The Future of Fashion & Sustainability | 16 Is Sustainability Out of Fashion?

In a recent British Vogue article, columnist Emily Chan acutely questions whether sustainability has fallen out of fashion.[1] Do brands consider sustainability just a trend? A few years ago, brands were investing in alternative raw materials, throwing around “eco-friendly” buzzwords, and proclaiming sustainability targets. Aside from the Copenhagen Fashion Week and Stella McCartney and Marine Serre’s Paris Fashion Week shows, however, there were no telltale signs of change at the Autumn/Winter ’24 shows. Despite fashion executives claiming both climate urgency and sustainability rules to be two of their top concerns for 2024, the fashion shows were business as usual.[2] A string of disappointing news concerning sustainable fashion initiatives, from the bankruptcy of textile-to-textile recycling company Renewcell to the decline in demand for alternative biomaterials, raises fresh questions about how brands view sustainability.

The industry is relying on recycling technologies and alternative materials to meet brands’ climate commitments and regulations, but the demand for alternative materials has plateaued. Additionally, long-time structural issues are slowing the adoption of sustainability initiatives, and the price point for adopting new technology remains a barrier. Sustainability may be out of fashion, but pushing the issue under the rug won’t delay the coming reckoning. Decades of entrenched practices are holding the industry back from adapting to a changing landscape.

2023 was a particularly disappointing year for alternative material startups. Bolt Threads shut down production of Mylo mushroom leather after failing to receive the funding necessary for scaling their product.[3] Renewcell also declared bankruptcy after failing to secure additional financing to continue production of CIRCULOSE® - a material made from recycled cotton and waste. Both autopsies are well documented, but the fault lies partly in the lack of infrastructure needed to transition the use of new materials from capsule collections to the main line.[4]

The non-profit Textile Exchange's 2023 Materials Benchmark report polled 394 participating brands and suppliers on sustainability plans across business integration, circular economy, and material portfolio. Of the 107 respondents to the circular economy survey, only 12 companies focused on designing for circularity.[5] A majority of the 107 respondents emphasized the importance of extending the life of products by implementing resale and repair initiatives.[6] While resale and repair make up a part of circularity, brands must focus on designing with circularity on the front end by utilizing biodegradable and recyclable products.

Even with alternative material startups reaching scale, demand is uneven. Many brands, apart from Ganni, Stella McCartney, Lululemon, Adidas and a few more remain reluctant to incorporate and test new materials. Luxury and other fashion brands haven’t “historically engaged in research and development,” and material startups must compete with “tried-and-tested products on price, performance and aesthetics.”[7] The sports and footwear industry is a notable exception. When competing with existing products, new materials can’t rely on their sustainability credentials alone. At a minimum, the quality must be up to par.

Priorities aside, structural challenges also hinder a wider adoption of sustainability-focused initiatives. Brands don’t purchase raw materials directly from suppliers, instead relying on a complex network of sources.[8]According to the 2022 ‘Fashion Transparency Index’ by Fashion Revolution, about half of the largest fashion brands disclose “little or no information about their supply chains.”[9] There can be multiple degrees of differentiation between brands’ choice of manufacturers and their production partners. The complexity makes it difficult and costly, though not impossible, for brands to map an end-to-end picture.

Additionally, the sourcing teams who make purchasing decisions are “more focused on lowering costs than environmental impact.”[10] Brands are concerned with ensuring their products are produced at the lowest price most efficiently. Renewcell built out a network of suppliers to work with brands but struggled to get enough demand for their Circulose material. In a November 2023 earnings call with financial analysts, Renewcell CEO Magnus Håkansson noted, “We have the production capacity, we have ramped up sufficiently to serve the market, we have the commitment from the fibre producers. But we need more commitment from the brands.”[11]

The industry needs to change how it does business throughout its supply chain to meet its ethical commitments. This requires accountability and collaboration with governments, regulators, brands, and innovators. Thus far, most major brands are off track from meeting their 2030 emission targets; only 4 of 14 signatories to the UN Fashion Charter for Climate Action are on a trajectory to reduce enough emissions.[12]

Brands prioritize efficiency and cost-savings and avoid taking risks. Adopting new technologies comes with a price premium, both for innovators and brands. Amidst ongoing economic uncertainties and a post-pandemic decline in demand, brands are less willing to cut into profit margins.[13] The green premium is ultimately passed down to consumers, but there is little proof that consumers are willing to pay a higher price for sustainable collections. The opposite may be true with the growing popularity of ultra-fast fashion e-commerce giants Temu and Shein. The State of Fashion 2024 report by McKinsey & Co. and Business of Fashion found that “40 percent of US consumers and 26 percent of UK consumers have shopped at fast fashion giants Shein or Temu in the past 12 months.”[14] Over the pandemic, Shein doubled its market share in the U.S., and it continues to grow.[15]

Consumers, especially younger consumers, in the U.S. view sustainability as a priority, but with the prevalence of greenwashing - advertising that “promotes false solutions to the climate crisis that distract from and delay concrete and credible action” – and unclear standards of what constitutes sustainable, consumers may not be willing to pay a green premium.[16] Translating consumer intention into action will be important for brands to increase demand for more innovative products.

Upcoming regulations from the EU targeting greenwashing should incentivize brands to map out their supply chains and market products that are truly environmentally conscious.[17] This has already impacted what brands are willing to market today. The EU announced terms such as “carbon neutral” or “carbon positive” would be banned from 2026.[18] Additionally, Zalando removed sustainability claims after the EU’s consumer watchdog found the company “misleading.”[19] Pending regulations across the EU, UK, and the U.S. come after years of greenwash marketing by brands vying to capitalize on outspoken concern for the environment and criticism of the fashion industry.

Is sustainability out of fashion? For the largest brands in fashion, it seems so, but outside players are continuing to invest and innovate in resale and supply chain traceability, both circularity-focused, along with generative AI, alternative materials, and other climate-tech solutions. With a wave of upcoming regulations and an unavoidable climate crisis, the fashion industry will be forced to change and adopt these technologies. Hopefully, for the rest of us, it’s sooner rather than later.

[1] https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/sustainability-aw24-fashion-month

[2] https://www.businessoffashion.com/reports/news-analysis/the-state-of-fashion-2024-report-bof-mckinsey/

[3] https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/sustainability/next-generation-materials-biofabricate-mycoworks-mushroom/

[4] https://www.glossy.co/fashion/the-renewcell-post-mortem-with-former-chief-commercial-officer-tricia-carey/

[5] https://textileexchange.org/knowledge-center/reports/materials-market-report-2023/

[6] https://textileexchange.org/knowledge-center/reports/materials-market-report-2023/

[7] https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/sustainability/next-generation-materials-biofabricate-mycoworks-mushroom/

[8] https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/sustainability/renewcell-bankruptcy-fashion-sustainable-material-textile-recycling/

[9] https://www.thesustainablefashionforum.com/pages/fashion-supply-chain-transparency-fibretrace-mapped

[10] https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/sustainability/renewcell-material-innovation-blocking-recycling-textile/

[11] https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/sustainability/renewcell-material-innovation-blocking-recycling-textile/

[12] https://www.businessoffashion.com/news/sustainability/big-brands-slow-climate-progress-put-targets-out-of-reach-report-finds/

[13] https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/sustainability/renewcell-bankruptcy-fashion-sustainable-material-textile-recycling/

[14] https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-fast-fashion

[15] https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-fast-fashion

[16] https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/greenwashing#:~:text=By%20misleading%20the%20public%20to,some%20more%20obvious%20than%20others.

[17] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/17/eu-bans-misleading-environmental-claims-that-rely-on-offsetting

[18] https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/sustainability-aw24-fashion-month

[19] https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/sustainability-aw24-fashion-month