Dear Friends,
I hope that you and yours are healthy and well. My heart goes out to all who are suffering from the effects of this pandemic. There is no playbook for the realities we are all facing. Over the past few weeks, we’ve all had to deal with abrupt changes that have sent shockwaves across the globe, disrupting every part of our lives. In chaotic times like these, it becomes harder to stand together, when we are all just trying to survive. The Sustainable Apparel Coalition is here to support our members and the industry and we stand together to ensure that we emerge from this crisis and thrive as a more deeply connected community.
I have been having direct conversations with many of our members, stakeholders, and other multi-stakeholder initiatives as we seek to both understand the range of current challenges and come up with solutions that can be scaled to support all partners across the value chain. Based on our conversations, I know many of you are having to make devastating decisions across your business to ensure your survival. These decisions have a massive ripple effect through your teams, your companies, your partners, and our industry. They affect colleagues, their families, and our communities and will reshape the industry as we know it. For those who are the most vulnerable, it could mean life or death. Now is the moment we need to stand behind the values of equal partnership we have promoted for so long and show the world that they were always more than just words — they are also actions.
We are all moving quickly and reacting to changing dynamics. If we make decisions now that put our partnerships, our values, and our colleagues at risk, I’m concerned we won’t be positioned to continue to make progress towards our vision of a more sustainable and equitable industry when we emerge from this crisis. The road up to this point hasn’t been easy, but we’ve gotten this far together and have much to be proud of.
Leaders need to pause and consider that the actions we take today can drastically impact our road ahead. Many of our members have exhibited the kind of leadership that is needed in times like this. Without this leadership and decisive action from all of us, the future we have envisioned will continue to slip away.
If we are to not only survive but thrive in a post-crisis world, we need to come together with greater intention, increased collaboration, and more focused commitment to action than we have ever seen before. We need to stand in support of each other, of our purpose, and of the better world we have been working so hard to create over the past decade.
I believe our best days are ahead of us. I believe in the people who have built this community and the work we have accomplished together. I know we can achieve more when we collaborate than when we charge ahead alone — the work we have accomplished as a Coalition is proof.
By all accounts, this crisis is far from over. Now is the time to come together and lay an even stronger foundation for the future we hope to create.
Warm Regards,
Amina
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