Fashion industry pressure on natural resources has grown dramatically as consumption grew in emerging countries and the principle of rapid change of fashions extended to mass market in western counties, at the same time supply chains expanded globally to countries with lower labor and environmental standards creating critical sustainability challenges. Meanwhile, sustainability has become a hot topic for consumers that hold brands responsible for sustainability performances along the whole supply chain. The paper traces developments in the fashion business commitment to sustainability over two decades, with a focus on the implication for SCM. Academic literature focuses mainly on partial issues, missing the overall picture, the interaction among a complex set of factors, and to account for the role of past decisions and mistakes on current SSCM (sustainable supply chain management) strategy developments. The time span considered captures sustainability awareness in the fashion business which is in its statu nascenti (nascent state) and the trial and error process that led to progressive refinements of both means and ends. The paper provides an extensive review of academic articles, business reports, technical documents, regulations and direct information from the field and identifies five key lessons learnt in this process that influence current fashion business strategies in sustainability and SCM.