Following the Product: Traceability of Geographical Association and Supply Chain Processes in Luxury Fashion

This research aims to explore the traceability of geographical association and supply chain processes in the luxury fashion industry. Luxury fashion brands reinforce their exclusivity through their association to their Country-of-Origin whereas the details on origin of raw materials, production processes and locations involved in the supply chain processes are overlooked. This results in dissociation of luxury fashion brands from their geographical association as well as neglect towards supply chain processes. Since the Rana Plaza incident in 2013, traceability of geographical associations and supply chain processes has gained importance and the brands are aiming for transparency in the value chain to gain the trust of customers. Therefore, this research studies the contribution of traceability to the redevelopment of brand heritage and brand image of luxury fashion brands since the 19th century. The sample for this research constitutes of two luxury fashion brands: Harris Tweed and Dormeuil. The primary data has been collected through interviews, digital networking sites, and print advertisements. The secondary data for this research includes already published literature on each brand such as books and articles. The results of this study identify that both brands, Harris Tweed and Dormeuil, have been involved in sustainable production practices since the early years of their existence. High quality and exclusivity of the products have been found to be the reasons behind the involvement of brands in fair production practices. However, Harris Tweed is an inherently traceable fabric due to stamping of Orb Mark which indicates the provenance details of the fabric. Therefore, the brand does not feel the need to launch an electronic traceability scheme. On the contrary, while Dormeuil has been an ethically responsible company in the past, the recent launch of its electronic traceability scheme has been driven by the need for transparency by the modern-day consumer. In addition, both brands have also capitalized on their traceability schemes (inherent or adopted) to build an image of sustainable luxury through the print advertisements during 1900s and social media in the present day. Furthermore, Harris Tweed and Dormeuil often highlight their Country-of-Origin (a major geographical association) to reinforce the authenticity and skilled craftsmanship of their brands. It illustrates that brands take advantage of their brand heritage to support their genuineness in producing quality products through sustainable supply chain processes. This research concludes that the traceability of geographical association and supply chain processes of luxury fashion brands relies on the brand heritage to demonstrate that they have always been committed to fair production practices and therefore, redevelops the image of brands as ‘sustainable luxury’.