ARTE
Social Lab
Challenge
The textile sector is characterised by a complex and global value chain, with social risks that companies in the sector have been managing for years.
The Sustainability and Social Impact Committee of the Spanish Textile Retail Association (ARTE), together with the SERES Foundation and Conese, has launched the ARTE ‘Social Laboratory’. Large companies in the sector are participating in this initiative, such as AWWG (Pepe Jeans London, Hackett, Façonnable, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein), Inditex (Zara, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius, Oysho and Zara Home), H&M, Iberian Sports Retail Group (JD, Sport Zone and Sprinter), Kiabi, Mango, Pepco and Primark.
The goal for 2025 has been to develop the social materiality of the sector, a starting point for working on social challenges on a sectoral basis.
Results
Social Materiality Matrix for the sector, which covers the most significant impacts throughout the value chain, organised around four main stakeholder groups:
- Own employees
- Value chain employees
- Communities
- Consumers
This exercise has been validated by a multi-stakeholder focus group, made up of representatives of the parties impacted in the value chain, to ensure that the resulting materiality accurately and realistically reflects the reality of the sector.