“The level of evidence businesses require before even considering action is often too high, leading to burnout among sustainability professionals,” says Textile Exchange CEO Claire Bergkamp. “We cannot drive impact at scale if we are all working off of a different playbook,” adds Reformation chief sustainability officer and VP of operations Kathleen Talbot.
2. Focus on what works
Last year was characterised by chaos, says Dr Hakan Karaosman, associate professor at Cardiff University and co-founder of Fashion’s Responsible Supply Chain Hub (FReSCH), an EU-backed action research project. “It was the hottest year on record, when political instability around the world led to financial and political turmoil with intergenerational consequences. Social inequality widened, and, in the context of fashion, these issues brought supply chain disruptions. Fashion failed its two most essential components for business survival: labour and nature.”
Against this backdrop, many brands rolled back their climate commitments and shrank their already stretched sustainability teams. Dounia Wone, chief impact officer at Vestiaire Collective, hopes to see this trend reversed in 2025, and predicts that brands scaling back impact investments will be scorched by their short-term thinking. “The urgency of the climate crisis demands bolder, more accountable action across all sectors,” she says. “Overproduction, global inequities and greenwashing remain significant barriers. While the industry has moved forward in awareness and innovation, true systemic change is still lacking.”
Rather than adding in evermore novel ideas and pilot programmes, it’s time for fashion to double down on projects with proven impact, says Bergkamp, especially if budgets are tight and teams reduced. The industry knows what works, she says: transitioning to renewable, sustainably sourced materials and scaling circular systems. “It’s about cutting through the noise, aligning efforts and directing our energy and resources towards proven solutions. This shift in mindset has the potential to drive real, measurable change and build momentum towards achieving shared goals.”
3. Engage different stakeholder groups
With the dawn of due diligence regulations, fashion has finally begun to rethink the dynamics at play within its supply chains. This poses new questions for the industry to tackle in 2025, says Kim Van der Weerd, host of the ‘Manufactured’ podcast and outgoing intelligence director at denim sustainability non-profit Transformers Foundation. “Which stakeholder groups are defining the problems we aim to solve? And how do solutions based on a particular — rather than a shared — understanding of the issues become so widespread?” she posits, arguing that it’s time for fashion to include manufacturers in conversations about what and how to prioritise in the push for sustainability. “Manufacturers tend to operate in some of the places — and employ some of the people — [that are] most vulnerable to climate change. If we were to ask what their climate action priorities are, they would probably say something about adaptation and resilience.”
It’s not just brands that need to engage a more diverse array of stakeholders, says Bergkamp. Non-profits and multi-stakeholder initiatives also need to work on this in 2025. “As an industry, it can be easy to overlook those furthest removed from the final product, but when it comes to natural materials, there is an incredible untapped opportunity. We need to make more space to listen to those being asked to drive the change: farmers, growers, recyclers and others on the ground,” she says. “These are the individuals who deeply understand the realities of material production, and we have so much to learn from their experiences and expertise. Only by aligning the needs and perspectives of all players in the system can we drive sustainable fashion forwards in a way that is both impactful and enduring.”
4. Put social impact on par with the environment
For a long time, fashion has been chasing easy wins and pushing back systems change. But 2025 is no longer a distant deadline, and the climate crisis is no longer a future concern. Climate risks are unfolding in real time, ranging from floods and droughts affecting raw material yields to hailstorms and hurricanes affecting garment production, all of which could jeopardise $65 billion worth of apparel exports up until 2030. It’s time for fashion to prioritise adapting and mitigating climate risks in its supply chains, says Nemanthie Kooragamage, group director of sustainable business at Sri Lankan manufacturer Mas Holdings.
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