A post-growth future for fashion - report launch
New Textile Exchange report shows curbing exponential increases in production and consumption volumes is crucial for sustainability.
I’ve spent the last three years working on and off with non-profit Textile Exchange on the topic of '“reimagining growth”, and for a large chunk of this past year, writing a report for them deep diving into everything it means for the fashion, apparel and textile industry.
This week, it finally launched, providing a state of play on this highly complex and contentious topic. The Landscape Analysis, as it’s called, outlines why we need to shift from exponential increases in production and consumption volumes based on unchecked resource extraction, instead laying out a vision for alignment with regenerative economy and post-growth principles, centred on a complete reimagining of value creation.
It highlights that the industry’s current trajectory is incompatible with achieving key climate goals, with environmental and social impacts only increasing while growth remains a business imperative. Very simply, it shows that continued improvements on the product and process level in fashion are not going to be enough for the level of change required. It then emphasises the need for reduction as an active strategy, addressing head on the tension that presents.
Importantly, it stresses doing so as necessary to ensure resilience; mitigating future risk due to supply chain instability, resource depletion, overreliance on finite resources and incoming legislation.
As Beth Jensen, senior director of climate and nature impact at Textile Exchange, explains: “We cannot keep going down a path of unchecked growth as traditionally defined and expect to stay within planetary boundaries. In order to ensure the resiliency of businesses and the industry into the future, as well as to achieve corporate climate and nature targets, it is now a necessity to consider ways to create business value outside of continually increasing the amount of new materials extracted and new products made,”
The report also proposes a suite of pathways for change, including eliminating virgin fossil-based synthetics, designing products for longevity and reflecting externalities in their pricing, scaling circular business models, and addressing marketing practices. It further explores new success metrics, mobilising finance and alternative ownership and governance models, as well as the need to ensure a just transition—protecting the rights, livelihoods and well-being of people across the value chain.
As I explained to Vogue Business on the latter: "There isn’t a world in which [a post-growth future for the fashion, apparel and textile industry] can happen without ensuring it does so in an equitable way that does not perpetuate historical injustices or inequalities. To be clear, the report is not calling for reductions in such a way that is detrimental to people; changing volumes of production and consumption based on new materials for new products cannot come at the expense of livelihoods in the Global South. There will need to be a redistribution of resources and opportunities, and in certain nations and markets, this will still mean prioritising sustainable development.”
Across the board, the pathways will require systemic support to achieve anything close to a post-growth future, with the need for ambitious government policy and collective corporate commitment to get there. The report calls on business leaders, policymakers and financial stakeholders to take immediate, meaningful steps.
This isn't simple and it won't be easy. As I add in the press release: “Reimagining growth represents a fundamental paradigm shift, requiring not just incremental adjustments but a complete transformation of how the industry operates. As a challenge of systems change, inherently rooted in complexity, it will demand contributions from all stakeholder groups to achieve a more sustainable and equitable future.”
Read the full report here.