Sustainability round-up November 2022

As in previous years, November was all about Black Friday and discount battles. However, more and more brands and retailers are refusing to participate in this glorification of consumption at the expense of the environment. Instead, they are focusing on long-lasting, sustainable basics, taking back clothes or not selling them at all or simply boycotting Black Friday.

November also saw the first Made in Bangladesh Week, which made sustainability a central theme alongside safety and cooperation. FashionUnited was there to have a look around and also attended the Sustainable Leadership Award, which was jointly organised by the BGMEA and GIZ for the third time and awarded to 18 sustainable factories in Bangladesh.

The Global Fashion Agenda launched a new film series on sustainability, while a new report shows increased emissions from the fashion industry in 2022. Another one found that consumers from countries including the UK, US, Germany, and Japan need to reduce their carbon footprint from fashion consumption to align the fashion industry with the 1.5°C temperature target of the Paris Agreement.

As in previous months, the industry is taking stronger action against greenwashing. Some brands and retailers also showed innovation. Despite a global recession, shoppers do care about a product's environmental credentials. This article explored how Russian oil is linked to Western fashion. Read your way through an exciting November.

Innovations

The animal rights organisation PETA has put out a tempting offer as it launched the “Vegan Wool Challenge”. The competition, endowed with one million US dollars (974.53 million euros), is intended to promote the development of a vegan wool material.

Leather alternatives are on the rise, but despite the eco-friendly claims of fashion brands using these materials, there is scientific evidence that they could be misleading. The film SLAY reveals a few uncomfortable details that the fashion industry doesn't talk about when it comes to what leather alternatives are made from.

Brands and retailers

French resale marketplace Vestiaire Collective will no longer buy, sell or list fast fashion items on its website from 22 November 2022, and in a first step has announced a list of banned brands, including Boohoo, Asos and Topshop. The ban will also allow Vestiaire Collective to better position itself alongside sellers such as The RealReal, The Outnet and Mytheresa in the increasingly competitive upscale resale segment.

Sustainable marketplace Verte Mode has launched with 50 brands while emerging labels can find an opportunity on UK-based fashion rental platform Loanhood. Fashion tech startup Sustainable Brand Platform (SBP) has unveiled a new platform that aims to aid fashion companies in taking control of their sustainability data and accelerate their sustainability performances. Sustainable fashion label Fanfare Label launched a collection made out of recycled denim.

Greenwashing

In the latest greenwashing case against the Swedish fashion company H&M, a lawsuit has been filed in a US federal court in Missouri. The lawsuit accuses H&M of attempting to capitalise on the “green” consumer trend in a “misleading, illegal and deceptive manner”. The company is alleged to be suggesting to customers that the products in its “Conscious Choice” line are an environmentally friendly purchase.

For the fifth year in a row, Remake has published its Fashion Accountability report and is continuing its efforts to expose brands’ transparency issues and unethical supply chains within the industry.