The Sustainable Apparel Coalition kicked off their Facility Tools Summit in June that featured leading voices in the industry and discussed the Higg Facility Tool and how it can improve performance for facilities in your value chain. But how does it work, and who's using this tool in their facility?

In March of 2020, 66 factory fires were reported throughout the global fashion supply chain, meaning more than two fires per day were reported across the globe; India having 20 fires that month alone (Source: GoBlue). ​All around the world garment factories and workers have fallen victim to factory fires. These fires are typically started by old machinery and chemicals used during production. Although every case is different the trauma and lives lost are equally as upsetting. Even today these garment factory fires are still happening. Here's what we can learn from the garment factory fires that occurred in the last year.

It's that time of year again, and summer trade shows are soon to be in full swing! Trade shows are here to support you in your sourcing needs and help you navigate the upcoming seasons trends to build your brand. They are a fantastic way of finding place to source factory and material options. Here's what you can expect this summer:

Going through the production process can seem a little overwhelming and with so much to be accounted for, things often get lost along the way, fall through the cracks and create missed opportunities. Here are 5 mistakes brands often make during production, and how they can be avoided.

Made in Asia still holds a long established stigma of sweatshops and child labor from exposés in the 80s and 90s. The simplified solution presented over the years has been Made in America, Made in UK, or Made in Italy is the only safe way to produce ethically made clothing. But are factory standards as simple as an address? The answer is NO. With sweatshop factory conditions and illegal pay violations found continually in America and throughout Europe, we need to start recognizing that garment factory standards go deeper than location. ​

Taking on new brands is a lot of work for a factory because it is labor intensive. Product development alone can take months and yields very low profit margin. Garment factories working with emerging brands can spend a lot of time setting up this new working relationship hoping your brand will become successful and grow with them, but that is not always the case.  In fact, most new brands reach out with a gmail account, no tech pack, and no idea what production costs or how long it takes. This is why many garment factories are reluctant to work with emerging brands. Here's how to get the attention of any new factory. ​

PLM Systems are ​Product Lifecycle Management systems but are more fondly thought of as Pitiful Lifecycle Management because they are clunky, expensive, outdated, and not synced to all your suppliers! Who has time for that? So when we began building our factory database we thought...this could be better. So we built it in! No brand or factory should have to struggle with communication or production updates. That’s why we’re upgrading and making things easier for you. Check out how your production management can get an upgrade now.

Deadstock fabric became a popular sustainable fashion resource a few years back as Reformation grew in popularity and educated the masses on the opportunity of using leftover fabric for sourcing. In fact, your desk is probably situation right against bins of old rolls of fabric, cute if it weren't for all the fluorescent lighting. Deadstock fabric often comes from large fabric minimum orders from mills and not as much product made that season. The good news is, since it wasn't made into clothing it is primed for new life now. However, many brands struggle to find ways to use it since it's often deadstock fabric is too small a quantity to turn into a new product you can sell many units of, hence why it's leftover. Here are some creative ways fashion brands can use deadstock fabric no matter how small the yardage.