Blueprints
The open-source, modular blueprint for sustainable Tier-2 textile manufacturing is a forward-looking, industry-wide tool designed to accelerate adoption of next-generation sustainability practices. It enables manufacturers to build and implement near-net-zero factories by providing clear operational pathways, alongside economic viability and social impact analysis of advanced processes and solutions. By breaking complex technical recommendations into adaptable modules, the blueprint allows manufacturers of all scales to integrate improvements in a phased, practical way, aligned with globally benchmarked best practices and emerging regulatory standards. The project aims to cover 7 geographies by 2030.
Who should read this?
Primary Audience
Tier 2 Suppliers
Tier-2 suppliers (dyehouses and vertically integrated processors) are the primary audience. Sustainability managers, production managers, as well as the C-suite in these organisations can follow the blueprint’s recommendations (e.g. low-impact processing and renewable energy integration) to shrink their environmental footprint while preserving economic viability.
Secondary Audience
Brands and Retailers
Brands and retailers aiming to cut Scope 3 emissions through supplier engagement will benefit directly from this work. The blueprint offers a menu of low-impact processing solutions that suppliers can adopt, enabling brands to collaboratively invest in cleaner operations.
Technology Providers
Technology providers should also take notice: the open-source blueprint demonstrates a near-net-zero tier-2 facility in India and provides local context on scale, costs, and financing models. Vendors of advanced fabric processing machines, or IoT energy controls can use the insights and data (including proposed blended debt/equity funding) to tailor offerings for this market.
Financiers and Catalytic Funders
Financiers and catalytic funders looking for industrial decarbonisation opportunities with a good leverage ratio
Government Bodies and Industry Associations
Government bodies and industry associations will find policy-relevant guidance: the financial models and techno-economic analyses can inform subsidy programs or cluster-level incentives. For example, policymakers can use the data on capital costs and savings to shape grant schemes, and the discussion of regulatory gaps highlights areas for targeted support.
What is included?
Module 1
Process Technology
Detailed technology, environmental, and financial data
Module 2
Energy & Utilities
Energy transition planning: E.g. the nuances of choosing biomass, electrification, and adoption of waste heat recovery
Module 3
Workplace & Safety
Workforce training and compliance to ensure smooth adoption of new technologies
Module 4
Incentives & Subsidies
Central and state-level financial support to lower the projects’ capital requirement
Module 5
Finance & Investments
Financial KPIs across pathways and capacities, and various financial support programs that the industry has to offer
India
Product Category: Cellulosic and cellulosic blends for woven and knitted production
India’s textile and apparel industry is at a critical inflection point. Contributing 2% to GDP and employing 45 million people, the sector faces growing pressure from water scarcity, climate risks, and global sustainability requirements. Achieving the government’s US$100 billion export target by FY2031 requires an 18% CAGR, necessitating a rapid transition from resource-intensive processing to net-zero manufacturing. Key clusters including Tirupur, Surat, Ahmedabad, and Ludhiana are increasingly exposed to climate volatility, threatening long-term competitiveness and operational continuity and underscoring the urgent need for systemic adaptation.
An initial blueprint, developed with Arvind Limited using real operational data, was expanded into an open-source blueprint with refined impact and cost modelling and scalable strategic recommendations, enabling replication across India’s textile manufacturing ecosystem.
In Progress: Pakistan
Product Category: Denim Tier 2 Manufacturing
Pakistan is a major global textile hub with strong cotton and denim production, but its wet-processing sector is highly fragmented and dominated by MSME units using outdated, water- and chemical-intensive machinery, with less than 1% of wastewater treated in high-risk clusters. Energy reliability is also a major challenge, with gas shortages, volatile tariffs, and limited access to cleaner heat or renewables, pushing factories toward diesel or coal.
Innovation adoption remains low due to financing constraints and limited exposure to efficient processing technologies, making Pakistan a high-impact geography where integrated blueprints can enable scalable pathways to more resource-efficient and resilient manufacturing.
In Progress: Honduras
Product Category: Cotton Knit Production
Honduras stands as a dominant force in the Central American textile corridor, serving as a primary global hub for high-volume cotton knit production with unrivalled vertical integration and duty-free access to the US market. As the near-shoring trend accelerates, the country is witnessing a significant ramp-up in capacity, positioning the region to capture a greater share of the North American apparel trade.
This makes Honduras a vital landscape for Future Forward Factories, where the implementation of low-impact blueprints can set a sustainable trajectory for the region’s growth from the very beginning. As new facilities are set up or existing manufacturing is expanding, an opportunity arises to design facilities that utilise low-impact processes and advanced energy systems from the outset.
In exploration: Vietnam
Product Category: Sole manufacturing
Vietnam is a global footwear manufacturing hub (the world’s third-largest producer) with dense supplier networks and increasing demand for greener production. Yet the sector still faces critical barriers:
- Fragmented value chains
- Thermal energy dependence without viable electrification pathways
- Limited innovation adoption amongst suppliers
- Reliance on short-term solutions (e.g. EACs, biomass) instead of long-term transformation
As a result, Vietnam presents a compelling action area, not only for impact potential, but for the opportunity to demonstrate systemic change in one of the most relevant and exposed manufacturing geographies.
Call for Collaboration
Fashion for Good’s Future Forward Factories initiative is paving the way to next-zero manufacturing. To bring this vision to life, it is important to work collaboratively with stakeholders across the entire textile manufacturing ecosystem.
If you are interested in contributing to the development, implementation, or acceleration of these next-generation factory models, we would love to hear from you. Whether you’re a manufacturer exploring new pathways, a brand seeking scalable decarbonisation for your supply chain, or a financial institution supporting climate-positive investment, your collaboration can help drive meaningful change.
Express your interest through the form below, and our team will reach out to explore how we can work together.
Relevant Resources
Fashion For Good And Arvind Limited Launch Future Forward Factories India: Embedding Innovation In Manufacturing
What is textile processing? Understanding the fashion supply chain and its environmental impact
Good Fashion Fund Launches to Invest in Supply Chain Innovation
Fashion Players Team Up to Slash Textiles' Water and Carbon Footprint
How a Kering and adidas-Led Consortium Aims to Dry Out Fashion’s Water Problem
Global accelerator Fashion for Good has announced a new consortium, the D(R)YE Factory of the Future project, backed by Kering and adidas, among others, aimed at reducing water use in textile production. The initiative is directed at accelerating the fashion industry’s shift to dry textile processing—methods that use little to no water, produce no wastewater and reduce overall energy use.
Other Projects
Retrofit Track
Fashion for Good, in collaboration with its industry partner, the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii), is offering implementation support through the Retrofit Track in India. This is a limited opportunity, under which only three shortlisted facilities will receive hands-on guidance to apply the blueprint in their operations.
Demonstrator
Decarbonising textile processing cannot be achieved through individual technologies alone. It requires end-to-end implementation in real factories, where multiple innovations must operate together under production constraints, commercial timelines, and regional infrastructure realities. Demonstrator facilities play a critical role in bridging this gap — translating validated technologies into integrated, operating factories that generate the technical, financial, and operational evidence needed for scale.
Future Forward Factories
Initiated by Fashion for Good, Future Forward Factories focuses on transforming tier 2 processing in the textile industry through innovative low-impact, decarbonisation solutions. It aims to generate actionable blueprints for factories of the future that combine renewable energy and technology upgradation including mostly dry processing innovations. These blueprints take into account macro geographical factors, product customisations, and a lens of just transition to achieve near net-zero facilities that not only offer a strong return on investment, but are also inclusive and people-centric.
