sustainability / Materials

Over the last month, a flurry of companies with backers from H&M to Inditex have advanced plans to build their first industrial-scale textile-to-textile recycling plants, advancing a technology that is often held up as a holy-grail-like solution to many of fashion’s environmental ills.

Zara owner Inditex, the world’s largest fast fashion company, is ditching the industry’s biggest sustainable cotton scheme amid a deforestation scandal and a wider push to prioritise organic fibres.

With clean beauty now mainstream, an emerging wave of brands are promoting skin-kind clothing made from natural fibres and without the use of harsh chemicals, seeking to tap into consumer interest in products that promise health and wellness benefits.

The luxury sector is turning to a roster of faux alternatives to tap into a resurgence in consumer appetite for fluffy fashions.

The company has gained new backing from Taranis, an investment firm owned by oil company Perenco, and additional funds from investors including Zara-owner Inditex as it looks to bring its recycling capabilities to commercial scale.

In a climate where consumers are wary of greenwashing and a backlash against “woke capitalism” takes shape, brands peddling sustainability messaging have to treat the topic with a degree of irreverence and put the product first.

A new report has linked businesses supplying companies including Zara-owner Inditex, H&M Group, Gap Inc. and Amazon to incidents of forced labour and debt bondage on Indian cotton farms.

This year offered up a jarring reality check for players seeking to improve the industry’s environmental and social impact, with brands deprioritising sustainability efforts even as the risks of inaction have become more apparent.