Regulators are taking aim at the industry’s glacial progress on climate and labour rights, creating new incentives and risks for sustainability efforts in the coming year.

On this week’s episode of The BoF Podcast, Dame Ellen MacArthur explains how the fashion industry can move toward a waste-free future.

China is the world’s largest consumer of fashion and a major production hub. How it tackles its mountain of annual waste will impact global brands’ ability to embrace a more circular supply chain.

Brands missed roughly a third of the goals they set for themselves as part of an industry initiative that ended this year, reflecting the challenge that remains for the sector beyond ambitious sustainability targets.

As the world grapples with an unprecedented public health and economic crisis, exposing deep-rooted social inequality as a climate emergency looms, the fashion industry must learn to respect both people and the planet. It's time for fashion to build a more responsible business model.

As sustainability becomes more important to consumers, brands must invest in genuine root and branch reform, manage expectations, be humble and own up to their shortcomings to avoid backlash because consumers ultimately see through platitudes and gimmicky campaigns.

Last year, the beauty sector generated 142.6 billion units of packaging — most of which ended up in landfill.

When industry leaders have an unusually frank and anonymous conversation about sustainability, what does it reveal? Uncomfortable questions about class, control, hypocrisy and anxiety over jobs, to name a few.