This is part one of our conversation with Matthijs Crietee, Secretary General of the International Apparel Federation (IAF).
If you tuned into episodes 29 and 30 with Miran Ali, spokesperson for the STAR Network, you’ll know that the STAR Network recently joined forces with the International Apparel Federation (IAF) to call for better purchasing practices (with the support of the GIZ FABRIC team). At the time, Miran shared quite a bit about how suppliers came together to call for better purchasing practices and described the collaboration process. But we’ve been wondering… where is the initiative at now?
Matthijs is here to give us some insight. He starts off with some context: what is the IAF? And how did he end up in this industry? Have suppliers come to an understanding about which purchasing practices are most important to them? And what’s next? What’s commercial compliance and how does Matthijs envision that these standards might be implemented?
Want to dig deeper ?
Our episodes this week are thanks to our collaboration with the GIZ FABRIC. The FABRIC project is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and supports the Asian textile industry in its transformation towards fair production for people and the environment.
Matthiijs moderated the ninth edition of GIZ FABRIC’s online seminar series called “Getting Through the Crisis Together: Asian Dialogues on Sustainability in the Textile and Garment Industry.”
Find out more about the purchasing practices initiative.
Farce majeure: How global apparel brands are using the COVID-19 pandemic to stiff suppliers and abandon workers
Photo by Artem Beliaikin
