Fast fashion desperately needs a major environmental makeover

For an industry that is all about creativity, fashion has been slow to innovate to deal with its dire environmental impacts. That must change

FOR an industry that supposedly thrives on creativity, fashion has been appallingly slow to innovate to reduce its distinctly uncool environmental footprint.

On all three fronts in the planetary crisis – climate change, nature loss and waste – manufacturers and retailers of textiles and clothing could, and must, do better. Their carbon emissions are enormous, thirst for raw materials unsustainable and waste management systems rubbish. As just one example, every year we send 350,000 tonnes of clothing to landfill in the UK.

There are growing pockets of green creativity in the industry, but for the most part high-street brands seem intent …