Fashion retailer New Look has turned to traceability specialist TrusTrace to power the next phase of its sustainability programme – dubbed ‘Kind to Our Core’.

The womenswear, menswear, and teen clothing specialist – which operates mainly in the UK and the Republic of Ireland – said the tech company will help it “gain greater visibility across its supply chain through suppliers and assist in identifying responsible sourcing and business continuity risks.”

Kind to Our Core aims to help New Look reduce its carbon footprint by encouraging suppliers to track emissions, and TrusTrace’s technology will allow it to keep tabs on Scope 1 and 2 emissions – i.e. company-owned and controlled resources and indirect emissions from energy generation – as well as those generated by its supply chain partners (Scope 3).

“New Look is the first major UK retailer to join forces with TrusTrace, marking a major milestone in our pursuit to make global supply chains traceable, circular and fair,” said the Swedish company’s chief executive and co-founder Shameek Ghosh.

The system can be used to collect data from Tier 1 suppliers (those that make the finished clothing), as well as Tier 2 (those that generate the fabrics and other materials that go into the products), Tier 3 (that produce the starting materials, like cotton fibres), and even Tier 4 (organisations like farms that the original source of the starting materials.

Ghosh said the system allows New Look to access granular, validated product data to support its sustainability goals, and that in turn will help the brand’s customers make informed decisions about responsible sourcing.

“We’re thrilled to partner with TrusTrace to gain deeper visibility through to our Tier 4 suppliers, helping us to further mitigate any supply chain risks,” said Sue Fairley, head of sustainability at New Look.

“We’ve already made incredible progress through our ‘Kind to Our Core’ sustainability program – as evidenced in our recently released 2023 Sustainability Report – and it’s just the beginning.”

The retailer recently set a near-term target of reducing carbon emissions by 46 per cent by 2031 across Scope 1, 2 and Scope 3, plus a long-term target to achieve net zero by 2040 across that part of its supply chain. It has already reduced its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 18 per cent and its Scope 3 for fibre products by 22 per cent since starting the sustainability drive.