More than ever, apparel brands are tasked with adapting to a global environment that they have no control over. With higher sustainability standards among consumers and growing ethical concerns about textile origins, brands can no longer remain ignorant to the nature of the raw materials they are sourcing.

Raw material provenance, in particular, became a flashpoint when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) on all cotton merchandise and tomatoes originating in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where it is widely believed that the goods are being produced with forced labor.