How to Encourage a Paradigm Shift in the Fashion Industry
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the fashion industry in the EU: in 2022, micro-enterprises and SMEs accounted for as much as 99.8 percent of total European textile and apparel companies. SMEs are important not only in terms of the sheer number of companies, but also for their contribution to responsible innovation. The Small But Perfect consortium, funded by the European Union, was established in 2021 partly with the aim of promoting sustainable circular business models for small and medium-sized enterprises in the fashion industry, and partly to act as an accelerator for new companies in the sector. Bocconi University has taken part in the project in all its phases right from the beginning, with a working group coordinated by Francesca Romana Rinaldi of the Department of Management and Technology and Lecturer at SDA Bocconi. Nine other partners including universities, industry associations and other stakeholders are part of the consortium.
The idea behind the consortium is that a systemic change within the fashion industry toward circular and sustainable models can only happen through collaboration, education and innovation within the SME ecosystem. Last 25 May, Small But Perfect, which has now reached its final stages, was officially presented at Bocconi by Prof. Rinaldi together with Emanuela Prandelli, Francesco Perrini and the other members of the consortium. Specifically, Bocconi's task was to carry out the field surveys through 3 stakeholder workshops and 6 focus groups, which were followed by interviews and questionnaires investigating the needs of sustainable and circular fashion SMEs.
The information collected proved useful on one hand to map the needs and the tools which were then grouped into 8 categories, and on the other hand to "accelerate" 27 European companies using these very tools. The mentoring stage of these companies was also carried out by Bocconi.
The analysis of the 8 groups of needs and tools had been presented in April to the European Parliament, with the aim of also involving in the project those who will have to engineer the policies and regulations that support this model. Finally, a number of "toolkits" were developed, then made openly accessible on the web, to help focus on the most critical points in the transition to a sustainable circular model. Dissemination activities have also begun, with the help of a few partners, which will involve more than 180 SMEs and startups and can thus make the impact of the consortium's results even more substantial.
As Francesca Romana Rinaldi explained, "We were able to map the landscape of policies that influence sustainable and circular fashion SMEs, ensuring lasting impact across the fashion industry from start to finish. The project has developed a network of stakeholders throughout the industry who exchange knowledge, lessons learned, and best practices to bring about broader systemic change in the fashion SME sector."