What we learned about sustainability in fashion in 2022

Sustainability has been a hot topic in fashion over the past few years, and it only continued to burn in 2022.

As awareness of the environmental as well as labor-related costs of the fashion industry heightens, consumers want more than the promise of good quality and an affordable price. And this year, retailers were listening to them.

“There have been numerous highlights to the criticality of sustainability and also tensions around it,” Brian Ehrig, a partner at consulting firm Kearney’s consumer practice, told Retail Brew via email. “If sustainability wasn’t a topic for a fashion company before, it is now.”

Tech played an integral role in the focus on sustainability, with luxury brands from LVMH to Ganni and Stella McCartney investing in innovative fabrics, for example. PJ Smith, director of fashion policy at the Humane Society, previously told Retail Brew that he was hopeful about alternative materials like mushroom leather as well as silk.

“I also know that alternatives [that are] biodegradable are taking off,” he said. “That’s going to be something that we’re not even going to see—we’re not going to recognize that transition. It’s just like, one day, all our puffers are going to be filled with more sustainable and animal-friendly alternatives.”

One more time: Beyond sustainable fabrics, several retailers also introduced their own resale programs as thrifting and the secondhand market gained momentum as both a more sustainable way to shop and also a cheaper alternative amid rising costs.

• The Business of Fashion’s The Future of Fashion Resale report noted that over 70% of general consumers across France, the US, UK, Germany, and China believed that “secondhand luxury has a positive or neutral impact on a luxury brand or retailer’s image and positioning.”.

Among the (many) brands that launched their own programs were Balenciaga and Sandro, both of which collaborated with peer-to-peer platforms to make the process of buying and selling used items easier for consumers.

“It takes just a few clicks to create a listing, and a prepaid shipping label is provided to the seller,” Isabelle Allouch, CEO of Sandro, previously told Retail Brew. “Once an item is received, the seller will receive their choice of cash or credit towards their next Sandro purchase.”

Meanwhile, fast fashion brands were not to be left behind, as both H&M and Shein debuted resale platforms of their own, albeit amid allegations of greenwashing among consumers.

In fact, H&M was slapped with a greenwashing lawsuit this year, claiming that it tried to “misleadingly, illegally, and deceptively” capitalize from sustainability trends through its Conscious Choice line.

Still, H&M certainly isn’t alone in being criticized for alleged greenwashing as more environmental regulations were put in place in the EU and beyond. Ehrig points to two pieces of regulation that have further driven brands to take stock of their ecological footprint and labor practices: “Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions reporting requirements going mainstream, and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act,” he said. “There are many similar regulations across the world.”

• The Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, for instance, monitor a business’ carbon emissions in three scopes, including direct sources, such as manufacturing facilities, and indirect sources, such as fuel and energy usage and transport.
• Meanwhile, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act prevented items produced in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China (a region Shein has been tied to), from entering the US.

Suffice to say, not all retailers have passed the test. But there are some, like Patagonia, The North Face, and Levi’s that implemented “game-changing” initiatives, per Ehrig. “Hence governments and communities are introducing mandates and regulations to protect workers and the environment,” he said, adding that “regulatory enforcement (supply-chain transparency laws, greenwashing fines) and reputational risk are forcing fashion companies to disclose the source of every fiber, yarn, and garment, as a part of these mandates.”—JS