Eco Age

Discussions around sustainable fashion tend to focus on design and end-of-life disposal. But between purchase and disposal lies a long journey of wear and use that often gets overlooked. Our clothes won’t last if we don’t look after them. In an industry fuelled by overproduction and disposability, taking time to care for and preserve your garments becomes a quiet act of resistance. How we care for our clothes directly affects their lifespan and condition at end-of-use. Simple actions like handwashing or avoiding chemical-heavy stain removers can prevent unnecessary deterioration. Learning basic repair skills, like darning a holey sock or replacing a loose button, is another form of resistance against throwaway culture. These small acts challenge an industry built on constant replacement and the incessant overproduction of new things. Then there’s rethinking our systems of care altogether; an approach The Lab embraces. By focusing on preventative care and a culture of maintenance, rather than reactive fixes, @sneakerlab offer probiotic, non-toxic products designed to preserve and refresh apparel, accessories, and footwear. Their approach encourages treating clothes as part of a long-term relationship, where longevity is achieved through ongoing attention. Creating products like apparel refresh to limit frequent washing and protectants that preserve the lived-in character of worn garments while protecting colour, texture and shape. The Lab allows brands to meet the growing consumer demand for responsibility beyond the point of sale—considering repair, second life, and disposability to ensure products have a long lifespan beyond the shop floor. Sustainability isn’t just about how clothes are made or discarded. It’s about how we maintain them in between. Caring for our garments is key to ensuring they last longer and have a minimal impact at end-of-life.

Often, when we talk about the future of the fashion industry, innovation is spotlighted as the primary solution. Innovation is defined as the process of bringing about new ideas, methods or solutions that bring positive impact and value. In many ways we are innovating our way out of the problem. But does it have to exclusively be about generating new ideas? Craft, in its many diverse forms, offers vital lessons for the future of the fashion industry. When it comes to responsible and ethical fashion, craft is one of the greatest solutions and it’s been here all along. Many communities across the world have been sustainably creating fashion and textiles for centuries – using age-old practices that work in symbiosis with nature. Drawing from ancestral knowledge, preserving rich cultural heritage and traditions that have been passed down through generations. Craft practices are also often circular by nature, with artisans reusing scrap materials, employing zero-waste design principles and generating less waste This isn’t to say that innovation isn’t pivotal to building a more responsible and ethical industry. It’s just that many of the solutions already exist - and have for centuries. Sustainable fashion isn’t a new concept. It’s just one that the Global North pushed aside for quicker, mass-produced alternatives. But if we look to craft communities around the world for inspiration we’ll find that sustainable fashion already exists in abundance. #EcoAge #Slowfashion #Craft

According to Berlin-based think tank the Hot or Cool Institute, staying aligned with the Paris Agreement and limiting global warming to 1.5°C means buying no more than five new items of clothing per year. That recommendation stands in stark contrast to reality. The average consumer in the US buys around 68 new garments annually, while in the UK the figure is similarly excessive. WRAP reports that the average UK adult owns more than 118 items of clothing, yet over a quarter (26%) of them haven’t been worn in the past year. The most powerful fashion choice we can make isn’t chasing what’s new — it’s rewearing what we already own. Buying less, and buying better, shifts the focus from volume to value. Thoughtful, intentional purchases create wardrobes built on quality and longevity, not disposability. Clothes last longer. Fewer replacements are needed. Waste slows. As brands continue to churn out thousands of new styles every single day, opting out becomes an act of resistance. The message is simple and powerful: we’re not buying it. Why not try limiting your purchases to only 5 new items this year – or set yourself a target that feels more realistic for you. #consumption #fashion #sustainablefashion

Ultra-fast fashion giant @sheinofficial has reportedly acquired direct-to-consumer conscious brand @everlane in a deal valuing the company at $100million. Everlane emerged in the industry in 2010 with the ambition to do things differently, building its identity around “radical transparency”, placing sustainability at the core of its business, promising “to make every product as responsibly made with the least impact as possible.” What set it apart was its approach centring on ethical factories, supply chain transparency, natural fibres, product cost breakdowns, and publicly disclosed factory lists.  In recent years, Everlane shifted its messaging away from “radical transparency” toward a more commercially appealing “clean luxury” positioning. The focus moved toward reframing sustainability through the lens of consumer benefit, with cleaner chemicals and cleaner materials, not just ethics alone. Now, the brand is being acquired by one of fashion’s most unethical and exploitative global players: a company whose business model is built on speed, cost-cutting and overproduction — the opposite of Everlane’s mindful approach. With this acquisition, Shein appears to be targeting an entirely new demographic: the conscious consumer. So what does the future hold for Everlane? Most likely, an erosion of the brands’ sustainability commitments.  Less than two months ago we saw another sustainability-focused brand @allbirds take a similar turn that sent shockwaves through the industry. The footwear brand, known for sneakers made from natural fibres, sold its shoe brand for $39 million to American Exchange Group as part of a pivot toward becoming an “AI compute infrastructure” business. The move marked a departure from the ethos on which the brand was built, drawing a line under its previous environmental commitments. Brands built on sustainability and ethics are increasingly being lost to systems that prioritise speed, scale, and profit above all else. It reflects a wider industry shift, where brands once defined by transparency and ethics are being reshaped by a market that continues to reward profit over values. #fashionnews #fashionindustry #ethicalfashion

It’s London Craft Week, so we’re spotlighting some of our favourite brands championing craftsmanship, preserving tradition, and celebrating heritage. While fashion invests so much time and energy into innovation, it’s equally important that we continue to honour the power of craft. Age-old practices that are inherently slow and sustainable, working with the environment rather than against it. Brands like November Noon are reconnecting wearers with the labour, skill, and meticulous craftsmanship woven into every fabric by including the number of hours invested in creating the textile directly in each garment’s website listing title. This is the power of craft. Not a relic of the past, but a meaningful solution for a more thoughtful and sustainable future. #craft #slowfashion #ethicalfashion

At this year’s Global Fashion Summit, the theme was Building Resilient Futures. But how can we build resilience if the voices of workers across fashion’s supply chain are largely absent? At a time when sustainability is under threat, with budgets being slashed, brand commitments scaled back, and teams disbanded, events like the Global Fashion Summit feel necessary to evaluate where the industry stands and explore how we can collectively move the needle.    But conversations about the future of fashion remain incomplete without the voices of workers in global supply chains. Garment workers, farmers, artisans, and people at all levels of the supply chain are not passive participants; they are land stewards, knowledge holders, and experts in what needs to change for fairer, more equitable systems. Their voices must not just be included, but central to shaping the industry’s future. One panel discussion on fashion, climate, and women’s health was a powerful reflection of this, unpacking the urgent need to prioritise women’s health, ensure access to living wages, and recognise garment workers as active agents of change. But conversations like these deserve far greater visibility. They should be platformed on main stages, not on the sidelines and scheduled alongside competing sessions. The voices of frontline communities are still not adequately represented in sustainability agendas, boardrooms and industry events. Fashion is at a critical turning point. We urgently need conversations to lead to commitments, and commitment to lead to action. But these conversations cannot belong solely to brands, CEOs, and innovators. The future of fashion must be shaped by the workers whose labour, skill, knowledge, and craftsmanship sustain the entire system. Without them in the room, little changes. Read the full Summit takeaway by @sachadaly at the link in bio. *correction: H&M Foundation paid for the travel expenses of the panel participants on fashion, climate and women's health but they in no way were involved in shaping the agenda. Images 2-10 : Global Fashion Agenda.

Shein is suing rival Temu for copyright infringement, alleging that Temu used images from Shein’s website to advertise its products. The irony is difficult to ignore. This is the same Shein whose rise has been shadowed by repeated allegations of large-scale design theft from independent creators, now presenting itself as a defender of intellectual property. Temu’s spokesperson called the move “audacious,” but the timing raises bigger questions than corporate rivalry. It reopens the issue of how Shein became the world’s most-Googled fashion brand, and how lawbreaking, be it workers rights laws or copyrights laws, is not an exception in fast fashion, but an embedded part of its business model. The legal record is extensive. Attorneys for plaintiffs have described Shein as operating an “industrial-scale scheme of systematic, digital copyright infringement” targeting independent designers and artists. In a class-action lawsuit, it has been alleged that Shein uses data scraping and digital surveillance scanning platforms like Instagram and TikTok to identify emerging designs, which are then rapidly replicated and mass-produced without permission or payment. The impact is widespread. Independent creators are often the most vulnerable, but major brands including Levi Strauss and Dr Martens have also brought legal action against Shein in recent years. It is tempting to treat Shein as an outlier, but that risks missing the system it reflects. Fast fashion has long relied on externalising costs onto workers, the environment, and creative labour. Shein has simply refined and accelerated that logic into a data-driven supply chain of imitation at speed. As organisations like Anti-Slavery International have noted, this “race to the bottom” is not unique to Shein, but the endpoint of a model built on relentless production and impossibly low prices. Now, the brand that practices industrial-scale copying the most is asking the law to draw the line. #shein #temu #fastfashion

What’s been happening in sustainable fashion this week? Here’s the positive news you might have missed: 🟢 Amsterdam-based circular fashion brand @martan.official received the Visa Young Creators: Recycle the Runway award at the Global Fashion Summit. MARTAN seek to address the issue of textile waste by transforming discarded luxury hotel linen into high-end ready-to-wear, 🟢Amsterdam has become the first capital city to ban the public advertisement of both meat and fossil fuel products. The ban applies to high-carbon products and services including flights, petrol and diesel vehicles, and meat products, like fast-food burgers. 🟢 @globalfashionagenda and PDS Ventures revealed Japanese start-up @synflux.io as the winner of the Trailblazer Programme 2026. Through AI-optimised pattern cutting, the technology reduces fabric waste and material usage from the outset. 🟢 @bestseller.com has announced it is investing $3 million into the Regenerative Fund for Nature to support and develop regenerative agriculture projects in South Africa. 🟢 @fashionenterltd , a leading British clothing manufacturer has been awarded the King’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development. The award recognises their efforts in revolutionising the industry through ethical & sustainable manufacturing, and the revival of ‘Made in the UK’ production. #news #sustainablefashion #fashionindustry #goodnews #circularfashion

Day 2 of the Global Fashion Summit brought a necessary shift in perspective: away from sustainability as a corporate ambition, and towards the people, communities, and ecosystems that sustain the industry itself. It was invaluable to engage with others across the industry, learning from shared experiences, exchanging perspectives, and exploring how greater collaboration can help move the needle towards meaningful change. National Geographic Explorer, photographer and filmmaker @amivitale reminded us to follow every product back to its origin to the land and the communities behind it, and to ask a simple question: Are they better because of it? If not, then something must change. Throughout the day, one message became impossible to ignore: those closest to the challenges are also closest to the solutions. Garment workers, farmers, and artisans are not passive participants within supply chains; they are land stewards, knowledge holders, and agents of change. If fashion is serious about transformation, sustainability efforts must centre the voices of the people who hold the industry together, yet too often remain excluded from the conversations shaping its future. Discussions around how to decarbonise fashion for people reinforced the importance of a “nothing for them without them” approach. Meaningful progress requires active listening and collaboration with workers themselves, ensuring solutions are rooted in lived realities and adapted to local contexts. As @graceaforrest pointed out, for sustainability to be truly inclusive of workers, and for the industry to be genuinely shaped by their voices, rather than just by glossy innovations and circularity initiatives, workers must first be present in the rooms where decisions are made, including at platforms like the Global Fashion Summit. Because these conversations cannot belong solely to brands, CEOs, and innovators. The future of fashion must be shaped by the workers in the global fashion supply chain whose labour, skill, knowledge, and craftsmanship underpin the entire system. #fashion #sustainability #GlobalFashionSummit #ethicalfashion #innovation

Last night’s Met Gala was, once again, a show of  glamour and excess. But as millions navigate cost-of-living crises and global conflict escalates, fashion’s biggest night has never felt more removed from reality. This year’s event was sponsored by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez. Ethics, it seemed, were an afterthought. Bezos has a well-documented history of worker exploitation at Amazon, has funded ICE, and remains one of the wealthiest people on earth. One of fashion’s most storied traditions, bankrolled by one of its most controversial figures. It reflects a growing tension: tech money is buying its way into fashion’s inner circle, with little knowledge of the industry and even less intention to support it. These are people purchasing access to a legacy while making no real effort to sustain, fairly compensate and uphold the labour that truly keeps that industry alive. But not everyone showed up. New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani used the moment to spotlight the garment workers behind the city’s fashion industry —becoming the first mayor-in-waiting to publicly stand against the event. Meanwhile, activists organised the Working People’s Met Gala, uniting Amazon workers, unions, and supporters to celebrate the people who actually keep these industries running. Several celebrities also boycotted the event entirely over the Bezos sponsorship. Fashion without the people who made it is an empty spectacle. We don’t need more billionaire-co-opted events that celebrate the flashy garment while erasing the hands that crafted it. We need to celebrate the workers, the artisans, the labour: through fair credit, fair wages, and empowerment. #MetGala #FairWages #EthicalFashion

Sustainability can often feel overwhelming and confusing—especially when you don’t know where to start. Sometimes, it even seems contradictory: we’re told not to wear polyester, yet cotton isn’t always as sustainable as we think. Not knowing where to begin can become a barrier, making it easy to feel like our actions won’t make a difference. But the truth is, small, consistent choices can lead to real change. Engaging with sustainable fashion doesn’t have to be expensive, or mean never buying anything again. It means slowing down and being more intentional about what you buy, and why. You don’t have to do it perfectly. Let’s be honest: sustainability isn’t perfect either. The most important things are simple: buy less, slow down, and take care of what you already own. Fashion brands, global retailers, and policymakers need to take real accountability, not just make promises. The burden shouldn’t fall on individual consumers alone. That said, our small actions still matter. Collective demand drives change. Never underestimate what can happen when enough people start making different choices. Your choices are powerful. Even small steps add up. #sustainablefashion #slowfashion #ethicalfashion

What if our clothes could restore nature, rather than degrade it?   For too long, fashion has relied on fossil-based synthetics and animal-derived materials. But this dependency comes at a huge environmental cost.    @ponda.bio ‘s regenerative biomaterial BioPuff® is changing this, offering the industry a high-performance alternative that doesn’t just reduce harm to nature but actively restores it.    BioPuff® is made from bulrush cultivated through paludiculture; a farming method that restores damaged wetlands rather than degrading them. The result is a high-performance, plant-based alternative to synthetic fills and conventional down, that links everyday clothing to wetland restoration, climate resilience, and more responsible land use.    Peatlands are among Earth’s oldest and most healing ecosystems, naturally storing over 40% of all soil carbon. Twice as much as all the world’s forests combined. Yet when damaged, they release 1.9 gigatonnes of CO₂ per year. Restoring them is one of the most powerful climate actions available.    Ponda’s model proves that a new kind of fashion value chain is not only possible, it’s already happening.    Now, through their crowdfund, Ponda is inviting you to be part of the change. The goal isn’t just to grow BioPuff® production, but to build the infrastructure needed to make restored wetlands a permanent, scalable part of fashion’s future.    If you believe the industry can do better, this Earth Month is the moment to act. Join Ponda on the journey toward making wetlands wet again, and making fashion regenerative.  🔗Pre-register now at the link in our bio.   Approved by Republic Europe on 17/04/26    #WetlandRestoration #Innovation #SustainableFashion #ClimateResilience #EarthMonth Ad