Fashion is one of the world’s most polluting industries. Every year, the sector generates around 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 and 10 % of the 100 billion items of clothing produced go straight into landfill. Fashion brands are also regularly implicated in cases of exploitative working conditions and modern slavery. A holistic approach is needed to re-structure a market dominated by large brands hard-wired to over-produce.

We like to think of TCBL as a machine that constantly tracks innovation and explores how new and sustainable processes and mindsets can be embedded into the fashion industry, At the heart of the TCBL mission is the desire to benefit all those involved, from the tailor to the researcher to the factory owner to the customer, An improvement in social and environmental impacts starts with the quality of the working environment and ends with a healthy and thriving community. We can’t separate social and economic benefits if we want to transform an industry – they have to work together.

Through the project, 49% of TCBL businesses acquired a positive attitude to risk taking and 37% tested new sustainable business models; savings from adopting TCBL strategies to reduce environmental footprint totalled over €500.000. The cost contribution analysis estimated a total value generated for TCBL Associates of over € 16 Million.

The TCBL network activities will be carried forward by the non-profit TCBL Association, currently in the final stages of constitution, together with the for-profit consultancy and service company CEDECS-TCBL.