Sri Lanka is South Asia’s pioneer in ethical fashion. For the Lankan apparel industry, sustainability is a much more complex ideology than simply increasing the number of green plants. It is an approach that converges social, environmental, and economic strategies where people, planet, and profit are all equally important.

Over the last decades, the Sri Lankan apparel industry ensured its growth through sustainability; firstly, through better working conditions, then engaging professionalism with business and empowering people at all levels.

Environmental sustainability move kicked off around 12 years ago with the implementation of green building standards and the energy efficiency drive. Today, the Sri Lankan apparel industry seeks to find solutions at the global level to address problems of material circularity and work-life integration. The overall long-term strategy is to drive towards zero impact on all aspects. Buildings and infrastructure do play a big role but they are a part of the bigger strategy.

Female workers have long been celebrated and encouraged by the country’s apparel industry. Most companies believe that strengthening women is as good as strengthening a family unit and therefore the entire society. The country has been working on developing its own sustainability index for factories that overcome the weaknesses of most traditional assessment systems.