Ympact launches 4s ETHIC

In the presence of over 100 professionals from the fashion industry, ‘4s ETHIC’ – version 1.0 of the Guidelines supporting more responsible, transparent and integrated supply chains – was officially presented on 14 May. The new harmonised system for monitoring the fashion supply chain was developed by Ympact in collaboration with industry stakeholders at the Confindustria Moda headquarters in Milan. The project is the result of an intensive process lasting over a year, coordinated by Ympact through a Harmonisation Working Group involving brands, manufacturers, verification bodies and trade associations, with the aim of establishing a common approach to managing environmental, social, health and safety risks, and corporate integrity throughout the supply chain. At the heart of the programme is the creation of a harmonised checklist and a shared supply chain monitoring system, called 4s ETHIC, powered by the Ympact digital platform.

The aim is to overcome the fragmentation of audits and documentation requests that currently place a burden on manufacturing companies, by introducing a common language and an interoperable system for verifying environmental and social compliance within the fashion supply chain. Whilst the institutional framework sets out the principles of conduct, 4s ETHIC’s Guideline 1.0 provides a ready-to-use technical and digital solution for implementing and verifying compliance and transparency requirements in a collaborative and digital manner.

GUIDELINE 1.0

The 4s ETHIC Guideline 1.0 is an operational tool designed to assist companies within the supply chain in implementing harmonised requirements and preparing for the verification activities that will commence in June 2026.

The Guidelines define:

•    the architecture of the monitoring system;

•    the audit procedures;

•    the criteria for the qualification of verification bodies;

•    a shared framework of requirements organised into five key areas: Management System; Environment; Health and Safety; Social; Corporate Integrity and Reputation.

The 4s ETHIC system provides for on-site audits conducted by third-party bodies qualified according to shared criteria of independence, competence and impartiality, using methodologies based on the triangulation of documentary evidence, direct observations and confidential interviews with workers.

The first qualified body within the system is Bureau Veritas Italia, which contributed to the pilot phase of the model’s technical implementation, carried out with the involvement of four companies in the supply chain and a number of brands to review the system for sharing results.

“Identifying the risks and impacts of responsible fashion supply chains is now a strategic priority for the fashion sector,” said Francesca Rulli, founder of the 4sustainability® framework and co-founder of Ympact. “We need to move away from fragmented monitoring models towards shared systems capable of generating reliable data, transparency and value throughout the value chain. With 4s ETHIC, we wanted to contribute to building a shared infrastructure that supports businesses in strengthening their compliance frameworks and, at the same time, enables a concrete path of continuous improvement, to the benefit of the competitiveness and credibility of ‘Made in Italy’ on the international stage. “I would like to thank Confindustria Moda for its collaboration and all the participants in the working group, who, through their experience, professionalism and willingness to share, have demonstrated a commitment to working together for the future of responsible fashion.”

The Ympact platform will serve as the system’s digital infrastructure, enabling the centralised collection of evidence, the controlled sharing of information amongst authorised stakeholders, and the structured management of audit and follow-up processes.

The initiative marks an important step towards building increasingly responsible and transparent fashion supply chains, strengthening the competitiveness of ‘Made in Italy’ in an international context characterised by growing regulatory and market expectations regarding risk assessment, sustainability and digital transformation.