Levi Strauss & Co. and Marks & Spencer (M&S) have launched the Fashion Renewable Collaborative (FRC), an industry initiative developed with Schneider Electric’s SE Advisory Services. Announced September 22 during New York Climate Week, the collaborative aims to help apparel manufacturers and textile suppliers navigate renewable electricity procurement through coordinated brand participation, technical guidance and implementation support.
The initiative targets an emissions-intensive part of the fashion industry. Research cited by the founding companies indicates that textile processing, including fabric production and dyeing, generates more than half of the apparel industry's emissions. Moving these operations toward renewable electricity could therefore contribute to supply chain decarbonization, provided manufacturers can overcome the financial and operational barriers involved.
The challenge is particularly significant for suppliers working with multiple international brands. Different customer sustainability requirements, limited procurement expertise and restricted access to financing can complicate renewable energy adoption. By establishing a shared support structure, the FRC intends to reduce some of those obstacles while creating opportunities for coordinated energy purchasing.
However, several critical details remain unresolved, including how renewable energy projects will be financed, which suppliers will participate first and how brands will measure emissions reductions achieved through shared manufacturing facilities.
The Fashion Renewable Collaborative is designed to address a recurring problem in industrial renewable energy procurement: individual manufacturers may lack the purchasing power, financial resources or technical capabilities to secure competitive renewable electricity agreements.
Coordinating demand across multiple suppliers could provide access to procurement arrangements that would otherwise be difficult to negotiate independently. For participating fashion brands, the approach could also reduce duplicated supplier engagement efforts and establish more consistent expectations across shared manufacturing networks.
Schneider Electric will serve as the collaborative's global implementation partner. Its Resource Advisor+ for Supply Chain platform will support supplier onboarding, readiness assessments and progress monitoring, while its advisory services will help manufacturers evaluate available electricity procurement strategies.
Depending on local energy markets and operational requirements, those strategies may include power purchase agreements (PPAs), energy attribute certificates (EACs), on-site renewable generation and energy storage.
The appropriate procurement structure will depend on individual manufacturers' electricity consumption, financial position and regulatory environment. While aggregating demand could improve purchasing opportunities, the FRC has not publicly specified whether suppliers will participate in collective agreements, negotiate individual contracts or use a combination of both.
That distinction has financial implications. Long-term electricity contracts can introduce price exposure and contractual obligations, while on-site renewable energy installations may require substantial upfront investment or third-party financing.
The collaborative builds on renewable energy programs already established by its founding brands.
M&S introduced its Re:Spark initiative in 2025, focusing on suppliers in Bangladesh, China, India, Turkey and Vietnam. The program includes opportunities to aggregate electricity demand through multi-buyer PPAs.
Levi Strauss launched its Energy Accelerator Program in India during the same year and subsequently reported participation from nearly 50 manufacturing facilities.
Together, the companies' existing initiatives have registered approximately 500 supplier facilities. Those relationships provide an established network for the new collaborative, although registration does not necessarily indicate that participating manufacturers have secured renewable electricity contracts or achieved emissions reductions.
The FRC has not yet publicly identified its initial geographic priorities, supplier selection criteria or expansion schedule.
The FRC's longer-term impact will depend partly on how participating brands and manufacturers distribute the costs of renewable energy procurement.
Although the initiative is inviting additional fashion brands to join as sponsors and members, its launch materials do not establish supplier participation fees, membership costs or specific financial commitments from founding companies. It also remains unclear whether brands will provide direct financial support, offer credit assistance or concentrate primarily on advisory services.
These questions are particularly relevant for smaller manufacturers operating with limited capital. Purchasing renewable electricity through long-term contracts may require financial guarantees, while installing on-site generation introduces investment and maintenance considerations.
Energy attribute certificates offer another procurement option, but purchasing certificates does not necessarily finance additional renewable electricity generation. Evaluating the environmental and commercial outcomes of different procurement approaches will be important as the collaborative expands.
Schneider Electric has experience coordinating more than 20 supply chain decarbonization initiatives involving over 3,100 supplier companies and 16 multi-buyer renewable energy cohorts. That experience provides an operational foundation for the FRC, but the initiative's results will ultimately depend on suppliers securing commercially viable agreements and implementing renewable energy projects.
Beyond financing, the collaborative will need to address how participating brands measure and report emissions reductions across shared supply chains.
Manufacturers frequently produce goods for several brands, creating overlapping Scope 3 emissions reporting requirements. Under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the same supplier-related emissions can legitimately appear in multiple companies' value-chain inventories. However, participating companies must distinguish these overlapping inventories from claims of exclusive ownership of environmental benefits.
The FRC has not publicly established a common methodology for allocating supplier emissions reductions, sharing facility-level energy data or documenting the contribution of individual brands to jointly supported projects.
A consistent reporting framework could help manufacturers provide verified information on electricity consumption, renewable energy purchases and changes in emissions. Brands could then incorporate relevant supplier-specific information into their individual Scope 3 inventories, accounting for purchasing relationships and production volumes.
Renewable electricity claims will also require appropriate tracking of energy attribute certificates to prevent multiple parties from claiming exclusive ownership of the same attributes.
Another important consideration is whether the collaborative's activities stimulate new renewable energy development or primarily facilitate purchases of existing renewable electricity attributes. Tracking renewable generation capacity supported, procurement volumes, contract execution and verified emissions changes would help distinguish between these outcomes.
For fashion brands facing pressure to demonstrate measurable supply chain decarbonization, the FRC represents an alternative to managing renewable electricity initiatives independently. Its coordinated approach could reduce administrative complexity and expand procurement opportunities for manufacturers serving multiple customers.
The initiative's effectiveness, however, will depend on implementation rather than participation figures. Transparent financing arrangements, consistent emissions accounting and evidence of operational renewable energy adoption will determine whether the collaborative delivers measurable improvements across the fashion industry's manufacturing network.
