Sustainability Is Walking the Runway

As the fall approaches with cooler days, many people are swapping their wardrobes for warmer attire. Likewise, those interested in fashion are already looking at the latest collections for next year, which were recently unveiled at Fashion Weeks all over the world.

In our Top Stories this issue, we see that the fashion industry is currently eyeing sustainability as well as style. The BBC reports that UK-based charity Oxfam is participating in a sustainable fashion show at Oxfordshire’s historic Blenheim Palace, called Re:Fashion. While the entire show is focused on the desire for using sustainable materials and production processes, Oxfam is highlighting its annual Second-Hand September campaign that encourages consumers to view “pre-loved” clothing as an alternative to fast fashion. The charity’s CEO Halima Begum pointed out how thrifting has become more popular with younger consumers, saying, “You can get second-hand, really stylish clothes or goods, and… if we can make a choice that also helps the planet and thinks about our carbon footprint across the world, that’s a win-win for us.”

Vogue Business reports that Ebay is also promoting secondhand fashion by holding two “Endless Runway” streaming events in New York and London, in partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America and the British Fashion Council. The events are designed to spread awareness and elevate pre-loved fashion by “pushing secondhand into the mainstream, where it’s impossible to ignore,” according to Ebay’s general manager of global fashion Kirsty Keoghan.

Outdoor clothing giant Patagonia has been a leader in sustainable fashion, using 100% recycled materials for packaging and catalogues and partnering last year with Eastman, an American chemical company, to create sustainable fibers from unusable pre- and post-consumer textile waste. According to an article in Sourcing Journal, Eastman reported in February that it had already handled 8,000 pounds worth of waste from Patagonia. Patagonia recently agreed to be part of non-profit Canopy’s Pack4Good initiative, which will allow them to use more recyclable materials in their packaging, such as agricultural waste. The Pack4Good initiative now counts 445 brands worth more than $249 billion in annual revenue as participants.

While these stories represent some progress, there is still a long way to go for the fashion industry to walk the sustainability walk, according to recent coverage in Reuters. Oliver Balch reports that new research from the campaign group Fashion Revolution indicates that 53% of the world’s biggest 250 fashion brands still lack a firm decarbonization target, and only one in 10 of the global brands studied disclose details of their energy procurement at the supply chain level. The problem seems to be worse in the UK, where Just Style reports that the non-profit Collective Fashion Justice claims just 3.39% of British Fashion Council members (just seven brands) have shared emissions reduction targets.

According to Reuters, environmental groups are calling for “robust rules in the textile-specific standards currently in development under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).” Pressure is also growing from investors such as Dutch investment group ASN Impact Investors, which recently announced that it is divesting from fast-fashion brands because of their failure to meet its new, tougher sustainability criteria.

Sustainability is always in fashion at G&A and our team is available to help companies in the fashion industry, and all industries, to develop programs for sustainability reporting that meet growing demands for accountability and transparency.

This is just the introduction of G&A's Sustainability Highlights newsletter this week. Click here to view the full issue.