Decarbonising the fashion and luxury supply chain is a shared challenge that requires collective actions. In Europe—and particularly in Italy, where many luxury brands concentrate their production—the supply chain is built on a vast network of small and medium-sized enterprises. These suppliers often lack the resources, technical support, and access to financing needed to make the transition to low-carbon operations. At the same time, many work with multiple brands, leading to duplication, inefficiencies, and a growing reporting burden.

This Initiative brings brands together around a common goal: to overcome these systemic barriers through collective action. Adopting the template questionnaire enabling each brand to individually collect environmental data could help reduce pressure on suppliers, and drive meaningful progress toward a decarbonised, resilient European supply chain.

The Italian Case

The Italian supply chain’s fragmented landscape, made up of many small and medium sized enterprises, makes decarbonization a significant challenge. At the same time, brands and their suppliers must take action if they are to meet EU’s incoming regulations.

An estimated €4.4bn is needed by 2030 if the European fashion sector is to  meet its decarbonization targets. Yet economic pressures are making the necessary level of investment unaffordable for around 58% of suppliers in Italy. In addition, obtaining accurate data on suppliers’ environmental practices has been challenging.

Spearheaded by The Fashion Pact, the European Accelerator brings together leading fashion groups and houses including: CHANEL, Kering, Moncler Group, Prada Group, and Zegna Group, drawing on perspectives from sector organisations such as Confindustria Moda and Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, to drive forward collective action aimed at lowering emissions, boosting efficiency and building long-term resilience in fashion supply chains.

Beginning in Italy, the Accelerator is structured around three interconnected workstreams that aim to accelerate supply chain decarbonization.

Firstly, the Accelerator is working to engage the luxury fashion industry around an optional and non-exhaustive questionnaire for suppliers on relevant environmental data, aiming to strengthen the quality and consistency of environmental metrics while easing the administrative burden of reporting on suppliers.

The Accelerator will then aim to increase capacity-building efforts among suppliers, and to identify opportunities for efficiency improvements and renewable energy uptake.

Recognising that finance remains one of the most significant hurdles to progress, the Accelerator will also work to open pathways for suppliers to access the investment needed to adopt cleaner technologies and drive long-term transformation.