Given that apparel manufacturing is labour-intensive, industry-academia collaboration is critical to ensure that the right mix of skills is available for efficient production and industrial competitiveness. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the role of industry-academia collaboration towards a sustainable fashion ecosystem. The study adopted a systematic literature review anchored with a Boolean search to scan publications in reputable databases and conducted the participatory action research to validate the secondary data. Due to weak industry-academia collaboration, the established mainstream apparel manufacturing sector experienced skills supply and skills gap challenges that affected the business capabilities of apparel manufacturing firms in Ghana. Strengthening industry-academia collaboration requires revising existing policies, making curriculum changes, and supporting existing institutions with resources for monitoring and evaluation. The study provided critical insight into the dynamics of skills development in the context of the fashion supply chain, shedding light on skills mismatch, sources of skills challenges, and their impact on business capabilities.