Fashion’s partnership obsession is getting a little too cozy
The industry can’t agree on anything except that they need to work together.
The story
Fashion industry experts discuss the challenges of forming effective partnerships to achieve sustainability goals, highlighting the need for collective action and shared infrastructure.
Source: wwd.com
Our reading
The fashion industry is so committed to partnerships that it’s now hosting a conference called “Exploring Partnership for Scale and Impact.” It’s like a group therapy session for brands that can’t agree on anything except that they need to work together.
The same people who say partnerships are essential are also the ones who keep creating new, more complicated frameworks for them. It’s like saying you need a team to win a game, then designing a new rulebook every time someone scores.
At the end of the day, everyone agrees they need to work together—but no one wants to be the one to actually do the work. That’s the real partnership problem: it’s not about collaboration, it’s about who gets to take credit when it finally happens.
