Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the challenges related to measuring sustainability within the textile industry. The study concentrates on the industry-specific self-assessment tool Higg Index and strives to point out the challenges of using the tool. In order to find a solution for the measurement problems, the purpose is to investigate how the current, non-financial Higg Index indicators could be translated into financial ones. Method The nature of the research is qualitative and it comprises of two parts: structured interviews and a desk research. Methodological triangulation is used in order to gain data on different levels – both from the users of the Higg Index and from literature. The data collection has been conducted through four structured interviews with the users of the Higg Index. The second part of the thesis is concerned with converting the non-financial indicators of the Higg Index into financial indicators using the balanced scorecard approach. Conclusion Measuring sustainability has been considered difficult due to the qualitative nature of the measured matters. Higg Index has proven to be a comprehensive self-assessment tool for organizations in the textile industry to use. It is considered to enhance communication, increase information sharing, and facilitate benchmarking. However, in order to develop the tool and make it more attractive to non-users, there are opportunities for improvement. These opportunities include adding verification and making the data collection easier. Transforming non-financial indicators of the Higg Index into financial indicators can simplify the data collection and increase the attractiveness of sustainability performance measurement tools.

The fashion industry is a recurring topic in the media, especially regarding the responsibility the fashion companies should take, which has created skepticism from stakeholders. This skepticism is based on that the stakeholders do not know what the companies do concerning corporate social responsibility and the companies communicate CSR with the hope of creating legitimacy on the market. How apparel and footwear communicate their CSR efforts and their performances in self-assessed tools compared to their actual efforts have not been researched before, hence the purpose of this thesis. The purpose of this research is to map and analyze how apparel and footwear companies communicate CSR efforts in comparison to their claimed CSR performance. This in order to reach a better understanding of how apparel and footwear companies communicate their CSR efforts how consistent they are with their self-assessed performance they communicate to their stakeholders. Content analyses have been conducted on the sample, which contained 59 companies in the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC). First, the content analysis has been performed on communication channels used by the sample when communicating CSR and the claimed CSR performances been collected from the Higg Index. The sustainability efforts in comparison to the performances have been analyzed based on a discourse analysis on five of the chattiest companies in SAC, which was performed after the content analysis in order to create a mixed method approach. This study has presented how frequently apparel and footwear companies communicate their CSR efforts and performances. It has also shown what channels primarily used when communicating CSR and how they choose to prioritize their performances. Additionally, the result and analysis in this study have shown that the most talkative companies in SAC, namely H&M, Inditex, Patagonia, PVH and Salomon, communicate quality in their available sustainability information. The way they all incorporate CSR in their business model is also a way of showing dedication and perhaps even quality in their sustainability efforts and claimed performances.

The background of this project is the need of a better understanding of what sustainable development is and what tools can be used in the fashion supply chain to decrease its ecological footprint. For that purpose the researchers have endeavored to create a new learning board game for fashion industry students that could teach them the basic principles of sustainability and Higg Index. The developed Higg Index Board Game is part of the collaborative work of Swedish School of Textiles and Sustainable Apparel Coalition. The study about the teaching effect of the new game was carried out with a quasi-experimental design and comprised two workshops with the master students from the Swedish School of Textiles as participants. The first workshop was conducted to analyze the principles and environment of the Lean Game that served as a basis for the new game. After that the researchers elaborated the structure and rules for the new game with help of the game-theory and conducted a trial testing of the game to exclude possible basic errors. The Higg Index modules were integrated in the structure of the game in the form of facilities and product-choices that could affect the economy of the game. The second workshop was devoted to playing the new Higg Index Game and evaluating its sustainability teaching effect. The participants were tested with pre- and post-test questionnaires and also observed by the researchers under their discussions during the game. The tests analysis showed that the Higg Index Game teaches lean philosophy, fashion supply chain’s entity and hot spots, and to some extent sustainability and the Higg Index’ function. After playing the game the participants increased their knowledge about sustainability by 10,1%. The researchers concluded that the game can become a teaching module in the sustainability education programs for fashion and textile students and other stakeholders - academics, managers, consultants etc., but needs some further development. Thus, in this study the Higg Index Game is presented as a prototype for future improvements. / Program: Textilt management, styrning av textila värdekedjor

In the last decades sustainability has become a major topic in society. The population isgrowing, which has increased production and has resulted in a negative impact on the environment. The fashion industry has become a big contributor to the negative impact on the environment through fast fashion. Although consumers continue buying low price garmentson a weekly basis, more and more consumers are becoming more aware of sustainability. As aresult, sustainable labels have entered the industry with a controversy confusing consumers with the different labels available in all industries. It has also created doubt in the reliability of the labels expressed by consumers. Using sustainable labeling is a way of spreading information and awareness about sustainability and to understand how consumers prefer to receive information, and how this affects their purchasing behavior. This has lead to the purpose of the study, which is to explore Generation Y’s attitudes towards sustainability and sustainable labels within the fashion industry. The research was a qualitative study with an exploratory approach. The research used two focus groups from generation Y to collect empirical data about consumers’ attitudes towards fashion sustainability. The sample was purposively chosen with generation Y being the most consumption-oriented generation of all time, and more socially and environmentally aware which was preferred in this study. Conclusions that could be drawn from the study were that the participants knew about sustainable labels and could name several labels, although only in general and not in regards to apparel. The participants were also critical towards sustainability within the fashion industry due to overproduction and environmentally unfriendly materials that the industry uses, making consumer question the fashion industry’s real intentions. There is an interest insustainable clothing but it is perceived as too expensive and unavailable, where one must actively seek for sustainable products. A preferred way to receive sustainable information through labeling was to use a comprehensive regulatory requirement schemes, similar to the one the appliance industry uses.

The purpose of the study is to analyze the role of tech-pack for the development of a sustainable supply chain management. The purpose is addressed by analyzing if tech-pack contains standard sustainable requirements and acts as an enabling factor to integrate sustainability in current textile and fashion supply chain. The nature of the research is qualitative and case study has been conducted to collect data through telephonic interviews. A Textile apparel buying agency from Pakistan was selected as a case study and data has been collected from company employees and managers from knitwear apparel manufacturers (suppliers) to ensure the relevance and validity of the research. The results and the data analysis have been presented in various dimensions to understand the current practices in the textile supply chain management and future recommendations for designers, product developers and managers from the supply chain management. Findings show that in the current practices of supply chain management, tech-pack is not communicating the sustainable requirements efficiently and there is a need to standardize the sustainable requisites for product development. For progression in sustainable supply chain management, designers and product developers are required to adopt the Higg index as a standard source of information to standardize the sustainable requirement for each stage of the supply chain.

Kraven på företag idag att ställa om till en hållbar verksamhet är höga vilket innebär att de måste se till alla stegen i produktionen, från fiber till färdig produkt. Denna hållbarhetsomställning är ett producentansvar som bland annat har som högsta prioritet att minska utsläppen av växthusgaser som uppstår vid tillverkning av textilier. Den växthusgas som har störst negativ påverkan är koldioxid, vilket den textila industrin bidrar rejält med, och det är därför av stor vikt att hitta substitut för många redan befintliga material som har lägre koldioxidavtryck. Arbetet innefattar en del av en livscykelanalys med beräkningar på produktionen och transporten av en textil produkt från ett svenskt outdoorföretag för att se mängden koldioxidutsläpp den avger samt vilka förändringar som kan och måste göras för att minska dessa. Studien är empirisk och kvantitativ med enkätundersökning som metod för datainsamling. Bearbetning och analys av kvantitativ data kommer att användas under arbetets gång med komplettering av kvalitativa intervjuer. Datainsamlingen sammanställs i verktyget Higg Index som omvandlar siffrorna och faktan till koldioxidekvivalenter. Resultatet visar att störst utsläpp av växthusgasen koldioxid sker under materialtillverkningen följt av transporten. Med bland annat hjälp av ett antal begränsningsstrategier inom material och tillverkningsfasen, renare energianvändning och effektivitetsförbättringar samt kortare transportsträckor kan utsläppen av koldioxid minskas. / The requirements for companies today to switch to a sustainable business are high, which means that they must ensure all stages of production, from fiber to finished product. This sustainability adjustment is a producer responsibility which, among other things, has the highest priority to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that occur during the manufacture of textiles. The greenhouse gas that has the greatest negative impact is carbon dioxide, which the textile industry contributes enormously to, and it is therefore of great importance to find substitutes for many already existing materials that have lower carbon footprints. The work includes part of a life cycle analysis with calculations of the production and transport of a textile product from a Swedish outdoor company to see the amount of carbon dioxide emissions it emits and what changes can and must be made to reduce these. The study is empirical and quantitative with a questionnaire survey as a method for data collection. Processing and analysis of quantitative data will be used during the work with the supplementation of qualitative interviews. The data collection is compiled in the tool Higg Index, which converts the figures and facts into carbon dioxide equivalents. The results show that the largest emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide occur during material production, followed by transport. With the help of a number of limitation strategies in the materials and manufacturing phase, cleaner energy use and efficiency improvements as well as shorter transport distances, carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced.

Background: The increased attention to the subject of sustainable development within the fashion industry is frequently explained by how the fashion industry has become global, connecting brands, producers, manufacturers, businesses, and consumers across the entire globe. This has further led to the need for new constellations of global multi stakeholder collaborations. In 2009, a rather remarkable collaboration was announced; Patagonia and Walmart are pairing up to fight for a sustainable apparel, footwear, and textile industry. The collaboration is called The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and is today representing nearly half of the entire volume of global production for apparel and footwear. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to identify key decision points and actions in the development of SAC and the Higg Index. The aim is to understand how to create a foundation for sustainable development within the fashion, apparel and textile industry on a global scale. Methodology: The research has been conducted through an exploratory case study of qualitative character, focusing on the development process of SAC and the Higg Index. The data has been collected through in-depth interviews with participants having prior knowledge, insight, participation, and experience of the development process of SAC and the Higg Index. Further the data has been analyzed through an inductive thematic analysis. Result & Analysis: Several interesting themes arrived in the result. However, these were narrowed down to four key factors for the development process of SAC and the Higg Index; Industry collaboration through democratic organizational culture, Getting the right people on the bus, then teaching them how to drive it, Trustworthy standards, communication and transparency throughout the supply chain, and Striving for global sustainable development = good for business. Research Limitations & Suggestions for Future Research: Due to the exploratory character of the study, conclusions have been drawn with caution and has rather aimed to focus on the contribution of new insights, a deeper understanding and increased knowledge of the development of SAC and the Higg Index. The main suggestion for future research is to conduct a study which includes the perspective of the manufacturers and workers within the supply chain. This type of study could assist with gaining further insights of obstacles and potential solutions for how to globally adopt the Higg Index within all levels of the supply chain in the most successful way.