A new pilot program provides small and medium-sized fashion producers in Latin America with access to the essential traceability tools that increasingly vital requirement to participate in the global textile and apparel industry.
Sustainability intelligence provider Green Story is partnering with Fundamentally, a Mexico City-based community platform dedicated to strengthening Latin American fashion and the industry’s commitment to sustainability, to launch Fundamentally Green Metrics – LATAM.
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The data-powered program is designed to accelerate sustainability in the region’s fashion sector by making Green Story’s expertise in Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), Digital Product Passports (DPPs), and comprehensive environmental data accessible to 30 selected brands and manufacturers that produce in Latin America.
The company’s technology has already been embraced by leading denim manufacturers in Pakistan—such as Sapphire Mills, Soorty, and AGI Denim—as well as brands like Earthletica in Australia and Bayo in the Philippines.
“LATAM is becoming a sourcing hotspot, especially with the rise of nearshoring. But with that opportunity comes an urgent need for credible, science-backed sustainability data. We see LATAM as a region with immense potential. It has strong manufacturing capacity, increasing awareness of ESG issues, and a real desire to lead rather than follow,” said Akhil Sivanandan, CEO of Green Story.
The region is still catching up when it comes to access and implementation, according to Diana Hernandez, CEO and Founder of Fundamentally. “Most transparency technologies, like digital passports or blockchain traceability, are either too costly or too complex for the average SME in Latin America. Add to that the lack of public funding, institutional support, and clear regulation, and you get a system where only a handful of larger companies can participate. Meanwhile, smaller producers, even the most committed ones, are left out of the conversation. That’s exactly the gap we’re trying to bridge,” she said.
The need for the partnership highlights several underlying issues when it comes to scaling sustainability. “We can’t build a truly sustainable fashion system without including everyone, and Latin America has long been left out of the data-driven transformation,” Hernandez added.
LATAM’s local fashion economies are under intense pressure from ultra-cheap fast fashion imports, especially from Asia, she explained, she said. In countries like Mexico, Chile, and Argentina, small producers are being displaced and in the absence of strong EPR laws, local governments are struggling to respond and are getting excluded from regulated international markets.
That’s where Fundamentally and Green Story’s mission matters most. “By equipping underserved producers with accessible, verifiable data, we’re supporting compliance and opening the door to global markets. We’re giving visibility, credibility, and competitiveness to those who have long been excluded,” Hernandez said. “Real sustainability isn’t possible without systemic change. All stakeholders are equally important.”
The program aims to strengthen the readiness of Latin American companies to meet evolving compliance standards, align with EU sustainability expectations, boost visibility among responsible buyers, enhance access to premium export markets, and build consumer trust by transparently communicating verified environmental impacts.
“Digital product passports are fast becoming the default language of trust in fashion. They tell a verified story about how a product was made and its environmental footprint. Our initiative is about helping LATAM suppliers meet that pressure head-on, by giving them the tools and support they need to not only comply, but thrive,” Sivanandan said.
Supported by a regional subsidy managed by Fundamentally, companies will receive “preferential rates tailored to the Latin American context.”
“By doing so, we aim to help reduce the financial and technical barriers that have historically limited small producers in the region. This initiative strongly aligns with our mission to enable better data for better decisions, across all stakeholders worldwide,” Sivanandan said.
Participants will be selected jointly by Fundamentally and Green Story. Selected participants should demonstrate a strong interest in improving their sustainability practices and traceability systems, and a commitment to preparing for international markets.
Benefits include unlimited DPPs, the opportunity to use Green Story data in support of Higg Index submissions, optional carbon offsetting through verified projects, training resources and API connectivity for integrating impact metrics into e-commerce platforms.
The pilot is designed to be inclusive of all types of producers in the apparel space, but Hernandez said the focus is on small and medium-sized slow fashion producers who are often excluded from these tools, despite being the ones making big efforts toward sustainability.
“These are brands with strong relationships with their customers, rooted in their communities, but lacking the verified data to back up what they’re already doing,” she said. “By making this technology accessible to them, supporting compliance and opening the door for international markets also we’re strengthening a culture of transparency from the bottom up. Including a diverse range of producers also creates a stronger collective push toward data-backed sustainability.”
The pilot will run for three months, and participating brands will retain access to Green Story’s platform and tools for one year following their onboarding date. Based on the outcomes of the pilot, Green Story and Fundamentally aim to expand the reach of the program to support many more brands and manufacturers committed to sustainability throughout Latin America.
