072. Flip the Script: Two Suppliers Talk to an Impact Investment Strategist (Part 2)

This week’s episodes bring together people from opposite ends of the fashion supply chain – two suppliers and an impact investment strategist.

On the supplier side, I’m joined by Himond Hui and Lubeina Shahpurwala.

Hilmond is VP of VP of Bombyx and VP of PFG. PFG is a manufacturing company with factories across mainland China and Hong Kong, doing textile production, dyeing, weaving, cut and sew, and logistics – and a long history of producing for brands like Eileen Fisher. Bombyx is a subset of PFG. Their focus is on regenerative silk production. If you want to learn more about Bombyx, be sure to go back and check out these episodes.

Lubeina is a Partner at Mustang Enterprises. Mustang produces socks in India, both for the local market as well as export markets. Mustang is a rare women-owned manufacturing company focused on eco-friendly processes and products. They also wholeheartedly support ethical trade movements.

On the investor side, I’m joined by Johanna Schmidt, an Investment Strategist at Triodos Investment Management that’s really pushing the envelope when it comes to impact investing.

In this episode, part two of our chat, we get into the big questions. We start with certifications. How does Johanna decide which ones to look at? What do Hilmond and Lubeina think about this? Do they think it’s information that it makes sense for investors to be looking at?

We then open things up to an even bigger question: what do Lubeina and Hilmond want from the brands they produce for, and what role could impact investors play to support this? Hint: it has something to do with relationships and partnerships and fairness.

Want to dig deeper ?

Absolutely loved this thoughtful and easy-to-read three-part piece by Tariq Fancy – The Secret Diary of a ‘Sustainable Investor’ about how his thinking has “evolved from evangelizing ‘sustainable investing’ for the world’s largest investment firm to decrying it as a dangerous placebo that harms the public interest.”

If you want to learn more about Bombyx, be sure to go back and check out these episodes.

Learn more about the work Triodos Investment Management is doing generally here and their approach to the fashion industry specifically here.