Sustainable Fashion: Corporate Social Responsibility in Supply Chain Management

* Please note change of venue - new venue: Digital Scholarship Centre, 6th floor, Main library *

From sweatshops to microplastics pollution, the social and environmental impact of the fashion industry is significant and extends across the world via complex global supply chains. How does consumer demand for cheap garments and fast delivery impact upon the people working in the supply chain, and how do supply chain actors balance commercial imperatives against the need to look after human resources?

Using qualitative data gathered from interviews with supply chain actors in the UK and Sri Lanka, this talk uncovers the complex nature of managing social responsibility alongside the demands of low cost and responsiveness in global fashion supply chains.

Dr Patsy Perry is a Senior Lecturer in Fashion Marketing at The University of Manchester. Her research focuses on corporate social responsibility and sustainability in fashion supply chains, taking a qualitative approach to uncover the socially constructed realities of industry practice. She has appeared on TV, radio and in the press, following a widely shared article on fast fashion sustainability published in 2017.