliance Program and our already established processes,” Buelin continued. “Coupled with our in-country compliance staff, strong partnerships with third party technical service firms, and a supply partner base committed to our ESG/CSR Goals, TrusTrace positions Renfro Brands well to continue to responsibly produce and source products that comply with all applicable regulations.”
TrusTrace provides 40-plus global fashion and retail brands, such as Adidas, with verified data in real-time as materials and finished goods move quickly through the supply chain. Through an open architecture, the Stockholm-based company’s program integrates with retailer, manufacturer and supplier systems, as well as other third-parties such as certification agencies, lifecycle datasets and other sustainability solution providers.
Founded in 2016, TrusTrace offers a platform for supply chain traceability at scale with fashion and retail, which has quickly become the foundation for sustainability programs such as that of Swedish sportswear brand Houdini. It is built on artificial intelligence, blockchain, software bots and internet of things (IoT) technologies in an open architecture.