The Apparel Innovation Consortium (AIC) arose from an urgent need to upgrade the textile and garment industry infrastructure in emerging markets worldwide. News media coverage of factories with frequent strikes, egregious pollution violations, deadly fires and building collapses serves to illuminate the sweatshop conditions of many facilities in developing nations. The AIC touts a practical, scalable and cost-effective solution for the global textile industry to transition its factories to be productive, safe, sustainable and worker-friendly. Two big goals of the AIC are improving working conditions, worker safety, worker turnover and take-home pay; and reducing chemical emissions, energy consumption and water use. The AIC is based on recommendations included in a report released by Impact Economy in December 2013, “Creating Sustainable Apparel Value Chains.”