Towards a sustainable supply chain: interviews with stakeholders

One of the many ways to describe fashion is the one that defines it as the action and interaction of people in the process of making. In actions and interactions relies on the essence and the engine of the entire fashion industry, that is based on a “collective creativity” shared between designers and all the actors along the production chain. The process of making can be positively considered as a great expression of human creativity and artisanal expertise, but it is also the reason why the fashion industry has become responsible of big wastage and unsustainable practices. In the attempt of solving this paradox, the concepts of transparency, environmental, and social responsibility are becoming requirements in the time being. If design, in its broadest meaning, consists in the understanding of the existing situation and the creation of new ones (Simon, 1988; Simonsen et al., 2014), it comes that today, being a fashion designer cannot be separated from the ongoing spreading and the rising need for sustainability. The process of understanding the existing is supported by numbers, data, audits, and analyses but cannot stand without the knowledge of people that comes from the experience on the supply chain. This knowledge opens up perspectives for designers, highlighting the mutual impact that design decisions have on the supply chain and that the actions of each one of the stakeholders along it have on the work of designers. Farmers, raw material processors, artisans, garment makers, manufacturers, retailers, and they all have the chance to contribute with their work for a better and sustainable future. They are not just suppliers but resources to learn from: the interviews in this chapter shed light on the commitment that the whole supply chain belonging to the Italian fashion system is undertaking and report the multiple voices of privileged witnesses belonging to a variety of people and professionals that fashion designers encounter along their way