The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
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When it comes to sustainability, the fashion industry has long relied on self-regulation rather than external enforcement. But oftentimes, these self-defined targets create a “convenient fantasy,” Blackrock’s former chief investment officer of sustainable investing Tariq Fancy said in a talk at BoF VOICES 2022. This gives the appearance of positive movement, but not necessarily real progress. Indeed, activists like Fancy, as well as consumers and investors are calling for government regulators to intervene.
“Many companies are playing dirty,” he said. “It’s time we called in the refs.”
This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF’s chief sustainability correspondent Sarah Kent speaks with Fancy; Maxine Bédat, director of the New Standard Institute; Baroness Margaret Omolola Young, activist and a member of Britain’s House of Lords and Ken Pucker, former chief operating officer of Timberland to explore the role that regulation can play in creating a more sustainable fashion industry.
Fashion’s biggest sustainable cotton certifier said it found no evidence of non-compliance at farms covered by its standard, but acknowledged weaknesses in its monitoring approach.
As they move to protect their intellectual property, big brands are coming into conflict with a growing class of up-and-coming designers working with refashioned designer gear.
The industry needs to ditch its reliance on fossil-fuel-based materials like polyester in order to meet climate targets, according to a new report from Textile Exchange.
Cotton linked to environmental and human rights abuses in Brazil is leaking into the supply chains of major fashion brands, a new investigation has found, prompting Zara-owner Inditex to send a scathing rebuke to the industry’s biggest sustainable cotton certifier.