4.3 Opening the Conversation with Suppliers

For most fashion brands, a large share of the information needed to understand a product sits outside the company. The brand knows what it designed; the supplier knows what actually went into it. This makes suppliers a critical part of DPP readiness. However, collecting information from suppliers is rarely as simple as sending an email saying: 'Please send us your DPP data.' Suppliers often have their own tiers of suppliers: a garment factory may know its fabric source but not where the fibre originated, and a fabric mill may know the yarn composition but not every chemical used further upstream. Suppliers may also use different systems, terminology and formats from the brand. The objective is therefore to begin the conversation early and systematically.

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