Sustainability news and archive

Primark cuts carbon emissions across its value chain

Value fashion and homeware retailer Primark reports that it has cut carbon emissions across its value chain, three years after it published its 2030 sustainability commitments, after switching to renewable and low-carbon energy. Primark said in its annual ‘Sustainability and Ethics Progress Report’ that its decarbonisation programme is beginning...

Who makes our clothes? Fashion Production Explained

Ever wondered who actually makes your clothes and how fashion's supply chain impacts workers' lives? This deep dive unpacks how fashion production works and explores what’s needed for meaningful change in the industry. FashionUnited interviewed Kim van der Weerd, a former factory manager with a background in human rights, who advocates for a...

Fashion

BMW and Vogue partnership reveals next wave of sustainable design talent

In a pioneering fusion of automotive and fashion design, BMW has partnered with British Vogue to celebrate emerging talent through their Future Creators Design Competition, highlighting a growing trend of cross-industry collaboration in sustainable luxury design. The competition, which attracted hundreds of entries from emerging designers,...

Fashion |Opinion Featured

Most consumers know cheap fashion isn’t sustainable—so why do they keep buying it?

Despite growing awareness of the fashion industry's negative impact, consumers continue to purchase affordable, trendy clothes from fast fashion brands and retail giants. Why is that? How can these two realities coexist? The inspiration for this piece comes from a recent article published by Dutch investigative journalism platform De...

Business|Report Featured

Navigating the new fashion landscape in 2025

The global fashion industry is bracing for a pivotal year in 2025, as structural changes in consumer behavior and macroeconomic headwinds force a fundamental rethink of traditional growth strategies. According to the latest BoF - McKinsey State of Fashion 2025 report, the industry faces a sobering reality: just 20 percent of executives expect...

Business

Global Fashion Agenda publishes update of its GFA Monitor on sustainability

Ahead of COP29, the Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) has published its annual GFA Monitor for the third time, highlighting advancements and ongoing challenges in terms of progress on how the fashion industry can reach net positivity. The report is produced in partnership with GFA’s impact partners, the Apparel Impact Institute, Ellen MacArthur...

The Gen Z dilemma: eco-conscious but addicted to fast fashion

One of the most-read articles on FashionUnited in October was about unauthorised Shein outlets -- pop-up shops that pretend to be by the Chinese internet giant but are simply riding on the brand's popularity. Pop-up shops opened in Dutch cities such as Arnhem, Utrecht and Rotterdam, offering clothes at extremely low prices. These shops have been...

The future of fashion: is less more?

A confession. My original research question was, “What if the fashion industry simply made less clothes?” (Over)production, reducing speed and seasons could be the answer to almost everything?!, was my thought process. As in: for sustainability in the clothing sector and more broadly: in the pursuit of a circular economy (see text frame below)....

Fashion

On, Patagonia, Puma, PVH, Salomon test Carbios' fibre-to-fibre recycling technology

Just over two years ago, in July 2022, the four textile and footwear brands On, Patagonia, Puma and Salomon announced that they had joined forces with French biochemical company Carbios to utilise its unique biorecycling technology for synthetic fibre recycling and to improve the recyclability and ongoing reusability of their products. This...

Fashion

H&M Foundation shifts focus of Global Change Award 2025 to help achieve net-zero emissions by 2050

The H&M Foundation has unveiled a change in strategic direction in its annual innovation challenge, the Global Change Award (GCA), to support the textile industry’s aim of halving its greenhouse gas emissions each decade to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The GCA 2025 is now open to innovative solutions and concepts that seek to address...

Business

Deforestation compliance: TrustRace launches EUDR solution

TrusTrace, the platform for supply chain traceability and compliance, has partnered with leading brands, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and OpenAtlas, solution provider for remote sensing and deforestation monitoring, to create a validated solution for shipment-level compliance, tailored to real-world scenarios. The Deforestation...

Business

FibreTrace partners with Thai Acrylic Fibre to provide end-to-end traceability

FibreTrace, a real-time verification solution for fiber integrity and traceability solutions, has announced its new partnering partnership with Thai Acrylic Fibre (TAF). Through this new partnership, TAF will integrate FibreTrace Technology into its acrylic fiber production. A leading global producer of acrylic fiber and part of the Aditya Birla...