We know that Fashion for Good is known for accelerating innovations that reduce waste, emissions, and resource use in fashion. Can you share with us how the organization operates and the key ways it fosters collaboration within the industry?
“Ok. So, Fashion for Good is an innovation platform, a global innovation platform, and we drive change across the fashion industry by bringing together brands, innovators, manufacturers, and other stakeholders to really help scale those innovative solutions. So, collaboration is really at the heart of our work. We know no single company can tackle the industry’s environmental challenges alone, so we act essentially as a bridge to ensure that those solutions are tested, funded, and then adopted at scale.”
You mentioned supporting startups and scaling new technologies. What are some of the most promising projects and innovations that Fashion for Good is currently backing up?
“Yeah, great question. Rather, there are so many, but I’ll pick three.
The first one is how next-gen materials can be scaled. And that is also covered in a report that we released two months ago with the Boston Consulting Group, really providing a strategic framework for executives, brand executives, on how to scale next-gen materials. How to think about the levers of demand, cost, and capital to help those innovative solutions—be it textile-to-textile recycling, be it bio-synthetics—to really move from validation into widespread adoption. So that’s one example.
Another example that we launched also a couple of months ago is really this area of footwear, which is a little bit behind on what we are seeing on the apparel side with regards to innovations being developed here. So “Closing the Footwear Loop” is a project on footwear circularity where we’re exploring all the ways to make shoe design, shoe manufacture, and also end-of-life solutions more circular, which is a big challenge if you consider the complexity of footwear.
And a third example to round this off, that shows also a little bit the scope of our work, is the “Behind the Brake” project, where we’re researching how textile and fibers, how they are shedding, and we’re working with brands and innovators to really reduce shedding and improve material performance. So that’s the whole scope of topics that we’re covering from validation to scaling, but also foundational research, all in the attempt to scale those solutions eventually.”
Really interesting, we’ll keep an eye on those. Now, we’d like to ask you something that I think our audience will be particularly interested in. We know that fashion brands are under growing pressure to adopt conscious practices. Do you think the industry is moving fast enough or are we still at an early stage of real transformation?
“Yeah, really important question. So, throughout the years—Fashion for Good started in 2017—so we clearly see progress. And that progress is promising. We’re seeing that brands really demonstrate that it’s possible to bring innovations to scale. There are now companies that integrate recycled materials, Econyl also being one of those. We’re seeing investments in circular business models and we’re seeing that everybody is really focusing on, you know, working to reduce their environmental footprint, not just as isolated initiatives but really as part of a broader shift.
However, what we also see is that there are some frontrunners who are really proving what’s possible, but the industry as a whole has still a long way to go. So some pioneers have, you know, paved the way, but we need the rest to really follow. And if we look at the end goal, we want to have those innovations being available at wide scale, not just in a niche. We want those solutions to become a standard and that takes time. And for this, for instance, we’ve developed this executive blueprint on scaling next-gen materials, really providing industry leaders, C-suite executives, with the relevant roadmaps on how they can contribute to scale those solutions and make them really widely accessible.”
Yes, thank you. And that’s why also governments and policymakers are playing, have to play, an increasing role in pushing more mindful practices forward. How do you see regulation influencing circularity in fashion in the near future?
“So, regulation is a crucial lever for really accelerating circularity, but at the moment it remains very complex and difficult to enforce at scale. If we look at what comes from the European Commission, policies such as the EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles or the Extended Producer Responsibility, those schemes are all steps in the right direction. They are aiming to hold brands accountable for the full life cycle of their product, for instance.
However, you need clear implementation frameworks and you need global alignment also, and that is still missing. And that creates certainly challenges as it relates to widespread adoption. So policy is a key enabler. Brands and manufacturers can drive a lot of things alone with regards to, you know, demand signals, with regards to driving cost efficiency and also with regards to investing, but to really level the playing field, provide for infrastructure, and make sure everybody is really participating in that change, you need policy and regulation.”
