Hello friends,

What a week last one was.

I went to San Francisco for Climate Week, and had a blast. It all started with being part of a panel with Annie Agle, VP of Impact and Sustainability at Cotopaxi; Hannah Sherman, Sustainability Manager at Rothy’s; Holly Samuelsen, Owner and Designer at Gravel & Gold; and Sonia Yang, Co-Founder & CTO of Treet.

Also toured Heath Ceramics with Lauren Olson and wrapped it all with a dinner with people truly passionate about sustainable fashion. A “cup fillinf” kinda week.

And…. mid-Friday, my startup, Alu was featured in Vogue Business’ series on AI, especifically, “The AI Startups Promising a Sustainable Future for Fashion” for our work transforming DPPs into a dynamic, emotional brand experience. Exciting times indeed!

🚨 We have an exciting session coming up as part of La Positive Society on May 7th. We are sitting down with Meital Peleg Mizrachi, Post-Doctoral Researcher at Yale and Adjunct Professor at the University of Connecticut, to talk about what actually happens to secondhand clothing and what that means for places like Ghana. Hope to see you there!

Stay bold,

Donatela

⚡️ Flash recap:

Circular Business Models

• Resale Partnerships Keep Coming

• Klarna’s In-App Resale Listings Grew 75% in 13 Months

• Salomon Launches Repair Program With United Repair Centre

• Dressr Launches Secondhand Store Alongside Rental Offering

• Burberry x London College of Fashion Hosts Second Upcycling Competition

• Fashion Pact and Fashion for Good Launch Circular Fiber Collective

Fibers & Materials

• Bezos Earth Fund Commits $34M to Reinvent What Clothes Are Made Of

• Epoch Biodesign to Open World’s Largest Nylon 6,6 Biorecycling Facility

• LSKD x Samsara Eco Sign 10-Year Recycled Nylon Deal

• Circulose x CTA Partner to Scale Lyocell From Recycled Pulp

• TJX Companies Goes Fur-Free and Bans Mohair

Labor & Human Rights

• Clean Clothes Campaign Sues Levi’s Over Misleading Labor Claims

• Hugo Boss and LPP Urged to Rejoin Pakistan Accord on Rana Plaza’s 13th Anniversary

Accountability & Policy

• France’s Loi Violland Stalls Again as Brussels Objects

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Resale Partnerships Keep Coming. Branded secondhand is becoming table stakes. This week’s announcements:

• Theory x Poshmark: Theory integrated Poshmark’s One-Click Resale function, letting customers list past purchases in one tap. Read more

• Viking x Treet: Viking Footwear launched a secondhand program with Treet. Read more

• Longchamp x Faume: Longchamp launched a resale program powered by Faume. Read more

• Barça Licensing & Merchandising x Drelife: Barça Licensing & Merchandising, which handles FC Barcelona jersey sales, launched the first official second-life channel for Barça merchandise with Drelife. Read more

• Chubbies x Treet: Chubbies launched a branded resale platform called Afterparty, powered by Treet. Read more

• FREITAG x Brandback: FREITAG partnered with Brandback to power their secondhand platform. Read more

• Flipkart x Flipkart Reset: India's e-commerce giant launched "Swap on Jeans," a denim take-back scheme under its recommerce arm Flipkart Reset, letting customers exchange used jeans at the doorstep when a new order arrives. Read more

Klarna's In-App Resale Listings Grew 75% in 13 Months. Users aged 26 to 35 make up the largest cohort at 30% of all activity. The feature lets users list past purchases directly to eBay, Poshmark and Tradera across 15 markets. When Klarna is moving the resale needle, this is not a niche behavior anymore. Read more

Salomon Launches Repair Program With United Repair Centre: Salomon launched a repair program in France with United Repair Centre, using URC’s Paris hub as the base. The program covers high-performance technical items and launched in April 2026, with expansion to the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands planned by summer. Read more

Dressr Launches Secondhand Store Alongside Rental Offering: Belgian fashion rental platform Dressr launched a secondhand store alongside its rental offering. Read more

Burberry x London College of Fashion: For the second year running, 10 student finalists were challenged to reimagine Burberry's heritage trench and car coat using surplus materials. Winner Aamna Yasin transformed a full-length trench into a two-piece set, earning a cash prize and a Burberry design internship. Read more

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Fashion Pact and Fashion for Good Launch Circular Fibre Collective. A new cross-industry initiative to aggregate demand and unlock investment in textile-to-textile and next-generation fibers. Read more

• Less than 1% of global fiber production comes from T2T recycling; the Collective targets 8% by 2030, unlocking up to 2 million metric tonnes of capacity per BCG research

• The Fashion Pact’s 150 members represent roughly a third of industry production volume; participation is opt-in

Bezos Earth Fund Commits $34M to Reinvent What Clothes Are Made Of. Grants to four US research institutions for bacteria-grown fibers, biodegradable spider-silk synthetics, and gene-edited cotton that grows pre-colored. Read more

• Columbia University ($11.5M with FIT): fiber grown from bacteria fed on agricultural waste, biodegradable, no microplastics. UC Berkeley ($10M, with Stanford and Caltech): biodegradable fiber inspired by spider silk. Clemson ($11M, with University of Georgia): color-ready, resilient cotton via gene editing. Cotton Foundation ($1.5M): restoring the world’s most diverse non-GMO cotton seedbank

• Builds on the fund’s 2025 $6.25M grant with the CFDA; Lauren Sánchez Bezos spearheaded the initiative

Epoch Biodesign to Open World’s Largest Nylon 6,6 Biorecycling Facility. Europe’s first enzymatic nylon 6,6 recycling plant opens at Imperial College London’s North Acton hub in Q3 2026, capable of processing hundreds of tonnes of post-consumer nylon annually. Read more

• AI-engineered enzymes break down elastane-blended activewear, airbags and post-consumer clothing back to virgin-quality building blocks, at low temperatures

• Less than 1% of textiles are currently recycled back into new textiles; the plant is timed to incoming EU ESPR rules from July 2026 banning large companies from destroying unsold garments

• Backed by $50M+ from Lululemon, Lowercarbon Capital and Inditex’s Mundi Ventures; MOU with INVISTA targets commercial scale

Meanwhile… LSKD x Samsara Eco Sign 10-Year Recycled Nylon Deal. Australian activewear brand LSKD will transition key product lines from nylon 6 to enzymatically recycled nylon 6,6 in partnership with Samsara Eco, starting from 2028 when Samsara’s commercial plant comes online. Read more

• Samsara uses AI-designed enzymes to break down end-of-life textiles into their original molecular building blocks, which are then repolymerised into virgin-identical nylon 6,6

• Follows Samsara’s previously announced 10-year deal with Lululemon; this will mark LSKD’s first use of regenerated fibers sourced from end-of-life textiles

Some thoughts: If you are wondering whether I made a mistake and copied and pasted the same news twice, you are wrong. Both Epoch Biodesign and Samsara Eco use AI-designed enzymes to break nylon 6,6 back to its molecular building blocks, same technology, same output, both backed by Lululemon. Both making news the same week matters. Nylon 6,6 has resisted recycling at scale for decades. If either delivers by 2028, that is a real shift for performance apparel, not a pilot.

Circulose x CTA Partner to Scale Lyocell From Recycled Pulp. Circulose will supply recycled-textile pulp to China Textile Academy Green Fibre to produce lyocell, with select brands able to access commercial volumes in 2026 and broader supply from 2027. Read more

• Lyocell is technically harder to produce than viscose, making this a genuine proof of capability. CTA has committed to a multi-year purchase volume, providing the demand certainty that makes upstream investment viable

• Circulose operates the world’s first commercial-scale chemical T2T recycling facility in Sundsvall, Sweden

TJX Companies Goes Fur-Free and Bans Mohair. TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and Winners parent TJX has banned natural fur and mohair across its roughly 4,500 stores globally, following sustained PETA pressure. TJX joins Zara, Gap, ASOS, Uniqlo and Ralph Lauren in dropping mohair. Read more

Clean Clothes Campaign Sues Levi’s Over Misleading Labor Claims. The Dutch office of the Clean Clothes Campaign filed suit in Amsterdam against Levi Strauss, alleging the brand misled consumers with claims about responsible production while failing workers at a Turkish factory producing exclusively for Levi’s. Four consumers are co-claimants. Read more

• At the Özak factory in 2023, workers who peacefully protested for better pay were met with security forces and dismissed. Around 400 workers were fired; hundreds remain uncompensated

• Levi’s quietly removed many disputed statements from its website in March 2026 after a pre-litigation demand letter. CCC argues removal does not undo years of misleading consumers

Some thoughts: I am all for accountability, and the workers at the Özak factory deserve remedy. But I find myself thinking about the broader signal this sends. In a world where communicating your efforts invites scrutiny, and scrutiny invites lawsuits, the rational move for brands becomes: say nothing, commit to nothing, and quietly do less. We may be inadvertently rewarding indifference and punishing ambition. Perfection is not possible in sustainability, not yet, and if we hold every imperfect step against the brands trying to take them, we should not be surprised when fewer brands bother.

Hugo Boss and LPP Urged to Rejoin Pakistan Accord on Rana Plaza’s 13th Anniversary. On the anniversary of the collapse that killed 1,134 garment workers, Labour Behind the Label protested outside Hugo Boss stores in London, Brussels and Germany, calling on Hugo Boss and Poland’s LPP to re-sign the Pakistan Accord. Read more

• More than 100 of the original 143 signatories renewed the legally binding accord; Hugo Boss and LPP were among the brands that confirmed they would not re-sign. Independent inspections found locked exits and blocked evacuation routes at factories supplying both Hugo Boss and LPP in Pakistan.

• Hugo Boss said it will rely on its own internal audits via the Fair Labor Association instead

• Hugo Boss remains a signatory to the broader International Accord but did not renew its Pakistan-specific commitment.

France’s Loi Violland (i.e., anti-fast fashion law) Stalls Again as Brussels Objects. The European Commission required France to suspend adoption of its anti-fast fashion law for a second time, ruling it incompatible with the EU e-commerce directive and Digital Services Act. Read more

• The country-of-origin principle means Shein, registered in Singapore with European HQ in Ireland, could exploit a loophole regardless of the law’s intent. The advertising ban and parcel tax are likely to be dropped

PS: I keep this free so every sustainability professional can access it. If you’re getting value, consider upgrading. You get quarterly 1:1s with me and support for your trickiest dilemmas. Think of it as taking me out for coffee. ☕️

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Dear friends,

This week, everyone is talking about Allbirds.

To be honest, I am not sure how I feel about the whole thing. I keep wondering what is worse: that they sold for parts, that a purpose-driven footwear company didn’t work out, that they pivoted to AI, that based on just that announcement their stock rose 582%, or that their new name is NewBird AI?

Anyways… if you are in SF this week, I would love to say hi. Two events I am hosting:

• Lessons from the Front Lines of Circular Fashion. Thursday April 23, 3-4pm. A candid panel on circular fashion with an awesome all-women panel including Annie Agle (VP of Impact at Cotopaxi), Hannah Sherman (Sustainability Manager at Rothy’s), Holly Samuelsen (Owner at Gravel & Gold), Sonia Yang (Co-Founder & CTO at Treet), and yours truly. Register here.

• Dinner with Sustainable Fashion Friends. Friday April 24, 7-8pm. Curated dinner for operators inside fashion brands. Register here.

Not in SF? No worries. We will also be in London and NYC.

Stay bold,

Donatela

Flash recap:

Brand & Industry News

• H&M x Stella McCartney Drop First Look at Collab

• Allbirds Ditches Sustainability, Pivots to AI

• Guinness and Vintage Threads Release 32-Piece Upcycled Collection

• Walmart Joins U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol

Innovation Announcements

• The Little Loop Raises £750K to Scale Fashion Resale

• Recover and Prosperity Textile Partner on Recycled Denim at Scale

• eBay Reveals Circular Fashion Fund Finalists

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H&M x Stella McCartney Drop First Look at Collab. 20 years after their first partnership, H&M and Stella McCartney revealed first looks at their second collaboration, featuring organic cotton, RWS-certified wool, recycled crystals, and coatings from recycled vegetable oil. Drops May 7th. Read more

• McCartney stipulated strict sustainability requirements as a condition of the collab

• An Insights Board launched alongside to foster industry dialogue on materials, circularity, and animal welfare

• Critics question whether a sustainable capsule offsets H&M’s broader output and why the Insights Board does not include garment workers

Allbirds Ditches Sustainability, Pivots to AI. Allbirds, once a certified B Corp known for sustainable footwear, announced it is selling its shoe brand and pivoting to AI compute infrastructure (GPUs-as-a-Service), rebranding as “NewBird AI.” Stock closed up 582% on the day, then fell 30-35% the next day. Read more

• Will ask shareholders to approve removing references to environmental conservation from its charter at a special meeting on May 18

• Footwear assets sold to American Exchange Group for $39M (with Allbirds once valued at $4B at its November 2021 IPO)

• Pivot draws comparisons to dot-com era blockchain rebrands, raising questions about long-term viability

Makes me wonder how a company that started with the goal of reviving New Zealand merino wool, earned B Corp status, and wrote environmental conservation into its legal charter can now drop its values to chase the latest shiny object. And will their GPU-as-a-service run on renewable energy? Given they are removing their environmental public benefit status, do not count on it.

Guinness and Vintage Threads Release 32-Piece Upcycled Collection. Guinness partnered with London-based rework studio Vintage Threads on a 32-piece upcycled collection, transforming archival Guinness materials including umbrellas, aprons, socks, and shirts into one-of-a-kind fashion pieces. Read more

• Each piece handcrafted by Vintage Threads’ team at their Islington studio

• Demonstrates how legacy non-fashion brands can engage with circular design through upcycling

Walmart Joins U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol. Walmart joined the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, a science-based sustainability and traceability program for U.S. cotton growers, alongside existing members Amazon, Macy’s, Levi’s, and URBN. Read more

• Protocol tracks six sustainability metrics: land use, soil health, water management, GHG emissions, energy use, and fiber quality (verified by independent third parties)

• Membership is part of Walmart’s Project Gigaton initiative, targeting one billion metric tons of avoided emissions by 2030

• With $713B in annual revenue and 10,900+ stores globally, Walmart’s participation significantly scales the program’s reach

The Little Loop Raises £750K to Scale Fashion Resale. Brighton-based clothing resale platform The Little Loop secured £750,000 from The FSE Group’s growth fund and Business Angel Network to accelerate its B2B2C trade-in and resale platform. Read more

• Platform lets consumers trade in used garments for pre-loved items or vouchers; brands get a white-label take-back scheme with no in-house operational burden

• Currently focused on children’s clothing and preparing to expand into adult fashion

• The UK clothing resale market is worth £7B and forecast to double by 2029

Recover and Prosperity Textile Partner on Recycled Denim at Scale. Recycled cotton fiber producer, Recover, announced a partnership with Prosperity Textile, a denim manufacturer with annual capacity approaching 100 million yards, to produce industrial-scale sustainable denim fabrics. Read more

eBay Reveals Circular Fashion Fund Finalists. eBay revealed eight finalists for its Circular Fashion Fund this week, each receiving a $50,000 grant, with one Global Winner to also receive a $300,000 investment from eBay Ventures, to be announced in May. Read more

• Finalists are Refabric (AI design and production software), eComID (personalised shopping to reduce returns), TRUSS (automated secondhand pricing), Trosort (automated textile sorting), It Goes Forward (returns management), Circular Sourcing (platform for surplus textile raw materials), Ragpiq (resale connecting individuals with local resellers), and Silhouet (design-to-production platform for emerging brands)

PS: I keep this free so every sustainability professional can access it. If you’re getting value, consider upgrading. You get quarterly 1:1s with me and support for your trickiest dilemmas. Think of it as taking me out for coffee. ☕️

Let's go!

Dear friends,

It’s been a while. Your girl has been busy building her startup (Alu)… making digital product passports that change consumer behavior and help people connect with their clothes, their brands, and each other. 💃

A quick update worth sharing: Alu has been shortlisted as a top 20 finalist for the H&M Foundation Global Change Award.

Also, 2 great events coming up during SF Climate Week:

• Lessons from the Front Lines of Circular Fashion

• Dinner With Fashion Friends during SF Climate Week

And, dinners in London and NYC for sustainability enthusiasts inside of fashion brands. Hope to see you there!

Stay bold,

Donatela

Flash recap here:

Brand & Industry News

• Fashion Revolution Closes Its UK Operation

• Vinted Posts 38% Revenue Jump

• Pacsun Brings PS Vintage Into Physical Stores

• Primark Updates Its Circular Product Standard to Version 2.0

Innovation Announcements

• Walmart and REI Back Unspun’s AI-Powered US Manufacturing Hubs

• Madewell, Re&Up and Isko Launch a Textile-to-Textile Denim Collection

• Carhartt Heir Launches Wylie Welling, a Circular Brand Built on Vintage Carhartt

• DOE and Amazon Partner to Turn Textile Waste into Battery Materials

Upstream News

• Spinnova Restarts Trial Runs at Its Finnish Factory

• Noida Garment Workers Protest Over Wages as Unrest Turns Violent

Regulatory & Standards Shifts

• Fashion for Good Launches FAE Project to Bridge the Textile Recycling Gap

• AAFA Files Legal Complaint Over California’s Textile Recycling Rollout

• Texas Investigates Lululemon Over Potential PFAS in Its Activewear

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Fashion Revolution Closes Its UK Operation. Fashion Revolution, founded in 2013 after Rana Plaza and the world’s largest fashion activism movement, has wound down its UK Community Interest Company, citing a difficult funding environment. It will shift to a decentralized, globally led structure. Read more

• The closure follows Remake shutting down at the end of February 2026 and the Clean Clothes Campaign cutting at least 30 staff from its Amsterdam and Belgium offices, pointing to a wider funding crisis in fashion advocacy

• Country teams will gain greater autonomy under the new federated model

Vinted Posts 38% Revenue Jump. Vinted reported revenue of 1.1 billion euros for 2025, up 38% year on year, with gross merchandise value hitting 10.8 billion euros, up 47%. For context, The RealReal and ThredUp grew 15% and 20% respectively over the same period. Read more

• Net profit fell 19% from 76.7 million to 62 million euros as Vinted invested in Germany, new categories and logistics

• The platform expanded into electronics, homeware, collectibles and three new countries, including its first move outside Europe into the US in January 2026

• Vinted now operates across 26 countries

Pacsun Brings PS Vintage Into Physical Stores. Pacsun has expanded its online resale concept PS Vintage into 16 physical store locations, in partnership with secondhand platform SPRINGY. The range features one-of-a-kind pre-loved pieces including graphic tees, hoodies, denim and jackets, curated by size, era and style. Expansion to additional stores is planned. Read more

• Pacsun’s own Youth Report found Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers are increasingly prioritising individual, self-curated style over mass trends

• PS Vintage launched online before this physical expansion

• The move integrates resale into Pacsun’s core store experience rather than keeping it separate

Primark Updates Its Circular Product Standard to Version 2.0. Primark has relaunched its Circular Product Standard with updated criteria on materials, durability and recyclability across nine categories including denim, jersey and knitwear. Three years of supplier testing and a new “progressive design level” raise the bar on what circular means at Primark’s scale. Read more

Walmart and REI Back Unspun’s AI-Powered US Manufacturing Hubs. Unspun has secured letters of support from Walmart and REI to build automated 3D weaving hubs across the US, producing garments directly from yarn in a single process. Sites are being evaluated across multiple states with initial production expected soon. Read more

• Unspun has raised over $50M in venture funding and appointed Arne Arens, former global president of The North Face, as CEO in March 2026

• The model shortens timelines from months to days, letting brands reorder within the same season and hold less inventory

• Supply chain partners Bethel Industries, Peckham and PDS Ltd/GSC Link have also signed on

• Unspun says on-demand production can improve gross margins by 400 to 500 basis points by cutting markdowns and write-offs

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Madewell, Re&Up and Isko Launch a Textile-to-Textile Denim Collection. Re&Up processed around 20,000 pairs of post-consumer jeans from Madewell’s take-back program into Next-Gen Cotton and Polyester fibres that Isko wove into GRS-certified fabric. The three-piece capsule is now on Madewell.com. Both Re&Up and Isko are part of the Sanko Group. Read more

• Madewell has collected and recycled over 2 million pairs of jeans through its take-back program

• Re&Up’s process is feedstock-agnostic, handling complex polycotton blends regardless of wear history

• The jeans contain between 71-75% recycled cotton

Carhartt Heir Launches Wylie Welling, a Circular Brand Built on Vintage Carhartt. Gretchen Valade, great-great-granddaughter of Carhartt founder Hamilton Carhartt and former director of sustainability at the company, launched Wylie Welling on April 7. The brand restores and reinterprets vintage Carhartt garments from the 1970s through early 2000s, with upcycling done by teams in Los Angeles and Detroit. A Detroit retail space is planned. Read more

DOE and Amazon Partner to Turn Textile Waste into Battery Materials. The US Department of Energy’s Ames National Laboratory and Critical Materials Innovation Hub have teamed up with Amazon to recover critical materials from discarded textiles and decommissioned electronics, with a specific goal of producing battery-grade graphite from post-consumer clothing. Read more

Spinnova Restarts Trial Runs at Its Finnish Factory. Spinnova has begun trial runs at its Woodspin demo factory in Jyväskylä to validate its wood-pulp-to-fiber technology at scale before restarting commercial production later in 2026. The restart follows a turbulent 18 months including a production halt and the collapse of its joint venture with Suzano. Read more

• Spinnova took full ownership of the Woodspin facilities from Suzano in October 2025

• H&M Group, Marimekko and The North Face have previously expressed interest in Spinnova fibre

Noida Garment Workers Protest Over Wages as Unrest Turns Violent. Thousands of garment workers in Noida’s Phase 2 Hosiery Complex took to the streets demanding higher wages after Haryana announced a 35% minimum wage increase. Workers earning around 13,000 rupees a month are demanding 20,000. The protests turned violent on Monday. Read more

Fashion for Good Launches FAE Project to Bridge the Textile Recycling Gap. Fashion for Good has launched Project FAE (Feedstock Activation Europe), backed by Adidas, Bestseller and Inditex, to fix the gap between what sorters produce and what recyclers can use. Managing director Katrin Ley was direct: the technology is no longer the bottleneck. The sorting lines and pre-processing infrastructure are. Read more

• Most non-rewearable post-consumer textiles still end up incinerated or landfilled because feedstock preparation is broken, not for lack of recycling technology

• FAE will assess pre-processing methods including fibre blend separation, elastane removal and contaminant extraction

• The project will develop a framework for regional European hubs producing feedstock streams tailored to individual recycler specifications

• Recycling partners include Circ, Circulose, Infinited Fiber Company, Recover, Reju and Worn Again

AAFA Files Legal Complaint Over California’s Textile Recycling Rollout. The American Apparel and Footwear Association has taken CalRecycle to court over its selection of Landbell USA as the Producer Responsibility Organisation under SB 707, the first textile-specific EPR law in the US. AAFA says Landbell USA fails all four statutory criteria. The four disputed criteria: producer-formed, nonprofit structure, diverse board and robust financial controls. A July 2026 registration deadline makes resolution urgent. Read more

Texas Investigates Lululemon Over Potential PFAS in Its Activewear. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has issued a Civil Investigative Demand to Lululemon, investigating whether its activewear contains PFAS, linked to endocrine disruption and cancer. The probe will review testing protocols, restricted substances list and supply chain practices. Read more

• Lululemon told the AP it phased out PFAS in early 2024, where they had been used in a small number of durable water repellent products

• Shares fell as much as 4.5% on the announcement, adding to a 22% year-to-date decline before this news

• The probe is part of a pattern of state-level chemical accountability actions targeting apparel, with Texas having also investigated Shein on similar grounds

PS: I keep this free so every sustainability professional can access it. If you’re getting value from it, consider upgrading. You’ll get quarterly 1:1s with me and support for your trickiest dilemmas. Think of it as taking me out for a coffee. ☕️

Let's set up a coffee chat

Dear sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

What a week it has been. Big news (eBay buying Depop), depressing news (Remake closing down), and a lot in between.

Also, tomorrow (Friday) we have an amazing conversation as part of La Positive Society community with Annie Agle from Cotopaxi about how collaboration can lead to impact and what that actually looks like. Hope to see you there!

Stay bold,

Donatela

Get these recaps in your inbox

Here is a quick recap:

Brand & Industry News

• Remake shuts down after a decade of advocacy.

• Longchamp and Marc O’Polo earn B Corp certification.

• Tapestry partners with Climeworks on carbon removal.

• Coach and Bank & Vogue launch a post-consumer denim capsule.

• BAM, Kappahl, and Zalando push resale infrastructure forward.

• Armedangels refocuses DetoxDenim with its “No Dirty Secrets” campaign.

Innovation Announcements

• eBay acquires Depop in a $1.2B resale play.

• Circ expands Fiber Club with Madewell, Reformation, and C&A.

• Croissant raises $28M as Tingit scales repair across Europe.

• Trust-Place and SYW link digital certificates to repair and resale.

• Arc’teryx pilots TESTEX’s new circularity certification.

Regulatory & Standards Shifts

• Shein faces probes in the EU and the United States.

• New York passes mandatory Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions disclosure law.

Remake shuts down after a decade of advocacy. Fashion labor nonprofit Remake closed operations, after failing to secure sustainable funding. The org behind #PayUp and #NoNewClothes helped recover over $22Bn in stolen wages and championed California's Garment Worker Protection Act, but cited a sharp decline in funding for labor and climate justice work, and growing pushback against corporate accountability measures, as the forces behind its closure. Read more.

Longchamp and Marc O'Polo earn B Corp status. Longchamp receives B Corp certification, assessed across 300+ criteria spanning governance, production, and HR. Notably, the brand repaired 80,000 products across 33 global repair centers in 2025. Marc O'Polo also joined the B Corp community, one of the few fashion companies of its size globally to do so, as part of its long-term 2030+ sustainability strategy. Read more and this too.

Tapestry partners with Climeworks on carbon removal. Tapestry, parent of Coach and Kate Spade New York, signed a 10-year agreement with Swiss carbon removal firm Climeworks, becoming its first North American fashion and retail customer. The deal covers five removal pathways, both engineered and nature-based, to address Tapestry's Scope 1 emissions. Worth noting: carbon removal is still a contested approach, and critics point to the risk of it becoming a substitute for actually reducing emissions and the focus on Scope 1 instead of Scope 3 (which is where most of fashion’s emissions originate). Read more.

And…. Coach and Bank & Vogue launch post-consumer denim capsule. Coach teamed up with Bank & Vogue, parent of Beyond Retro, on "Coach Repurposed," a limited-edition capsule crafted entirely from post-consumer denim. The collection is now available in Coach stores and online. Read more.

BAM, Kappahl, and Zalando push resale infrastructure forward. British bamboo brand BAM launched a free take-back scheme with SATCoL, the Salvation Army’s trading arm, accepting garments from any brand via prepaid returns. Nordic retailer Kappahl piloted in-store resale at its Göteborg Nordstan location using AI startup Bencha’s platform to automate sorting and valuation. And Zalando expanded its pre-owned category to kidswear across 14 European markets via a C2B2C model, letting parents trade in outgrown items for store credit, with up to 50% of pre-owned listings selling within 24 hours. Three different approaches, one clear direction. Read more, this, and this too.

Armedangels' "No Dirty Secrets" campaign refocuses on DetoxDenim. Armedangels launched a new international campaign to put its DetoxDenim offer back in the spotlight. Shot as a reverse-motion film of mud-coated bodies, the campaign drives home that DetoxDenim replaces toxic bleaching and stone washing with ozone and laser tech, uses GOTS-approved chemicals only, and incorporates recycled fibers like SaXcell Lyocell. Read more.

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eBay to buy Depop. eBay announced it would acquire the platform from Etsy for $1.2Bn, with Depop set to retain its brand while gaining eBay’s logistics and payments infrastructure. Some key points:

• eBay’s acquisition of Depop from Etsy for $1.2B (that’s $400M more than what Etsy paid in 2021).

• Days before, Depop launched “Depoponomics,” a U.S. campaign positioning resale as a practical financial tool, citing that 57% of Americans now factor it into household budgeting.

• Etsy sold Depop to fully unwind its short-lived “House of Brands” strategy and refocus capital and management attention on scaling its core Etsy marketplace for makers and creators, even though Depop was its only growing business.

• eBay bought Depop to deepen its position in secondhand fashion and accelerate relevance with Gen Z and younger millennials (90% of Depop’s 7M active buyers are under 34), using Depop’s social, mobile-first resale model to strengthen eBay’s competitive stance against fast-growing players like Vinted and to anchor fashion as a strategic growth category.

Read this great comprehensive deep dive from .

Circ expands Fiber Club with Madewell, Reformation, C&A. Textile-to-textile recycler Circ added a second cohort to its Fiber Club initiative, including Madewell, Reformation, and C&A with supply chain partners Lenzing and Linz Textil. The program pools demand across pulp, fiber, and yarn stages to dissolve the minimum order and pricing barriers that have long kept recycled polycotton out of mainstream supply chains. Each brand will develop collections using fibers with 30% Tencel Circ, with Circ’s first industrial-scale facility in France expected to be operational by 2028. Read more.

Croissant raises $28M; Tingit raises €1.5M. U.S. resale fintech Croissant secured $28M to grow its guaranteed-buyback model, which shows shoppers the future resale value of items at checkout across 80+ retail partners including Nordstrom and Reformation. Meanwhile, repair startup Tingit raised €1.5M to expand its AI-powered repair marketplace across Europe, where users upload a photo of a damaged item, get a quote, and ship it via parcel locker to one of 100+ skilled makers across Lithuania, France, and Poland. Read more and this too.

Trust-Place and SYW link digital certificates to repair and resale. Post-purchase experience platform Trust-Place partnered with aftersales and care & repair tech provider SYW to connect digital product certificates directly to repair and resale services. Read more.

Arc'teryx and TESTEX pilot a new circularity certification. Arc'teryx became one of the first apparel brands to pilot the TESTEX CIRCULARITY label, assessed across durability, repairability, and recyclability, with all submitted product categories passing. Notably, Arc'teryx helped shape the certification criteria itself, pushing for recycled and preferred materials to be included in the standard's definition of circularity. Read more.

Shein faces probes on both sides of the Atlantic. The EU opened a formal DSA investigation into Shein over the sale of childlike sex dolls and allegedly illegal products, as well as the platform's "addictive design" features, with potential fines reaching 6% of global turnover. Separately, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Shein for selling products containing toxic chemicals at levels exceeding safety standards, including garments marketed to newborns and children, and for data risks. Read more and this too.

New York passes mandatory Scope 1, 2, and 3 disclosure law. The New York State Senate passed the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, requiring U.S.-based companies with over $1Bn in revenue doing business in New York to publicly disclose Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions annually, beginning in 2027. Read more.

Dear sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

You may have noticed that this Substack is no longer calling itself La Purpose Brand. Instead, we have rebranded to join efforts with La Positive Society, a curated community of sustainability operators actively inside fashion brands. We just realized that we both have the same goal: to bring changemakers together and share ideas that empower them to change the industry.

I have also recently gone through the painful but necessary journey of pivoting my startup Alu away from traceability into digital product passports (DPPs) that people actually want to scan. I believe it’s within DPPs that we can start to solve the challenge of consumer behavior and help people reconnect with their clothes, brands, and each other.

And, ICYMI, predictions for 2026 with inputs from 12 experts.

So, thank you for your patience as I get back here to share with you the highs and lows of sustainable fashion.

Stay bold,

Donatela 🫒

Here is this week’s recap:

Brand & Industry News

• Primark launches recycled denim collection.

• Retailers launch unified compliance framework.

• Collina Strada debuts BioFluff on the runway.

• Allbirds launches first bio-fabricated footwear collection.

• Mended x Fabienne Chapot bring repair into the brand journey.

• Boohoo co-founder knew of unsafe factory conditions, lawsuit claims.

Innovation Announcements

• ReSee launches luxury resale membership model.

• Epoch Biodesign x Invista target recycled nylon 6,6.

• Spinnova revenue drops 54%.

• Circulose restarts world’s first industrial textile recycling plant.

• Reju selects Lacq Basin for French recycling hub.

• Fashion for Good tackles elastane’s recycling problem.

Regulatory & Standard Shifts

• EU bans destruction of unsold clothing and footwear.

• US Congress revisits de minimis for small parcels, NCTO pushes back.

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Primark launches recycled denim collection.

Primark launched its first 5-piece denim collection made with a minimum of 20% post-consumer recycled cotton, with the remaining material sourced through the Primark Cotton Project supporting farmers its supply chain. The pieces were designed with end-of-life recycling in mind (no stretch, no metal rivets, single-material construction) and each was tested against Primark’s Durability Framework. Read more.

Retailers launch unified compliance framework.

Seven major retailers (About You, Asos, Boozt, Ellos Group, New Look, The Very Group, and Zalando) alongside Cascale and Fair Wear, launched a unified self-assessment questionnaire and free digital platform, One Retail Hub, developed by TrusTrace. The tool streamlines Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence reporting using OECD-aligned criteria, reducing duplicative data requests that burden SMEs. Read more.

Collina Strada debuts BioFluff on the runway.

For her Fall 2026 "The World Is a Vampire" collection at NYFW, designer Hillary Taymour used BioFluff (a Paris-based material made from recycled hemp, viscose, and Tencel). Read more.

Allbirds launches first bio-fabricated footwear collection.

Allbirds introduced its Terralux collection, marking the first time Modern Meadow's INNOVERA™ material has been used in footwear. The animal-free, bio-fabricated material is made from plant proteins, post-consumer recycled rubber, and biopolymers. Read more.

Mended x Fabienne Chapot bring repair into the brand journey.

Repair service MENDED partnered with Dutch fashion brand Fabienne Chapot to integrate premium repairs directly into the post-purchase experience, with top customers offered limited free repairs this spring. Behind the scenes, the partnership is also working with to connect repair data to the Digital Product Passport. Read more.

Boohoo co-founder knew of unsafe factory conditions, lawsuit claims.

A £177M shareholder lawsuit against Boohoo alleges that co-founder Mahmud Kamani likely knew workers at Leicester supplier factories were underpaid and subjected to "arbitrary abuse and humiliation" before the story broke publicly in 2020 (when Boohoo's share price fell 42%). Read more.

ReSee launches luxury resale membership model.

Paris-based luxury resale platform ReSee introduced "The Circle," a tiered membership offering early access to new arrivals, priority shipping, private sales, and (at higher tiers) 24-hour reservation windows and invites to private events. Read more.

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Epoch Biodesign x Invista target recycled nylon 6,6.

Inditex-backed biotech Epoch Biodesign signed an MoU with Invista to develop textile-to-textile recycled nylon 6,6 at commercial scale using AI-designed enzymes. Read more.

Spinnova revenue drops 54%.

Finnish wood-based fiber startup Spinnova reported €344,000 in revenue for 2025 (down 54% year-on-year) and a net loss of €40.7M, more than double 2024's figure.

Production at its Woodspin facility remains suspended until "commercially and strategically justified," though the company has secured offtake agreements with Armedangels and Tommy Hilfiger and is now building a consortium model to advance its wood-based fibre technology. Read more.

My thoughts? Spinnova’s revenue drop comes after a long list of next-gen materials and fiber startups that have gone bankrupt, wound down, or sharply pivoted such as Bolt Threads (ending Mylo and textile production), Natural Fiber Welding (winding down operations around Mirum), Ananas Anam (Piñatex entering administration), and MycoWorks (shutting its South Carolina plant). The challenge isn’t the science, but scaling capital-intensive technology in a market that still prioritises cost, speed, and certainty. I am hopeful by the next news though:

Circulose restarts industrial textile recycling plant.

Formerly Renewcell, Circulose (acquired by Swedish PE firm Altor in June 2024) announced the Q4 2026 restart of its Sundsvall facility, the world's first industrial-scale chemical textile recycling plant, targeting 60k tonnes of recycled dissolving pulp annually.

The comeback is built on a partner-led model rather than open-market sales, with 11 confirmed brand commitments including H&M Group, Reformation, Filippa K, C&A, and Bestseller, plus fiber conversion agreements with Aditya Birla, Tangshan Sanyou, and Jilin Chemicals. Read more.

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Reju selects Lacq Basin for French recycling hub.

Paris-based polyester regeneration firm Reju selected the Lacq Basin in southwestern France as the site of its first industrial-scale French Regeneration Hub, designed to depolymerize post-consumer textiles into recycled BHET for reuse in new PET fiber. Read more.

Fashion for Good tackles elastane's recycling problem.

Fashion for Good launched "Stretching Circularity," a coalition project to validate bio-based and recycled elastane alternatives at pilot scale (addressing one of the most stubborn blockers to textile circularity). Present in roughly 80% of all clothing, even minimal elastane concentrations contaminate recycling feedstocks and effectively prevent fibre-to-fibre recycling of cotton and polyester. Read more.

EU bans destruction of unsold clothing and footwear.

The European Commission adopted new measures under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), introducing a ban on the destruction of unsold apparel, accessories, and footwear (set to apply to large companies from July 2026 and medium companies from 2030). An estimated 4-9% of unsold textiles in Europe are destroyed before ever being worn, generating around 5.6M tonnes of CO₂ annually; companies will also be required to publicly disclose unsold product destruction from February 2027 in a standardized format. Read more.

My thoughts? I think this is directionally right, but it won’t be clean. Forecasting demand is hard, and brands won’t trap cash in inventory with no exit, so we’ll likely see workarounds like “donations” shipped overseas or recycling used as a label rather than a solution. We’ll get real improvements, but also second- and third-order effects that shift the problem rather than fully solving it.

US Congress revisits de minimis for small parcels, NCTO pushes back.

The National Council of Textile Organizations urged House leaders to oppose the Secure Revenue Clearance Channel Act, a bipartisan bill that would allow informal entry for shipments valued at $600 or less. NCTO CEO Kim Glas called it a backdoor reinstatement of a rule Congress only just closed, warning it would undo duty collection gains and reopen channels for forced-labor goods. Read more.

Other notable reads:

• California Spends $99 Million A Year Sending Textiles to Landfill

• Only 3% of Companies Cut Back on Sustainability Communication and Initiatives over Past Year: Workiva Survey

• Vinted: How Dropshipping is Blurring the Promise of Circularity

• Climate Risk Could Impact Bottom Lines by up to 34% by 2030, Finds New Research

Hello sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

And… we’re back!!! I hope you all had amazing year ends that were restorative, and that you’re now ready to crush it in the new year.

This is the first La Impact Weekly of 2026, and it covers the past three weeks, since the last issue went out on December 17. Before we get started, I’d love to hear what you want to see this year, so please take a moment to answer the poll below.

ICYMI - Last week I shared a recap of what 2025 meant for sustainable fashion, and it got a lot of love. You can check it out here:

Stay bold,

Donatela

Flash recap:

Brand & Industry Moves

• Canopy adds 8 brands to CanopyStyle initiative

• Recover and DAWN Denim launch Vietnam-made recycled cotton jeans

• Nudie Jeans reframes denim around repair and longevity

• Kuyichi tests fungi to cut denim microplastics

• Fashion for Good details how to close the price gap on next-gen materials

Sustainable Fashion Tech Announcements

• RadiciGroup, LYCRA, and Triumph demonstrate polyamide elastane recycling

• Qorium raises €22M to scale cell-based leather

• Tommy Hilfiger joins Spinnova to scale wood-based textile fiber

• World-first automated textile sorter SIPTex put up for sale

Upstream News

• Nike pays Thai garment workers after years-long wage dispute

Standards & Regulatory Shifts

• EU proposes EU-wide end-of-waste rules

• France PFAS ban takes effect

Hot Off The Press

• Depop spotlights shift toward edited, repeatable personal style in 2026

Canopy adds 8 brands to CanopyStyle initiative. Environmental nonprofit Canopy announced that eight new fashion brands (including Victoria’s Secret & Co., SPELL, Akyn and DÔEN) have joined its CanopyStyle initiative to eliminate the use of wood from Ancient and Endangered Forests in man-made cellulosic fibers (like viscose/rayon). By signing on, these brands commit to improving transparency and traceability in their viscose supply chains and to accelerating the uptake of “Next-Generation” MMCF alternatives (made from recycled textiles or agricultural residues). Read more.

Recover and DAWN Denim announced Vietnam-made recycled cotton jeans. Recover and Berlin-based DAWN Denim launched their first garments using recycled cotton from Recover’s newly opened Vietnam facility, creating one of the first localized circular denim supply chains in the region. According to Recover’s EcoReview-verified Life Cycle Assessment, the recycled cotton achieves 99.9% water savings and 93% CO₂ reduction versus conventional cotton. Read more.

Nudie Jeans partners with SewMe Collective. SewMe Collective partnered with Nudie Jeans to transform beyond-repair denim into one-of-a-kind pieces. Five designers (Maco, Noah Harry Palmer, fff, Thredbyfred, and Roughcut) used sashiko stitching, patchwork, and sculptural techniques to create fur-lined hoods, cropped jackets, and tote bags from garments with structural damage and blown-out knees, positioning creative remaking as an alternative to recycling. Read more.

Kuyichi tests fungi to cut denim microplastics. Kuyichi partners with Italian mill Candiani Denim to source fabrics treated with Kitotex®, a patented technology that replaces petroleum-based PVA sizing with chitosan derived from the fungus Aspergillus niger. Rather than breaking down microplastics after washing, Kitotex® prevents microplastic pollution at the source. Read more.

Fashion for Good details how to close the price gap on next-gen materials. Industry innovation platform Fashion for Good has introduced a “Price Parity Toolkit” designed to bridge the cost gap between novel sustainable materials and conventional ones. Developed with support from the Laudes Foundation, Canopy, and Finance Earth, the toolkit proposes a “premium decoupling” finance model that removes the early-stage cost premium from the final price of next-gen materials. Read more.

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RadiciGroup, LYCRA, and Triumph demonstrate polyamide-elastane recycling. RadiciGroup, The LYCRA Company, and Triumph showed that mixed-fiber polyamide elastane garments can be chemically recycled into virgin-quality polyamide and reused in new products. The project converted post-industrial and post-consumer textile waste into new fibers and fabrics, with Triumph producing new lingerie to validate the recyclability of stretch garments at industrial scale. Read more.

Qorium raises €22M to scale cell-based leather. Qorium secured €22 million in Series A funding to commercialize lab-grown leather made from real animal cells without livestock farming. The Amsterdam-based company grows leather directly from cells, eliminating tanning and reducing land, water, and chemical use, with the new capital funding pilot-scale production and partnerships with fashion and automotive brands. Read more.

Tommy Hilfiger joins Spinnova to scale wood-based textile fiber. Tommy Hilfiger joined as a brand partner to help scale production and integrate the fiber into future collections as part of its material innovation roadmap. Spinnova produces textile fibers from wood pulp and other cellulosic waste using a mechanical spinning process that avoids dissolving, regenerating, or chemical solvents used in viscose production. Read more.

World-first automated textile sorter SIPTex put up for sale. SIPTex, located in Malmö, Sweden, has been put up for sale despite being the world’s first fully automated plant capable of sorting post-consumer textiles by fiber composition using near-infrared technology. Launched to supply high-quality feedstock for textile-to-textile recycling, SIPTex can process ~24,000 tonnes annually and was seen as a critical missing link in circular textile systems. So, it is time to come to terms with the reality: recycling infrastructure is technically ready, but brand demand, offtake agreements, and policy signals have not scaled fast enough. Read more.

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Nike pays Thai garment workers after years-long wage dispute. Nike facilitated payments to more than 4,000 Thai workers laid off after a supplier factory closed in 2020, following sustained pressure from labor groups and mediation led by the Fair Labor Association. The settlement covers unpaid severance and benefits owed under Thai law. Read more.

EU proposes EU-wide end-of-waste rules. The European Commission proposed EU-wide rules that clearly define when recycled plastic stops being classified as waste and can be sold as a secondary raw material across member states. By setting common quality, safety, and traceability requirements for waste inputs, recycling processes, and outputs, the proposal aims to restart stalled investments and increase the use of recycled plastic instead of virgin materials. Read more.

France PFAS ban takes effect. France’s national ban on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in textiles and footwear took effect this month, prohibiting their manufacture, import, export, and sale above defined thresholds. The implementing decree exempts second-hand garments, balancing environmental protection with circular economy objectives. A full prohibition on PFAS across all textile products is planned by 2030. Read more.

Depop’s 2026 Trend Report, by Depop

Depop’s 2026 Trend Report explores how economic pressure, digital overload, and cultural uncertainty are reshaping fashion behavior, pushing consumers away from trend chasing and toward more intentional, repeatable personal style. Based on platform data, surveys, and cultural analysis, the report positions secondhand as the infrastructure enabling this shift, allowing people to refine their wardrobes. Key takeaways:

• Outfit repetition replaces constant buying. 78% of respondents say they often or always repeat outfits or silhouettes, 52% say this feels freeing rather than restrictive, and 86% of those affected by current world events report repeating outfits frequently, supporting longer garment lifespans and reduced consumption.

• Secondhand underpins mainstream wardrobe building. Depop positions resale as the primary channel for accessing staples, archival pieces, and statement items, reinforcing reuse as a default behavior rather than an alternative driven by ethics or price.

• Wardrobes shift from accumulation to curation. 9 in 10 people experience decision fatigue when getting dressed, and 8 in 10 report that repeating outfits or silhouettes reduces that fatigue, encouraging fewer purchases and more intentional use of existing clothing.

• Nostalgia redirects demand toward existing garments. 65% of respondents are drawn to styles from past eras, 71% of people affected by current events prefer past-era styles, and 8 in 10 mix references from different decades, signaling demand being met through vintage and archival clothing rather than new production.

• Reuse and upcycling show measurable demand growth. Searches for “upcycled jersey” increased by 233%, while interest in vintage sportswear surged, including “vintage Lululemon” searches up 1,689%, pointing to growing acceptance of reused and reworked garments.

What keeps you up at night? Tell me by filling out the survey, and I will cover it next.

Want to join our community? Apply to join La Positive Society, a community for sustainability professionals in fashion brands.

Subscribe to La Purpose Brand 🫒. Let’s change the world.

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Hello sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

It’s been a while. And, I’ve been missing you all.

For starters, I launched the waitlist for my startup, Alu, where I’m building AI agents for digital product passports. The goal is to make supply chain transparency less painful for brands and suppliers, and to make digital product passports cool and fun.

Then, La Positive Society (my community for sustainability professionals within fashion brands) hosted an amazing webinar with Meital, the brain behind the research showing that secondhand shoppers exhibit fast fashion behaviors. No worries if you missed it, because if you want to keep up with our events, you can just follow us on Luma. We’ll be announcing January, February, March, and April events soon!

And….. ICYMI, I published research on how sustainable fashion brands act during Black Friday. Check it out:

Stay bold,

Donatela

Flash recap:

Brand & Industry Moves

• Eileen Fisher, Reformation, and Everlane join Aii to cut upstream emissions

• Freitag opens self service repair station in Zurich

• PacSun launches vintage resale platform

• GFA launches textile waste recycling initiative in Türkiye

Sustainable Fashion Tech Announcements

• United Repair Centre raises €3.2M to scale repair hubs

• Major brands commit to scaling CIRCULOSE® recycled fiber

• SuperCircle raises $24M to expand textile take back and recycling platform

• Natalie Portman joins Uncaged Innovations as strategic partner

• Beni launches visual search tool for secondhand fashion

• ARMEDANGELS plans to increase Spinnova fiber volumes

• Better Cotton pilots biochar project on Indian cotton farms

Standards & Regulatory Shifts

• UK regulator bans Nike, Superdry, and Lacoste ads over green claims

• EU reaches preliminary deal to weaken sustainability rules

• EU backs 90% emissions cut target for 2040

Hot Off the Press

• Research by the Changing Markets Foundation found that recycled polyester releases significantly more microfibres than virgin polyester

• Research by WRAP found that clothing donation and disposal decisions are driven primarily by convenience and emotion rather than intention

Eileen Fisher, Reformation, and Everlane join Aii to cut upstream emissions. Eileen Fisher, Reformation, and Everlane partnered with the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) in 2024 to jointly sponsor six emissions reduction programs at shared Tier 2 dyeing and finishing suppliers, after Aii identified overlap in their supply chains. The brands are co investing in practical and capital intensive measures such as automated energy shut offs, insulation of hot water pipes and steam valves, and deeper interventions at facilities like Foshan Chicley Textile Co. in China, with technical support from Reset Carbon and BluWin. Read more.

Freitag opens self service repair station in Zurich. Freitag opened a ~10 m2 repair kiosk next to its Zurich flagship, operating like a walk up window where customers choose repairs from a menu and, in some cases, collect bags the same day. The kiosk builds on the brand’s Bag Doctors service, which repaired nearly 10,000 bags in 2024, and uses repurposed materials such as recycled truck tarps and factory signage to embed repair into everyday urban design. Read more.

PacSun launches vintage resale platform. PacSun launched PacSun Vintage, offering curated vintage and secondhand pieces online. The platform is powered by Springy’s infrastructure, handling sourcing, authentication, fulfillment, and resale operations, as PacSun expands into resale without managing logistics in house. Read more.

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GFA launches textile waste recycling initiative in Türkiye. Global Fashion Agenda launched the Circular Fashion Partnership Türkiye to reduce post industrial textile waste by improving sorting, data collection, and links between manufacturers and recyclers. The program will run pilots with factories and recyclers in Türkiye, supported by partners including Reverse Resources, Rematters, and the H&M Foundation, with implementation starting in 2026. Read more.

United Repair Centre raises €3.2M. United Repair Centre secured €3.2 million in impact investment to support a new Paris repair hub launching in 2026, scale technology and operations to handle high volume brand repairs, and enable the opening of two additional European hubs within the next two years. Read more.

Major brands commit to scaling CIRCULOSE® recycled fiber. Circulose announced new long-term partnerships with Bestseller, John Lewis, C&A, Filippa K, Reformation, Faherty, Bobo Choses, and Zero, joining existing partners H&M, Mango, and Marks & Spencer, to bring CIRCULOSE® back to market at scale. Since 2024, Circulose has focused on securing brand commitments to enable scale up of its textile to textile recycled cotton pulp as an alternative to virgin cellulose fibers such as viscose and lyocell. Read more.

SuperCircle raises $24M. SuperCircle secured $24 million in Series A funding to expand its textile take back, sorting, and recycling platform across the U.S. The company works with 75+ brands, has diverted over 6 million garments to date, and plans to scale processing capacity, reverse logistics, and compliance reporting as volumes and regulatory pressure increase. Read more.

Natalie Portman joins Uncaged Innovations as strategic partner. Natalie Portman joined Uncaged Innovations, supporting the scale up of the company’s ELEVATE™ bio leather, an animal free material made from plant based inputs. The partnership builds on Portman’s long standing advocacy for vegan fashion, with her role focused on strategic guidance, visibility, and accelerating industry adoption, rather than an operational or executive position. Read more.

Beni launches visual search for secondhand fashion. Beni unveiled Beni Lens, a patent pending visual search tool that lets shoppers upload photos or screenshots to find secondhand versions in real time across platforms including Poshmark, ThredUp, The RealReal, eBay, and Depop. Available via Chrome extension and iOS app, the tool filters results by size, budget, condition, and brand, aiming to make thrifting as easy as shopping new by meeting users at the point of inspiration. Read more.

ARMEDANGELS plans to increase Spinnova fiber volumes. ARMEDANGELS said it intends to source larger future volumes of Spinnova’s wood based cellulose fiber, building on earlier use in limited capsule collections. The brand said scaling depends on commercial availability, consistent quality, and viable pricing, underscoring that wider adoption will follow once Spinnova’s production capacity expands. Read more.

Better Cotton pilots biochar project on Indian cotton farms. Better Cotton and Planboo launched a pilot across 75 cotton farms in India, using three kilns to convert around 375 tonnes of agricultural waste into 60 to 70 tonnes of biochar starting in 2026. The project will measure soil health, yields, and carbon removal using Planboo’s MRV system before deciding on scale up. Read more.

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UK bans Nike, Superdry, and Lacoste ads over green claims. The UK Advertising Standards Authority banned paid Google ads using phrases like “sustainable materials,” “sustainable style,” and “sustainable clothing,” ruling the claims were ambiguous, unqualified, and not backed by the required high level of evidence, potentially misleading consumers about environmental harm. The ASA does not issue fines, but requires ads to be withdrawn or amended. This adds to the ongoing trend of tougher enforcement following high profile cases such as Adidas withdrawing carbon neutral product claims in Germany. Read more.

EU reaches preliminary deal to weaken sustainability rules. The European Commission, Council, and Parliament reached a preliminary deal to delay timelines and narrow scope for sustainability laws including CSRD and CSDDD, aiming to reduce compliance burden. The deal is not yet final law, with formal Commission proposals, parliamentary and council approval, and national transposition still pending, and exact impacts on company coverage and value chain obligations not yet defined. Read more.

EU backs 90% emissions cut target for 2040. EU lawmakers and member states reached a provisional agreement to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040 compared to 1990 levels, reinforcing the EU Climate Law. The target bridges the gap between the legally binding 2030 goal of at least a 55% reduction and the 2050 climate neutrality objective, as EU emissions were reduced by ~30% by 2022, leaving a much steeper reduction curve in the 2030s. Read more.

Spinning Greenwash: How the fashion industry’s shift to recycled polyester is worsening microplastic pollution, by the Changing Markets Foundation

This study looks at whether recycled polyester, often positioned as fashion’s lower impact alternative, actually reduces microplastic pollution. This research is based on laboratory testing of 51 garments from Adidas, H&M, Nike, Shein, and Zara. Key takeaways:

• Recycled polyester released significantly more fibers during washing than virgin polyester, on average more than 55% higher.

• The fibers released from recycled polyester were shorter and finer, which the report links to greater environmental spread and higher potential risk. Recycling weakens synthetic fibers, making them more brittle and more likely to fragment during everyday use.

• Differences between brands were relatively small overall, suggesting that fiber type and fabric construction matter more than individual brand commitments. Some polyester garments shed far more than others, with Nike items showing the highest fiber release in this sample.

• Cotton behaved differently, shedding heavier and longer fibers that are more likely to be captured by wastewater treatment systems.

• Around 98% of recycled polyester still comes from plastic bottles, not textile waste, diverting bottles from closed loop recycling into garments that are rarely recycled again.

• The study found gaps between marketing claims and physical garment labels, raising questions about how recycled content is verified.

• The authors conclude that design improvements and filtration can help reduce shedding, but that reducing overall use of synthetic fibers, recycled or not, is essential.

Understanding Clothing Donation and Disposal Behaviours, by WRAP

This research looks at how people in the UK actually decide what to do with unwanted clothes, focusing on what happens in the moment rather than what people say in surveys. Through real-time clothing sort-outs, in-home observation, and follow-up interviews, WRAP found that donation and disposal decisions are driven by convenience, emotion, and everyday pressures. Key takeaways:

• Nearly half of used textiles in the UK end up in household waste, with each person discarding an average of 35 clothing items into general bins each year

• Clothing sort-outs are usually triggered by life events like seasonal changes, lack of storage, or children growing, rather than planned efforts

• Convenience consistently outweighs intention, with people choosing the quickest and least disruptive option even when they want to donate or recycle responsibly

• Emotional attachment and perceived value make some items harder to part with, delaying donation or disposal

• Awareness of donation, resale, and recycling routes is high, but confusion and mistrust about what happens after donation reduce follow-through. Familiar, low-effort routes like charity shops, local donation bins, and drop-off points are most likely to convert intention into action

What keeps you up at night? Tell me by filling out the survey, and I will cover it next.

Wanna change the industry? Add your name to the Alu AI waitlist and join the transparency rebellion. Because transparency should not be this hard.

Subscribe to La Purpose Brand 🫒. Let’s change the world.

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Hello sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

Time for one of the many big announcements coming your way in these coming weeks. 👀

I’m launching La Positive Society, a free community for sustainability professionals at fashion and luxury brands. Whether you work in sourcing, buying, design, or you’re a founder, if you’re ready to take action on sustainability and want a crew that’s got your back, this is for you.

Our goal is simple: to help sustainability pros amplify each other.

Inside, you’ll find a Slack channel, WhatsApp group, monthly office hours, and in-person meetups to connect, collaborate, and occasionally commiserate (because sustainability isn’t for the faint of heart).

Join today!

Join the community

Stay bold,

Donatela 💚

Flash recap:

Brand & Industry Moves

• Vottera launched Regenerative Organic Certified apparel line.

• Veja and Finisterre launched Fitz Roy trail shoe.

• The Sak launched peer-to-peer resale platform.

• Footwear Collective pilots shoe circularity system.

• Mytheresa expands Vestiaire Collective resale to menswear.

• Vivienne Westwood partnered with The Seam.

• CFDA and Bezos Earth Fund launched $6.25M sustainability initiative.

Sustainable Fashion Tech Announcements

• REI and Ambercycle signed three-year regenerated polyester agreement.

• Lenzing and OceanSafe launched biodegradable performance yarn.

• Recover and H&M signed multi-year recycled cotton agreement.

• Piñatex owner Ananas Anam heading for liquidation.

Standards & Regulatory Shifts

• ISSB expanded working group for global sustainability reporting passport.

Hot Off The Press

• UK Textiles Pact introduces 8 circularity indicators to achieve 2030 targets.

🫒 Vottera launched Regenerative Organic Certified apparel line. Vik and Vizan Giri, the father-daughter duo behind Terra Thread and Gallant International, launched Vottera using Regenerative Organic Certified cotton from 432 Indigenous farmers in Odisha and Karnataka, India. The collection includes unisex hoodies, sweatshirts, and tees made in fair trade certified factories. Read more.

🫒 Veja and Finisterre launched Fitz Roy trail shoe. UK outdoor brand Finisterre partnered with French sneaker brand Veja to create the Fitz Roy trail shoe using native rubber harvested by seringueiros in the Amazon rainforest. The collaboration highlights Veja’s long-term partnerships with rubber-tapping communities who use ancestral methods to protect forest ecosystems. Read more.

🫒 The Sak launched peer-to-peer resale platform. Handbag brand The Sak introduced ReSak, an internal platform powered by Treet enabling customers to sell pre-loved Sak styles for store credit. The brand plans to route returns and damaged goods through ReSak to minimize waste and maximize circularity. Read more.

Footwear Collective pilots shoe circularity system. The Footwear Collective launched the Footwear Futures Project, partnering with 50 Goodwill SoCal sites through October 31 to collect shoes of any brand and condition across Los Angeles. Collected footwear will be sorted for resale or passed to innovators testing material recovery methods, with data informing future circular infrastructure. Members include Altra, Brooks, Crocs, ECCO, New Balance, ON, Reformation, Steve Madden, Target, and Vans. Read more.

Mytheresa expands Vestiaire Collective resale to menswear. Mytheresa extended its partnership with Vestiaire Collective to menswear resale. Customers submit pre-owned pieces for instant store credit after authentication. Read more.

Vivienne Westwood partnered with The Seam. Vivienne Westwood partnered with The Seam, a UK-based service connecting customers with local tailors, cobblers, and makers for repairs and alterations. The collaboration supports the brand’s longevity ethos and skilled craftsmanship focus. Read more.

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CFDA and Bezos Earth Fund launched $6.25M sustainability initiative. The Council of Fashion Designers of America Foundation partnered with Bezos Earth Fund on The Next Thread Initiative, a three-year program offering grants of $50,000 to $500,000 to independent designers and scholarships of $25,000 to $75,000 to students pursuing sustainable materials and circular design. Applications open in 2026. Read more.

REI and Ambercycle signed three-year regenerated polyester agreement. REI signed a three-year agreement with Ambercycle for cycora, a molecularly regenerated polyester made from textile waste. REI will integrate cycora into performance categories including sleeping bags and rain jackets. Since 2020, REI increased recycled polyester use fivefold. Read more.

Lenzing and OceanSafe launched biodegradable performance yarn. Lenzing partnered with OceanSafe to combine TENCEL Lyocell A100 fibres with naNea, a marine-biodegradable co-polyester. The companies introduced a sportswear capsule with yoga wear, athleisure, and fleece jackets, developed with partners Tearfil, Impetus, Kingwhale, and G-LOFT. Read more.

Recover and H&M signed multi-year recycled cotton agreement. Recover will supply RCotton, its mechanically recycled cotton fiber, to H&M following product development collaboration since early 2024. The agreement enables scaled commercial introduction of recycled cotton into H&M’s collections and supports H&M’s goal to use only recycled or sustainably sourced materials by 2030. Read more.

Piñatex owner Ananas Anam heading for liquidation. Ananas Anam, creator of vegan pineapple leather Piñatex, entered pre-insolvency proceedings in Spain in July with €3.22 million debt. The UK parent company entered administration in August after failed rescue attempts by Fresh Del Monte and Compagnie Frutitiére, with liquidation now proceeding. Read more.

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ISSB expanded working group for global sustainability reporting passport. The International Sustainability Standards Board expanded its working group, facilitating discussions among regulators from 40 jurisdictions covering 40% of global capital markets. The move enables “passporting provisions” so jurisdictions accept reports prepared under ISSB standards, reducing costs and preventing fragmentation. Read more.

UK Textiles Pact introduces 8 circularity indicators to achieve 2030 targets (Read more)

WRAP released the UK Textiles Pact Roadmap 2026-2030, introducing 8 measurable circularity indicators to guide 130+ signatories representing over 62% of textiles placed on the UK market toward 50% carbon and 30% water reduction by 2030. The roadmap shifts from testing to scaling action through flexible pathways across four workstreams: Design for Circularity, Circular Business Models, Closing the Loop on Materials, and Supply Chain Decarbonisation.

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Key takeaways:

• 8 measurable indicators by 2030: 100% preferred materials, 75% products designed for circularity, 20% revenue and 30% transactions from circular business models, 60% post-consumer textiles collection, 80% Tier 1 and 50% Tier 2 facilities using renewable electricity, and 50% coal phase-out in Tier 2

• Systemic challenges slowed progress: Market volatility, low-quality used clothing volumes, EU-UK policy divergence, and fibre-to-fibre recycling gaps offset per-product reductions, with rising production threatening targets

• Proven results: Signatories achieved 16% recycled fibre use (up from 2% in 2021, versus 7.6% global average), developed durability guidelines for 10 product categories testing 1000s of specimens, and received nearly 3x value per £1 contributed

• Flexible pathways: Four business profiles demonstrate how different companies prioritize indicators while collectively meeting targets—modelling shows combined savings could exceed 100%

• Textiles EPR leadership: WRAP designed EPR schemes in Australia (Seamless, began operations 2024) and Ireland, building evidence for UK implementation

• Policy alignment: Roadmap aligns with EU ESPR, CSRD, Digital Product Passports, UK Emissions Trading Scheme, and UN Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action

Well, I’m moving in a couple of weeks, and this means much more than you might think.

The unglamorous side of being an entrepreneur: moving to a smaller home to save money and extend the runway. I would do that over and over again, in a heartbeat.

But it does mean having a bit of a garage sale and letting go of those hobby items you’ve been saving just in case you ever got back into them. For me, that means kombucha brewing, pickle fermentation, and vegetable gardening (which is really difficult in Arizona, not impossible, just reallllyyy difficult). And, of course, being much more active on Poshmark and ThredUp as I come face to face with the clothes I haven’t worn in years. It is time for these items to find loving homes. Don’t you think?

Let’s become friends, you can find me on LinkedIn.

What keeps you up at night? Tell me by filling out the survey, and I will cover it next.

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Hello sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

For those of you that don’t know, I am absolutely obsessed with transparency + supply chain + small and medium sized brands.

So….I am preparing something cool. Something different. Something that will hopefully change how we do transparency. Something that I will announce in a couple weeks. Stay tuned. 👀

Anyways… wanna get your thoughts:

Leave me your thoughts in the comments.

Leave a comment

Stay bold,

Donatela

Flash recap:

Brand & Industry Moves

• GANNI joins Vestiaire Collective’s resale program

• Reformation launches 100% recycled sweater collection

• Levi’s updates water strategy after missing 2025 goal

• eBay named Condé Nast’s pre-loved partner

• Mango partners with Quizrr for worker training

Sustainable Fashion Tech Announcements

• Recover joins T2T Alliance

Standards & Regulatory Shifts

• EU Parliament rejects Omnibus mandate, votes November 13

• EU scales back deforestation law obligations

• New Zealand scales back climate reporting requirements

• California fines plastic bag producers $1.75M for false recyclability claims

• GHG Protocol updates Scope 2 emissions guidance

Hot Off The Press

• 300+ Harmful Chemicals Found in Baby Clothing

• Fashion Needs Full System Reset, Not Just Innovation, to Reach Net Zero

🫒 GANNI joins Vestiaire Collective’s resale program. The Copenhagen-based brand became the 13th partner in Vestiaire Collective’s Resale as a Service program, launched in 2021. Customers can submit pre-loved GANNI pieces through the platform and receive instant store credit via a GANNI gift card topped up with 10%, eliminating the wait for items to sell. Read more.

Reformation launches 100% recycled sweater collection. Reformation debuted its first fully recycled sweater collection with 95% recycled cashmere and 5% recycled wool. Virgin cashmere represents less than 1% of the brand’s materials but accounts for 26.9% of carbon emissions. The recycled collection cuts emissions by 96% and water use by 89%, supporting goals to be climate positive by 2025. Read more.

Levi’s updates water strategy after missing 2025 goal. Levi’s set new targets to reduce freshwater use by 15% across its manufacturing supply chain and recycle 40% of water consumed by 2030, measured against a 2022 baseline. The company achieved only 27% of its previous goal to halve freshwater use in high water-stress regions by 2025. All direct discharge supplier facilities must meet ZDHC’s foundational wastewater standards by 2030, with 25% reaching progressive levels. Read more.

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eBay named Condé Nast’s pre-loved partner. The multi-year deal covers Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, and other titles across the U.S., UK, and Germany. Condé Nast will integrate eBay into editorial and cultural events, positioning authenticated resale as aspirational, not just sustainable. This follows three Met Galas and Vogue World events. Read more.

Mango partners with Quizrr for worker training. Spanish retailer Mango partnered with Swedish EdTech platform Quizrr to train supply chain workers on responsible recruitment, equality, safety, and grievance mechanisms. The platform provides real-time data on training progress and labor rights risks. Read more.

Recover joins T2T Alliance. Spanish recycler Recover joined the textile-to-textile recycling lobby launched in March 2025 by Circ, Circulose, RE&UP, and Syre. The coalition influences EU textile policy. Recover operates recycling centers, and will advocate for mandatory recycled content minimums under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). Read more.

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EU Parliament rejects Omnibus mandate, votes November 13. The European Parliament rejected the mandate on simplified sustainability rules by 318 to 309 votes on October 22. EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola said the compromise “did not go far enough” for some members of the European Parliament and “went too far” for others. The rejected proposal would have raised CSRD thresholds to 1,000 employees and €450-500M revenue (exempting 80% of companies), limited CSDDD due diligence to Tier 1 suppliers only, and applied CSDDD only to companies with 5,000+ employees and €1.5B revenue. The vote comes as the US and Qatar urge the EU to repeal CSDDD, while the European Ombudsman investigates the Commission for drafting the proposal without public consultation or impact assessment. Members vote on amendments November 13 before negotiations with EU states. The EU aims to finalize legislation by end-2025. We will see…. Read more.

EU scales back deforestation law obligations. The European Commission exempted retailers and manufacturers from submitting due diligence statements under the EU Deforestation Regulation, leaving only importers to file once per product. Small operators in low-risk countries face simplified requirements, and now have until end of 2026, with larger firms getting a 6-month enforcement grace period. Read more.

New Zealand scales back climate reporting requirements. The government raised its climate disclosure threshold from $60M to $1B in market cap or debt, reducing entities required to report. It removed personal liability for directors and exempted managed investment schemes. Commerce Minister Scott Simpson cited compliance costs up to $2M and noted only 34 companies listed since 2020 while 37 delisted. Legislation passes in 2026. Read more.

California fines plastic bag producers $1.75M for false recyclability claims. Four manufacturers (Revolution Sustainable Solutions, Metro Poly Corp., PreZero US Packaging, and Advance Polybag) settled with California’s Attorney General for falsely labeling bags as recyclable using “chasing arrows” symbols. A state survey found only 2 of 69 facilities accepted plastic bags, with no recycling confirmation. The companies stopped selling in California and paid $1.75M; three additional manufacturers now face lawsuits. Read more.

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GHG Protocol updates Scope 2 emissions guidance. Draft updates introduce hourly matching and deliverability requirements to align emissions claims with consumption timing and location. Quality criteria for instruments like renewable energy credits aim to reduce double counting. Public consultation ends December 19. Read more.

300+ Harmful Chemicals Found in Baby Clothing (Read more)

Spanish researchers identified 303 potentially harmful chemicals in 43 infant garments using non-targeted screening. The study tested four leaching conditions to determine which substances migrate from fabric to skin, marking the first investigation of infant textile exposure using this approach.

Key takeaways:

• 303 chemicals detected: Pesticides/biocides, surfactants, flame retardants, plasticizers, UV filters, preservatives, fragrances, food additives, and pharmaceuticals found in infant clothing from Granada, Spain

• Industry scope: Over 8000 xenobiotics used in textile manufacturing, from UV-stabilizers to PFAS water repellents, making clothing a daily exposure source with limited international regulation

• Early-life risks: Chemical exposure during fetal, perinatal, and infant periods can cause long-term health effects including male infertility, endometriosis, and cancer

• Regulatory gaps: EU REACH does not rigorously control textiles or monitor Substances of Very High Concern, allowing non-regulated endocrine disruptors like aromatic amines, bisphenols, and parabens in infant clothing

Fashion Needs Full System Reset, Not Just Innovation, to Reach Net Zero (Read more)

Fashion transformation requires reimagining the entire system, not isolated innovations. This report maps eight critical signals disrupting textiles and spotlights ten Global Change Award winners proving early-stage innovations can drive decarbonization and social justice when scaled.

Key takeaways:

• Carbon hotspots: Yarn and fabric production accounts for 52% of emissions, consumption 32%, fiber production 11%, garment assembly 5%, distribution 1%

• Eight system signals: Regulatory pressure, climate extremes affecting 66M textile workers, material scarcity, AI/digitalization, geopolitical uncertainty, sustainability politicization, decarbonization pressures, and localization trends

• Impact at scale by 2050: Renasens waterless recycling could save 160B liters of water annually (200M people’s drinking water equivalent), four innovations collectively could reduce 570K metric tons CO2 (170M t-shirts equivalent), Loom could create 30K designer opportunities, and Pulpatronics could cut 3K tons e-waste (18M smartphones equivalent)

• Reimagined system: Designers work with surplus and recycled materials instead of starting from scratch, suppliers and brands collaborate as equals to drive sustainable production, take-back and repair programs replace disposal as the core of the system, regional production and local labor reduce emissions

I am finally home! I got the best reception from Mica, so many tail wags.

Let’s become friends, you can find me on LinkedIn.

What keeps you up at night? Tell me by filling out the survey, and I will cover it next.

Subscribe to La Purpose Brand 🫒. Let’s change the world.

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Hello sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

I just got back from multiple weeks going to conferences. SF Tech Week, Textile Exchange and AWS Impact Bootcamp. Textile Exchange was packed, and it made it hard to choose which sessions to attend or who to talk to, but, I gotta say: totally worth going to it.

Yes, we still have some of the conversations we have been having for years, and yes, I do wish there were more SME brands, but overall there was depth in some sessions and good representation from Tier 4+. I mentally played Conference Classic Bingo, and gotta say that by the end of Day 2, I checked almost all of them. Keep your eyes open for the key takeaways - coming soon!

And, if you’re curious about AI and fashion tech, here are my key takeaways from SF Tech Week!

All in all, it’s been a busy time, so expect lots of content this week as I share news from last week and the one before.

Stay bold,

Donatela

Flash recap:

Brand & Industry Moves

• MUD Jeans launches 55% post-consumer recycled denim

• Café du Cycliste launches cold-dye collection

• Stella McCartney debuts pollution-fighting denim

• Eileen Fisher launches Renew Mended Outerwear Collection

• Everlane launches fully recyclable Everpuff jacket

• Sister Jane launches Repair Studio

• Arket x Evelina Kroon launch charity blanket

Sustainable Fashion Tech Announcements

• H&M to launch products with Circ’s recycled fibres

• Taylor Swift wears Ganni’s Cycora recycled polyester dress

• Fashionphile acquires Luxe Collective, enters UK market

• BNTO secures $15Mn Series A, launches AI styling agent

Upstream News

• Bangladesh garment factory fire kills 16 workers

Standards & Regulatory Shifts

• EU’s revised waste framework directive enters force

• Spain’s textile EPR delayed

• EU fines Gucci, Chloé and Loewe €157Mn for price fixing

• EU Parliament agrees deeper cuts to CSDDD

• California delays climate reporting rulemaking

Hot Off The Press

• FASHIONPHILE’s Ultra-Luxury Resale Report shows cultural moments drove resale demand

• Cotton Incorporated’s microplastics report shows apparel generates 8.3Mn metric tons plastic leakage yearly

• ThredUp’s Holiday Report shows shoppers allocated 40% of budgets to secondhand

• Canopy’s Hot Button Report shows 70% of MMCF producers earn Green ratings

• Better Cotton’s Annual Report shows 1.63Mn farmers produced 5.64Mn tonnes, with ~700K reporting profit gains.

🫒 MUD Jeans launches 55% post-consumer recycled denim. To celebrate its 12.5-year anniversary, the Dutch brand released The Brooke and The Ben barrel fits in dry indigo wash, made with 55% post-consumer recycled cotton from returned jeans through its Take Back program. This surpasses the industry’s typical 20-40% share for recycled cotton jeans and marks a step toward the brand’s Road to 100 goal of creating jeans entirely from old denim. One of my favorite brands does it again. :) Read more.

🫒 Café du Cycliste launches cold-dye collection. The cycling apparel brand introduced garments dyed using a low-temperature process that uses a fraction of the water, with wastewater clean enough to drink. Each piece is individually dyed with natural ingredients including burnt hazelnut shells, licorice, berries, and carrots. The collection debuts in Charcoal and Verbena on technical performance pieces. That purple is beautiful. Read more.

Stella McCartney debuts pollution-fighting denim. The brand showcased its Summer 2026 collection featuring denim embedded with Pure.Tech, a coating technology that captures CO2, NOx, and VOCs from air. The technology converts pollutants into calcium carbonate and nitrates. PURE.TECH testing showed a 30g swatch absorbed over 2,245 ppm CO₂ in under 10 hours. Read more.

Eileen Fisher launches Renew Mended Outerwear Collection. The brand transformed flawed coats from its take-back program into one-of-a-kind outerwear, highlighting flaws as design features. Each piece was mended by the product development team in Irvington, NY. The collection nearly sold out upon launch. Good for them! Read more.

Everlane launches fully recyclable Everpuff jacket. The brand’s most circular product is made from 97% recycled materials, including recycled polyester shell and recycled down fill. Designed with Debrand for easy disassembly, the jacket can be recycled into new garments. It includes a lifetime warranty and free repair program through Tersus Solutions. 👏 Read more.

🫒 Sister Jane launches Repair Studio. The London-based brand opened an in-house repair service at its Golborne Road Townhouse, offering free repairs on Sister Jane, Dream, Ghospell, and Menswear items. The space looks awesome IMO. Read more.

🫒 Arket x Evelina Kroon launch charity blanket. Swedish brand Arket partnered with artist Evelina Kroon to create a limited-edition blanket featuring UN-inspired colors. For every blanket sold, Arket will donate the value of two thermal blankets to UNHCR, supporting emergency aid for displaced families. Read more.

H&M to launch products with Circ’s recycled fibres. H&M will debut a women’s fleece made with Circ’s recovered polyester this fall, the first time the retailer has integrated Circ’s output at scale. Additionally, H&M will launch a men’s denim collection in Spring 2026 using TENCEL™ | Circ® with REFIBRA™ technology, made with 30% Circ pulp from recycled textile waste. Read more.

Taylor Swift wears Ganni’s Cycora recycled polyester dress. At the Chiefs vs. Lions game, Swift wore a custom Ganni jersey dress made with 70% Cycora, Ambercycle’s textile-to-textile recycled polyester. The dress, from Ganni’s Spring 2025 runway Fabrics of the Future program, featured “Have a nice day, please recycle!” messaging. Ambercycle noted the moment shows circular materials can live at the center of culture. Read more.

Fashionphile acquires Luxe Collective, enters UK market. US resale platform Fashionphile acquired UK-based Luxe Collective, which shut down in mid-2025 after a £500,000 warehouse robbery. The acquisition revives the brand 6 months after closure, with founders Ben and Joe Gallagher joining as directors. Plans include a London flagship authentication center. Read more.

BNTO secures $15Mn Series A, launches AI styling agent. The rental and resale platform raised funding led by Notable Capital to expand its AI system that advises users whether to rent, buy new, or shop secondhand. The “Maya” AI agent offers dynamic pricing, while ALMA.AI manages product lifecycle and personalized recommendations based on consumption patterns, location, weather, and price elasticity. Read more.

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Bangladesh garment factory fire kills 16 workers. On October 14, a fire broke out at a garment factory in Mirpur, Dhaka, spreading to an adjacent chemical warehouse. Workers were trapped because the roof door was locked, and most died from toxic gas inhalation rather than burns. Many victims were teenage workers as young as 14. Read more.

EU’s revised waste framework directive enters force. The European Union’s updated Waste Framework Directive took effect on October 16, 2025, mandating separate textile waste collection across all member states and introducing extended producer responsibility schemes by 2028. While brands have until 2028 to comply, they must prepare now: producers will pay fees for each textile product placed on the EU market to finance collection and recycling, with lower fees for more durable and recyclable designs. Member states have 30 months to transpose the directive into national law. I share more details here. Read more from the EU.

Spain’s textile EPR delayed. Legislation to create an Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for textiles faces delays after the government received over 1,200 objections during public consultation. The Royal Decree, scheduled for early 2025, is stalled as the Ministry for Ecological Transition reviews submissions. Read more.

EU fines Gucci, Chloé and Loewe €157Mn for price fixing. The European Commission fined the three brands for restricting retailers from setting their own prices, requiring adherence to recommended retail prices, maximum discounts, and specific sales periods. Gucci was fined €119.7Mn, Chloé €19.7Mn, and Loewe €18Mn. Read more.

EU Parliament agrees deeper cuts to CSDDD. Majority lawmakers struck a deal to raise CSDDD thresholds to only companies with 5,000+ employees and €1.5Bn+ revenue (a dramatic increase from the original 1,000+ employees and €450Mn threshold), following similar threshold increases in CSRD which went from 250 to 1,000 employees. This comes after decreasing the scope significantly to focus on Tier 1 diligence only (direct business partners), shifting from comprehensive supply chain mapping to risk-based assessments (defeating its purpose IMO). The law requires companies to address human rights and environmental issues in supply chains or face fines. Parliament voted in mid-October with trilogue negotiations expected before year-end. Read more.

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California delays climate reporting rulemaking. CARB (California Air Resources Board) pushed rulemaking for SB 253 and SB 261 from October 2025 to Q1 2026 due to high public comment volume. The laws require companies over $1Bn in revenue to report Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and those over $500Mn to disclose climate-related financial risks. Reporting deadlines remain unchanged: Scope 1 and 2 start in 2026, Scope 3 in 2027. Read more.

2025 Ultra-Luxury Resale Report by FASHIONPHILE (Read more)

Ultra-luxury resale became personal rebellion in 2025 as consumers rejected homogenized trends for curated pre-owned pieces. Cultural moments and creative director changes directly reshaped demand overnight.

Key takeaways:

• Top bags: Louis Vuitton Speedy, Chanel Double Flap, Gucci Marmont led as investment pieces

• Cultural impact: White Lotus drove 45% YoY engagement increase; F1 sparked 49.6% sales rise in racing styles, 277.4% spike in Gucci/Balenciaga x Adidas

• Director shifts: Demna to Gucci boosted Balenciaga Le City 525% YoY; Rider at Celine spiked Phantom searches 576.4%

• Textures: Denim bags +23.5%, suede searches +46.9%, lamé styles +64.2% YoY

• Crossbody dominated: Pochette Metis, Chanel WOC, Gucci Marmont topped hands-free style

Cotton Incorporated Goes ‘Behind the Wash’ to Break Free from Microplastics by Sourcing Journal (Read more)

Cotton Incorporated’s global assessment shows apparel generates 8.3Mn metric tons of plastic leakage yearly, with synthetic disposal causing 10x more leakage than cotton. A Grove Collaborative seminar revealed 62% of consumers think microplastics come from degraded bottles, while only 46% link synthetic clothing to wastewater pollution.

Key takeaways:

• Industry impact: Apparel = 14% of global plastic leakage (8.3M metric tons/year, 820 Eiffel Towers’ weight)

• Awareness gap: 56% don’t know most clothing is synthetic; <50% connect laundry to microplastics

• Laundry pollution: Synthetics (polyester, nylon) shed in washing/drying; likely largest home microplastic source

• Recycling fails: 76Mn lbs plastic packaging daily in U.S.; 95% non-recyclable

• Consumer worry: 68% concerned about microplastics in food/drink; 67% marine life; 63% beach pollution and health

• Action barriers: 33% lack information; 33% don’t know what to do

2025 Consumer Holiday Report by ThredUp (Read more)

Despite 58% experiencing economic anxiety, holiday spending stays strong as consumers pivot to resale. Survey of 2,000 shows secondhand now integral to holidays, with 40% of budgets allocated to secondhand gifts (up from 30% daily) prioritizing value and uniqueness.

Key takeaways:

• Spending steady: Nearly half plan to increase spend, led by Millennials/Gen Z; 52% focus on more items for less

• Budget shift: 40% of holiday budget to secondhand vs. 30% everyday

• Why resale: 62% value/savings, 56% unique finds, 30% vintage/discontinued items

• Stigma gone: 66% open to giving secondhand (80% Millennials); over two-thirds happy receiving

• Desired gifts: Vintage (46%), rare/collectibles (39%), luxury (30%)

• Circular funding: 47% selling items to fund holidays; 70% Millennials, 57% Gen Z

2025 Hot Button Report by Canopy (Read more)

Ten editions show 70% of MMCF (Man-Made Cellulosic Fibers) producers earn Green ratings (54% global capacity), up from 0% in 2016. Lenzing and Tangshan Sanyou tie first, Aditya Birla second. Industry pivots from eliminating ancient forest sourcing to scaling Next Gen circular production using textile waste and agricultural residues vs. virgin wood.

Key takeaways:

• Green dominance: 98% of global MMCF producers rated; 70% earn Green/Dark Green (54% capacity) eliminating ancient/endangered forests

• Leaders: Lenzing and Tangshan Sanyou tied (34.5 points); Aditya Birla second (34 points)

• China innovation: Yibin Grace opened first recycled dissolving pulp mill; Xinxiang opened textile-to-textile facility; Tangshan testing facility; Jilin launched REBOOCEL recycled bamboo

• New ventures: Circ commercial plant announced (France); CIRCULOSE® Forward and Circ Fiber Club launched

• FSC adoption: ENKA/E Miroglio 100% FSC; Xinxiang/Yibin ~90%; Lenzing doubled to 50%; Birla 60%

• Scaling barriers: Higher Next Gen costs, low order volumes, inconsistent feedstock

• Traceability: 59% have internal/external systems for EUDR; forest-to-garment tech immature

• Urgent transition: 24% growth projected; must accelerate Next Gen, reduce virgin forest, protect 30% forests by 2030

2025 Annual Report by Better Cotton (Read more)

Better Cotton supported 1.63M farmers across 15 countries in 2023–24, with 1.39M licensed to sell as Better Cotton. They produced 5.64M tonnes (23% of global output). Spain joined as a benchmarked country, while ginner participation in physical cotton hit 96%.

Key takeaways:

• Market demand: 2.55M tonnes sourced by brand members (+3%); mill uptake at 3.6M tonnes (+14%).

• Traceability: Physical Better Cotton now 5% of uptake (254 tonnes in 9 months since launch).

• Impact: ~700K farmers report profitability gains since joining.

• Gender: Women now 15% of field staff (up from 9% in 2019-20).

Oh, what a time it has been. From meeting amazing fashion tech founders at SF Tech Week, to enjoying waaay too much food at Textile Exchange, to connecting with some of the most passionate founders at the AWS Impact Bootcamp, and finally landing in Galicia to see family, your girl has been busy, busy, busy. In the best way possible.

But! I do miss Mica (my dog) so much. Can’t wait to see her. And to share with you more insights from this trip. :)

Let’s become friends, you can find me on LinkedIn.

What keeps you up at night? Message me and I will try to cover it next.

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Hello sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

So, Vestiaire Collective decided to launch carbon credit sales based on emissions avoided when consumers purchase secondhand items instead of new products. The company partnered with Inuk to certify and validate the credits, with the methodology reviewed by a third party and subject to public consultation.

At first, I was super excited. After all, it is new, it is innovative, it sounds cool. But then, I remembered that:

1. Carbon offsets are most credible with actual carbon removal, not prevented emissions. Resale is prevention, which is notoriously hard to verify without baseline gaming.

2. Research shows resale’s carbon benefit varies wildly. One study found reductions can range anywhere from strong savings to minimal or even negligible impact depending on the category and assumptions.

3. What’s next? Brands or resale platforms claiming offsets while also claiming absolute reductions?

And here’s the thing: if we take a step back, high-quality carbon credits are supposed to follow some pretty clear principles according to Isometric, the gold standard of carbon credit protocols. Think durability, additionality, scientific rigor, and transparency. In plain English:

• The carbon needs to be locked away for the long haul, not just maybe avoided.

• It has to be something that would not have happened anyway (no business-as-usual dressed up as “impact”).

• The math needs to be airtight and conservative, with uncertainties baked in.

• And everything has to be traceable, open, and protected from double counting.

And notably, Isometric’s own standard does not even accept avoided emissions as credits, only verified removals (e.g., enhanced weathering, reforestation done right, or biochar).

The context matters too. Carbon credits have taken a credibility beating in the past few years. Investigations have exposed over-crediting, shaky baselines, “phantom” offsets, and double counting.

Too often, companies can lean on cheap offsets instead of cutting their own emissions. That is why so many scientists and watchdogs are now drawing a hard line: only durable, additional removals should count as credits.

Resale is powerful as a business model, the climate benefit is real, and I applaud Vestiaire Collective for their innovation. But we do not need to turn it into an offset product.

What do you think? Progress or greenwashing?

Leave a comment

Stay bold,

Donatela

Flash recap:

Brand & Industry Moves

• Vestiaire Collective launches carbon credit sales from resale

• Rebalance launches traceable alpaca knitwear

• Coperni unveils probiotic-infused athleisure

• Stella McCartney debuts grass-based feather alternative

• Fashion for Good launches Beyond 50 Denim project

• Ralph Lauren drops net-zero target

• John Lewis launches Closed Loop knitwear collection

• H&M Foundation funds factories of the future initiative

• UKFT publishes National Textile Recycling Infrastructure Plan

• Calvin Klein launches Re-Calvin takeback program

Sustainable Fashion Tech Announcements

• Patrick McDowell launches limited RTW line with Circ fibers

Upstream News

• Lenzing to cut 600 jobs, launches new “natural like” fiber

Standards & Regulatory Shifts

• EU reduces emissions 37% but faces growing climate risks

• Re-Tights launches EU’s first circular tights value chain

🫒 Rebalance launches traceable alpaca knitwear. Rebalance (Toronto-based) launched its first knitwear piece, the Everyday Knit, made in Peru at a family-run workshop using traceable alpaca yarn, with full transparency from alpaca farm to finished sweater. Read more.

🫒 Coperni unveils probiotic-infused athleisure. French fashion brand Coperni launched an athleisure collection (C+ Carewear) featuring fabrics infused with probiotics designed to support skin health during wear. Read more.

Stella McCartney debuts grass-based feather alternative. Stella McCartney showcased “fevvers,” a plant-based feather alternative made from dyed grass blades hand-stitched onto garments, in her latest Paris Fashion Week collection. Created by a British startup with Mumbai embroidery house Chanakya International, the innovation challenges the feather industry’s reliance on farmed ostriches and poultry byproducts. Read more.

Fashion for Good launches Beyond50 Denim project. Fashion for Good initiated Beyond50 Denim, a collaborative project bringing together brands, mills, and innovators to scale hemp denim production by addressing supply chain barriers. The initiative aims to increase hemp content in denim to over 50%, to reduce water and chemical use compared to conventional cotton. Read more.

Ralph Lauren drops net-zero target. Ralph Lauren abandoned its 2040 net-zero commitment, opting instead for rolling five-year emissions reduction milestones. The company already exceeded its 2030 goal of a 30% cut, achieving a 34% reduction from 2020 levels by 2025, but will not set a new net-zero deadline. Read more.

John Lewis launches Closed Loop knitwear collection. John Lewis debuted a 19-piece unisex collection made from 100% reclaimed wool, including fibers from its FashionCycle scheme. The UK-made line, created with wool recycler iinouiio, features seamless knitting and designs for end-of-life recyclability, priced £49 to £199. Read more.

H&M Foundation funds factories of the future initiative. The H&M Foundation announced funding for a pioneering initiative aimed at transforming garment factories through automation, digitalization, and improved working conditions. The project seeks to create model facilities that balance technological advancement with worker welfare and environmental sustainability. Read more.

Calvin Klein launches Re-Calvin takeback program. Calvin Klein introduced Re-Calvin, a free service accepting pre-loved clothing, accessories, and intimates from any brand. Items are either donated, sent to secondhand distribution, recycled into new fibers, or downcycled into materials like insulation. Read more.

UKFT publishes National Textile Recycling Infrastructure Plan. The UK National Textile Recycling Infrastructure Plan sets out a 10-year roadmap to build a circular textile system. It calls for £500-£600M in investment, an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, and regional hubs for sorting and fibre-to-fibre recycling to reduce reliance on exports and incineration. Success depends on clear policy, industry collaboration, and new recycling technologies to capture both economic and environmental benefits. Key Takeaways:

1. Scale of the Challenge. The UK generates about 1.4-1.5M tonnes of textile waste each year, and over half of post-consumer textiles still go into residual waste streams, mostly incineration or landfill. Current systems rely heavily on exporting collected textiles, especially non-reusable ones.

2. Investment & Funding. Estimated £500-£600M is needed to build the infrastructure over the next decade. An EPR scheme for textiles is the cornerstone funding mechanism.

3. Infrastructure Model. A hub-and-spoke system is proposed, with automated sorting and pre-processing plants (ATSPs), and chemical recycling plant.

4. Jobs & Social Benefits. Infrastructure build-out could create thousands of new jobs across collection, sorting, and recycling.

🫒 Patrick McDowell launches limited RTW line with Circ fibers. Designer Patrick McDowell debuted a ready-to-wear collection featuring Circ’s fibers. Read more.

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Lenzing to cut 600 jobs, launches new “natural like” fiber. Austrian fiber producer Lenzing announced plans to eliminate approximately 600 positions at its headquarters in Lenzing, Austria, as part of a restructuring program. Lenzing also introduced Tencel Lyocell-HV100, a cellulose fiber with a textured, matte look inspired by natural fibers like cotton and linen. Read more, Read more.

EU reduces emissions 37% but faces growing climate risks. The European Environment Agency reported that the EU cut greenhouse gas emissions by 37% between 1990 and 2023. However, the report warned that escalating climate and nature-related risks, including extreme weather events and biodiversity loss, threaten progress and require accelerated adaptation measures. Read more.

Re-Tights launches EU’s first circular tights value chain. The EU-backed Re-Tights project (also called ReFilés) united Golden Lady, Calzedonia, Ytres, Asendia, and Union Industries to create Europe’s first circular system for recycling tights. The initiative uses chemical separation technology to recover polyamide fibers. Read more.

I am currently at SF Tech Week and it’s been busy busy busy. I will share more details next week. Talk soon!

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Hello sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

What an exciting week for sustainable fashion news!!! Lots of material and circularity innovation.

While everyone was busy at NY Climate Week, catching up on crazy speeches and hopeful events, lots of announcements happened. (BTW, for those who went to NYCW, how was it? Share in the comments.)

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To get started, ThredUp introduced a refreshed visual identity featuring a new logo, color palette, and messaging designed to appeal to a broader audience. Many take this as a sign of resale becoming cool and more mainstream. And I’m all for it, because the previous brand color wasn’t exactly my fave.

Also cool and worth bookmarking 🔖: PlasticFree removed its subscription paywall, making thousands of validated plastic alternatives freely accessible to designers and brands across 37 countries. Check it out here!!!

Stay bold, my friends,

Donatela

Flash recap:

Brand & Industry Moves

• 🫒 Nobody’s Child expands resale with Reskinned

• Levi Strauss launches supplier renewable energy program

• Asos signs binding logistics workers agreement

• Bestseller denies child labor claims

Sustainable Fashion Tech Announcements

• Circulose partners with Jilin for circular viscose

• Pangaia, Sparxell, and MTC develop biodegradable reflective pigment

• Tilli enters receivership seeking scale

• Under Armour launches plastic-free sneaker collection

Upstream News

• Lenzing to cut 600 jobs at Austrian headquarters

Standards & Regulatory Shifts

• ECHA updates PFAS restriction proposal

• EU delays deforestation law again

• Danish regulator dismisses Copenhagen Fashion Week greenwashing complaint

🫒 Nobody’s Child expands resale with Reskinned. The sustainable fashion brand extended its pre-loved partnership with Reskinned, making Nobody’s Child pieces available via the Reskinned platform and eBay (after launching a takeback program in January and an eBay resale store in May). Read more.

Levi Strauss launches supplier renewable energy program. The brand partnered with Schneider Electric to launch the Energy Accelerator Program, initially rolling out in India to support its 42% supply chain emissions reduction goal by 2030. Suppliers gain access to favorable pricing for renewable power, technical guidance, and options including on-site solar, renewable energy certificates, or group power purchase agreements. Read more.

Asos signs binding logistics workers agreement. The e-commerce retailer became the first major online fashion company to sign a legally-binding human rights agreement with the International Transport Workers’ Federation covering its entire global logistics network, including subcontractors. The September 9 deal grants union site access and extends protections across logistics and transport, complementing its 2017 factory agreement. Read more.

Bestseller denies child labor claims. Danish fashion giant Bestseller refuted 2 TV documentary episodes alleging child labor in its Bangladesh supply chain, stating it has not worked with the implicated factories for at least 20 years. The company accused the broadcaster of withholding information for over 20 months and called the report “one-sided.” Read more.

Circulose partners with Jilin for circular viscose. Swedish textile recycler Circulose partnered with China’s Jilin Chemical Fiber to exclusively market viscose filament yarn made with Circulose pulp from textile waste for 2026-2028. Jilin’s Jirecell yarn blends 30% Circulose with 70% certified wood pulp, with plans to reach 50% recycled content, scaling supply of circular cellulosic fibers. Read more.

Pangaia, Sparxell, and MTC develop biodegradable reflective pigment. The 18-month Innovate UK-funded collaboration produced a plastic-free, toxin-free, and fully biodegradable reflective pigment using Sparxell’s cellulose-based technology. Pangaia tested the pigments on textiles with Orto Print Studio, while MTC built production systems for industrial-scale manufacturing, with commercial launch projected for 2026. Read more.

Tilli enters receivership seeking scale. The textile repair platform connecting brands to 1,200 European workshops entered voluntary receivership (voluntary restructuring procedure under French insolvency law to allow a sale or new investment) on September 17 to facilitate acquisition and scale operations. French upcycling company Bleriot Reekom Factory submitted an acquisition offer, with other bids in preparation. Read more.

Under Armour launches plastic-free sneaker collection. The sportswear brand partnered with Unless to debut three regenerative sneaker styles during New York Climate Week, marking the first footwear collaboration between the two brands. The York Low, Govy, and Seaside models are entirely plastic-free and designed to decompose at end of life, priced between $119-$159. Read more.

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Lenzing to cut 600 jobs at Austrian headquarters. The fiber producer announced 300 administrative job cuts by end of 2025, with an additional 300 positions eliminated by 2027 as the company shifts focus to Asia and North America. The restructuring aims to save €45Mn annually and includes reviewing strategic options for its Indonesia production site, with expected asset impairments up to €100Mn in 2025. Read more.

ECHA updates PFAS restriction proposal. The European Chemicals Agency revised its proposal to restrict forever chemicals after receiving over 5,600 stakeholder comments, including exemptions for textiles with recycled content for up to 13.5 years and time-limited exemptions for personal protective equipment. Outdoor technical textiles are not currently exempted in the revised draft. A consultation opens before the committee’s March 2026 meeting, with final opinion expected by end of 2026. Read more.

EU delays deforestation law again. The European Commission proposed delaying the EU Deforestation Regulation for another year, citing IT system concerns that could cause “unacceptable” disruptions. The regulation, already delayed by a year in 2024, would now face implementation in December 2026 for large companies. Read more.

Danish regulator dismisses Copenhagen Fashion Week greenwashing complaint. The Danish Consumer Ombudsman declined to open a case against Copenhagen Fashion Week and seven Danish brands, though it advised improved oversight of misleading marketing. The February complaint alleged sustainability requirements misled consumers without substantiation. Read more.

Next week is SF Tech Week, and if you’re into fashion tech, here are a few events I recommend checking out:

Future of Fashion & Technology: Style & Sip, Hosted by Tote & Beni. Wed, Oct 8 · 6:00–8:00 PM

A cocktail-hour gathering centered around the future of fashion and technology. Casual, thoughtful, and a great space to meet others shaping the industry.

RSVP

Fashion & AI Happy Hour with Mirror Mirror AI. Wed, Oct 8 · 7:00 PM

A conversation-forward happy hour with founders, creatives, and technologists working at the edge of fashion and AI. Expect great views, better ideas.

RSVP

Fashion X Tech: Fashion, Consumer, & Creator. Fri, Oct 10 · 5:00-8:00 PM

A panel and startup showcase exploring how AI is transforming fashion, consumer behavior, and the creator economy. Hosted by a sharp lineup of founders and investors.

RSVP

Let’s become friends, you can find me on LinkedIn.

What keeps you up at night? Tell me by filling out the survey, and I will cover it next.

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Hello sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

This week saw multiple material innovations and brand collaborations, with the headlines buried between runway pictures and NYFW headlines. But plenty happened.

Perhaps the most interesting part is the depressing 2025 Preferred Fiber & Materials Market Report, which confirms what many of us kinda knew in our gut but were too scared to accept:

Despite the rise in recycled content and certified fibers, virgin polyester is growing faster, and recycled fibers are not keeping up. Cotton lost slight ground, and textile-to-textile recycling remains miniscule. While there’s momentum in certifications, the overall trajectory points to more fiber, not less. Here are the key takeaways:

• Record-breaking fiber production. Global fiber production hit 132M tonnes in 2024, up from 125M in 2023. That’s 34M more than in 2015 (when the Paris Agreement was signed) and more than double 2000 levels. If nothing changes, we’ll reach 169M by 2030.

• Polyester leads the surge 😭. Polyester accounts for 59% of global fiber production in 2024, 78M tonnes total. 88% of this is fossil-based.

• Recycled polyester volume up, market share down. Recycled polyester grew from 8.9M (2023) to 9.3M (2024), but its market share dropped from 12.5% to 12% because virgin polyester is growing faster.

• Cotton’s market share dipped. Cotton now represents 19% of global fiber production, down 1%. Volume declined from 24.8M (2022/23) to 24.5M (2023/24).

• Recycled fibers stuck at 7.6%. The share of all recycled fibers stayed flat at 7.6% in 2024. 6.9% came from PET bottles, not textile-to-textile recycling, which still remains under 1%.

• Certifications growing, but still a minority. 34% of cotton is now certified. Around 67% of manmade cellulosics come from certified/controlled sources. Half of all mohair is certified to the Responsible Mohair Standard.

What can we do? Let’s start by buying less. If we must buy, buy secondhand. If we must buy new, buy natural, certified fibers. But really, don’t buy. And we can keep trying to change the industry from within, while hoping that upcoming regulations like EPR and ESPR will make a dent.

Stay bold,

Donatela

PS: ICYMI, last week I shared the story of one of the few brands out there that are actually circular.

Flash recap:

Brand & Industry Moves

• Finisterre x Amy Powney launches NetPlus collection

• Mud Jeans earns first denim circularity certification

• Coach partners with Bank & Vogue for upcycling

• Cotton On partners with eBay for resale

Sustainable Fashion Tech Announcements

• Bellroy launches INNOVERA leather alternative

• Circ partners with Arvind for scale

• Phia raises $8M for AI shopping

• Circulose embeds digital traceability technology

• Octarine Bio partners for bio-dye scaling

Upstream News

• Cambodia workers seek $232 minimum wage

Standards & Regulatory Shifts

• STICA calls for secondhand clothing tax cuts

• Australia sets emissions reduction target

• EPA proposes scrapping greenhouse gas reporting

🫒 Finisterre x Amy Powney launches NetPlus collection. Finisterre partnered with Amy Powney (AKYN founder, previously creative director at Mother of Pearl) on a 17-piece women's collection called "All Rivers Lead to the Sea" featuring NetPlus fabric from 100% traceable discarded fishing nets. Read more.

🫒 Mud Jeans earns first denim circularity certification. Mud Jeans became the first denim brand worldwide to earn the TESTEX Circularity Label, an independent Swiss certification measuring durability, repairability, and recyclability in textiles. The certification confirmed that Mud Jeans' mono-material denim construction enables easy recycling while reinforced design supports repair initiatives and extended lifespan. Read more.

Coach partners with Bank & Vogue. Coach collaborated with Bank & Vogue, Beyond Retro's parent company, to launch upcycled handbags made from pre-loved textiles. The collection features iconic Coach designs including the Cargo Tote with Patchwork and Tabby Shoulder Bag, crafted from repurposed denim with prices ranging £395-£730. Read more.

Cotton On partners with eBay for resale. Cotton On launched a partnership with eBay Australia allowing customers to automatically prepare eBay listings when purchasing women's apparel online. The initiative pre-populates listings with images, product info, and suggested pricing. Read more.

Circulose embeds digital traceability technology. Swedish textile recycler Circulose partnered with TextileGenesis to digitally track every kilo of its pulp made from discarded textiles through the supply chain. The Fibercoin system assigns unique digital tokens to prevent double-counting and provides verified data for brands' circularity claims ahead of regulatory requirements. Read more.

🫒 Bellroy launches INNOVERA leather alternative. Bellroy partnered with Modern Meadow to launch the INNOVERA collection featuring a bio-based leather alternative made from recycled post-consumer tires, plant proteins, and biopolymers. Read more.

Octarine Bio partners for bio-dye scaling. Octarine Bio entered a strategic partnership with Portuguese companies Grupo Impetus, Acatel, and Positive Materials to scale bio-based dyes in textile processing. The partnership includes a three-year offtake contract for PurePalette™ pigments. Read more.

Phia raises $8M for AI shopping. AI shopping platform Phia, co-founded by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, secured $8M in seed funding led by Kleiner Perkins with investors including Hailey Bieber and Kris Jenner. Launched in April 2025, the platform reached 500,000 users and 5,000 brand partnerships with its AI agent that compares prices and calculates resale values across billions of fashion products. But, in my humble opinion, Beni is better. #teambeni. Read more.

Circ partners with Arvind for scale. US textile-to-textile recycling company Circ announced a five-year partnership with India's Arvind Limited to supply lyocell staple fiber and polyester chips at scale. Read more.

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Cambodia workers seek $232 minimum wage. Two dozen trade unions called for Cambodia's garment worker minimum wage to reach $232 for 2026, citing a 41% gap between earnings and living costs. Workers spend $408 monthly on essentials while earning $250, with 73% trapped in debt as the current $208 wage falls below dignified living standards. Read more.

STICA calls for secondhand clothing tax cuts. The Scandinavian Textile Initiative for Climate Action and 47 signatories called on Sweden's government to lower VAT on secondhand clothing from 12% to 6%. Read more.

EPA proposes scrapping greenhouse gas reporting. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under Administrator Lee Zeldin, has proposed removing many mandatory reporting obligations under the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), which currently requires facilities emitting over 25,000 metric tons CO₂e annually to disclose emissions. Read more.

Australia sets emissions reduction target. Australia announced a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 62-70% by 2035 compared to 2005 levels, accompanied by over $8B in climate investments targeting industrial decarbonization and clean electricity. The new Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement includes sector-specific plans covering industry and manufacturing that will impact fashion companies operating in Australia. Read more.

When I started at McKinsey, I was completely engulfed in work and obsessed with proving myself. I didn’t have an MBA. I was a scientist. I barely understood half the business terms people used. And I lost myself. I got stuck on the “conveyor belt” of how fast I could get promoted. Step after step after step. I was drained. And honestly, I felt really lost.

It wasn’t until I started doing hobbies again that I began to feel like myself. When I started fermenting pickles, kombucha, and everything in between, I reconnected with my internal compass, and realized how much I missed sustainability. That was the moment I decided to take the plunge into a practice that barely existed.

These days, for one reason or another, I don’t always make time for hobbies. But last weekend, I did. I went to salsa. And it reminded me how good it feels to move, to be in my body, to connect with my roots as a Latina.

For me, wellness isn’t about spa days, shopping or face masks. It’s doing the things I love. It’s making time to reconnect with myself.

What’s something that makes you feel like yourself again?

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Hello sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

What a week! The EU has finally approved an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme that makes textile producers pay for collection, sorting, recycling, and waste management.

This is great news overall after a long tail of bad news from the EU. It seems that the EU might be moving toward product-level rules like EPR (and hopefully ESPR) and away from reporting-heavy ones like CSRD and CSDDD given the recent rollbacks.

The big question: will fees be high enough to matter? Sources quote a mere €0.12-4.50 per garment. And when I look at Sweden’s struggles with textile collection, I wonder if 30 months is really enough for countries to be ready.

Brands shouldn’t wait. Start designing for durability, use more recycled content, simplify blends, build resale and repair. These moves cut fees and future-proof your products. Start tracking volumes now, since you’ll need to report them anyway.

Think of this as a preview. Other regions (California, Canada, New York) are watching closely. What you build for Europe could quickly become your global playbook.

Stay bold,

Donatela

Flash recap:

Brand & Industry Moves

• O My Bag launches digital product passport

• SAYE launches circular sneaker collection

• Armedangels joins ZDHC chemical detox program

• Euratex unveils circularity roadmap by 2032

• Kappahl Group ditches ripped denim trend

• ASOS signs transport workers agreement with ITF

Sustainable Fashion Tech Announcements

• Arvind launches India's first CO₂ dyeing machine

• Natural Fiber Welding winds down operations

• Reskinned partners with Give Your Best

Upstream News

• Bangladesh port workers protest for wage equality

Standards & Regulatory Shifts

• EU finalizes extended producer responsibility for textiles

• EU launches €17.5Bn SME energy efficiency initiative

• CITI and GRI launch Indian textile sustainability program

🫒 O My Bag launches digital product passport. The Dutch leather goods brand introduced digital product passports providing supply chain transparency, CO₂ footprint data, and artisan profiles from its production partners. Each bag features a QR code on the inside label or hangtag for instant access to its digital story. Read more.

🫒 SAYE launches circular sneaker collection. The Spanish footwear brand introduced "From Waste to Walk," made with certified suede recovered from the European food industry. SAYE upgraded the entire product including insoles, packaging, stitching and structure alongside the material sourcing. Read more.

🫒 Armedangels joins ZDHC chemical detox program. The German sustainable denim brand committed to ZDHC's Roadmap to Zero Program to eliminate harmful chemicals from supply chains. The move aligns with Armedangels' Impact Roadmap launched this year, which focuses on five pillars including climate action and eliminating hazardous chemical discharge. Read more.

Euratex unveils circularity roadmap by 2032. The European textile trade body announced through its ReHubs initiative a strategy to industrialize textile-to-textile recycling across Europe by 2032. The plan targets recycling 2.5Mn tons of textile waste annually (35-40% of Europe's yearly waste) and creating 10,000 jobs. Read more.

Kappahl Group ditches ripped denim trend. The Swedish retailer stopped selling pre-damaged jeans, citing its "made with less, for more" design philosophy focused on durability and circularity. The company aims for 50% of its assortment to be “circular economy-enabled” by 2026, up from 19% in April. Kappahl's secondhand offering nearly tripled in sales last year, now available in 55 stores across four markets. Read more.

ASOS signs transport workers agreement with ITF. The online retailer signed a legally binding agreement with the International Transport Workers' Federation to strengthen worker protections across its global transport and logistics supply chain. ASOS becomes the first fashion business to hold agreements with both ITF and IndustriALL, covering manufacturing and transport operations. Read more.

Arvind launches India's first CO₂ dyeing machine. The textile manufacturer partnered with H&M Group and startup Deven Supercriticals to launch India's first supercritical CO₂ dyeing machine at its Ahmedabad facility. The Suprauno technology uses carbon dioxide instead of water and chemicals, delivering 76% water savings, 67% energy savings, and 90% reduction in chemical usage compared to conventional dyeing. Read more.

Natural Fiber Welding winds down operations. The startup behind Mirum plant-based leather announced it will begin an "orderly wind down" while exploring options. Founded in 2015, NFW secured $15Mn in funding in 2021 and built 110,000 sq ft of Mirum production space. The company attracted investments from Allbirds ($2Mn) and Ralph Lauren Corporation, and was an Earthshot Prize finalist in 2024. Read more.

🫒 Reskinned partners with Give Your Best. The UK clothing takeback company partnered with the social enterprise that operates the first online donation platform where people in clothing poverty can shop for free. Through Reskinned's programs, customers can now donate good-quality fashion items to support refugees, trafficking survivors, families fleeing domestic violence and others who can’t afford clothes. Read more.

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Bangladesh port workers protest for wage equality. Berth and terminal operators at Chattogram Port, Bangladesh's largest port handling over 90% of the country's trade, formed a human chain demanding direct wage payment through the port authority rather than private companies. They sought equal pay across terminals, removal of private company names from port ID cards, and confirmed retirement benefits within 90 days. Read more.

EU finalizes extended producer responsibility for textiles. The European Parliament approved the Waste Framework Directive requiring textile producers selling in the EU to pay for collection, sorting and recycling costs. The law covers clothing, accessories, footwear, home linens and potentially mattresses, applying to all brands regardless of size or location. Member states have 20 months to transpose rules into national law and 30 months to establish EPR schemes. Read more.

EU launches €17.5Bn SME energy efficiency initiative. The European Investment Bank announced €17.5Bn in funding over three years for small and medium-sized enterprise energy efficiency and decarbonization projects. Over 350,000 businesses will receive support, aiming to mobilize over €65Bn in total investment by 2027. Read more.

CITI and GRI launch Indian textile sustainability program. The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry partnered with the Global Reporting Initiative to launch the Improving Transparency for Sustainable Business program on September 10. The platform will build capacity for impact reporting on climate change, circularity, waste, biodiversity, and diversity across India's textile clusters. GRI also unveiled its Draft Sector Standards for textiles and apparel. Read more.

I was talking to a brand the other day who told me they aren't worrying about digital product passports yet because they don't know if it will apply to them. I get it, so much hasn’t been defined yet, you are already spread thin, and who knows if it won't be rolled back like CSRD or CSDDD. How could you ever get buy-in from leadership to invest in it? But as an SME you can be cooler than other brands, lead the charge, be unique, stand out.

So, regardless of regulations, you need to lean into DPPs now. And here's why:

• The resale market is growing rapidly. DPPs enable you to control where items get sold (e.g., whether sent back to you, specific resale platform), which means you can get a cut of that pie.

• Some of the additional value quoted by Bain/eBay for brands is not just resale but also the "halo effect” (meaning positive brand perception and premium value that comes from being seen as an innovative and sustainable brands). How long do you think that will last once every other brand has a DPP?

• Try now and expand later. You probably don't want to scramble to meet basic requirements while everyone else has already gone beyond regulations and used them as a way to engage with consumers.

DPPs are here now. More and more brands are publishing DPPs and innovating. Don't wait.

PS: I don't know about you, but DPPs are the coolest, and ESPR is my favorite sustainability regulation. Does that make me a nerd? Which is your favorite sustainability regulation? Comment below. 👇

Leave a comment

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Hello sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

How is it September already, am I right? This year has gone by waaaay too quickly.

It is obvious that summer is over because sustainable fashion news is starting to pick up. Personally, I am most excited about NUTT Amsterdam’s partnership with JOSH V (read more below). I am excited about more collaborations like this coming up as brands prepare for EPRs.

Very soon we have soooo many events coming up: New York Fashion Week (Sept 11–16), Climate Week NYC (Sept 21–28, see event recs here by SFF), London Fashion Week (Sept 18–22), Paris Fashion Week (Sept 29–Oct 7), and the Textile Exchange Conference in Lisbon (Oct 13–17) all coming up. I will be in Lisbon for TE, holler at ya girl if you want to meet up! 👋

Oh, and if you’re a circular pioneer, whether you’re a brand, startup, or just building cool stuff in Europe, check out the Fashion Pioneers Awards 2025.

Stay bold,

Donatela

Flash recap:

Brand & Industry Moves

• 🫒 JOSH V collaborates with NUTT Amsterdam on upcycling.

• 🫒 Roka London launches resale platform.

• US Cotton Trust Protocol launches regenerative pilot.

Sustainable Fashion Tech Announcements

• Pyratex scales circular fibers with Circ.

• eBay expands authenticity guarantee to apparel.

• Samsara Eco opens first circular plastics plant.

• The RealReal resale report shows good news.

• Better Cotton partners with Planboo on biochar.

Upstream News

• MAS Holdings receives SBTi climate target approval.

• Lenzing launches digital fiber platform.

Standards & Regulatory Shifts

• France urges EU to delist non-compliant platforms.

• Singapore delays climate reporting for smaller companies.

• California releases climate risk disclosure guidance.

🫒 JOSH V collaborates with NUTT Amsterdam on upcycling. Dutch brand JOSH V partnered with designer Esther Mutsaers of NUTT Amsterdam to transform damaged returns into exclusive designs. The project demonstrates circular fashion ahead of the EU's 2026 ban on destroying unsold clothing, with eleven duos presenting during Dutch Sustainable Fashion Week on October 7th. Read more.

🫒 Roka London launches resale platform. Recycled bag brand Roka London launched its own resale marketplace in partnership with Continue, accessible directly via the brand's e-commerce site. The platform lets customers buy and sell authenticated Roka London items. Read more.

US Cotton Trust Protocol launches regenerative pilot. US Cotton Trust Protocol launched its Field Partner Programme to formally recognize growers' regenerative practices and results. The 2025 pilot creates pathways for regenerative cotton sourcing, combining farming methods with measurable outcomes and supply chain traceability. Read more.

Pyratex scales circular fibers with Circ. Spanish textile supplier Pyratex strengthened its partnership with US recycling pioneer Circ to integrate recycled fibers at industrial scale. Building on 3 years of development, the collaboration uses Circ's hydrothermal processing to separate polycotton waste into pure cellulose and PET fibers. Read more.

eBay expands authenticity guarantee to apparel. eBay extended its Authenticity Guarantee to cover clothing in the UK, adding to existing authentication for luxury watches, handbags, sneakers, and jewelry. Qualifying items are routed to eBay's UK authentication facility where specialists verify authenticity before shipping to buyers. eBay reached 1Mn authenticated items in Q2 2025, bringing total inspected items to 15Mn globally. Read more.

Samsara Eco opens first circular plastics plant. Australian biotech company Samsara Eco opened its first plant in Jerrabomberra, featuring EosEco enzymatic recycling technology that uses AI-crafted enzymes to break down mixed plastics into virgin-identical materials like recycled nylon 6,6 and polyester. The facility will produce materials for brands and support research on spandex recycling. Read more.

The RealReal resale report shows good news. Resale has become a core part of fashion. Shoppers are responding to uncertainty, creative director shakeups, and a desire for individuality by investing in pieces that hold long-term value. Bags, fine jewelry, and vintage fashion continue to drive growth, while personal style and uniqueness are more important than trends. Key Takeaways:

• Mainstream resale: About 33% of U.S. apparel purchases were secondhand. 58% of shoppers prefer resale to new.

• Creative director shifts: Big announcements drove search spikes. Example: Loewe +488% in a single day, Dior +114%, Balenciaga +310%.

• Most-searched brands: Louis Vuitton (searches for Speedy bags up 110%), Chanel (top-searched item overall was Chanel bags), Prada (vintage bags sales up 283%), Miu Miu (clothing sales up 63%).

• Rising brands: Coach (+160% searches), Ferragamo (+129%), Pucci (+111%).

• Accessories as investments: Yellow gold retains 47% of its retail price on resale, up from 39% last year. 18K gold resale prices rose 53%. Silver jewelry also surged, with Chrome Hearts sterling silver pieces up 82% in average selling price.

• Watches booming: Overall watch buyers increased 46%. Rolex and Cartier lead. Piaget Polo sales rose 285%, with resale value up 40%.

• Bag market: Hermès Birkin sales up 42% year-over-year. Fendi Baguette resale values rose 37% since 2021. Chloé Paddington resale prices jumped 236%.

• Personal style focus: Fair Condition and As-Is items (heavily worn or needing repair) saw sales growth of 32% and higher. Lived-in jackets (+155%) and patinaed bags (+45%) are trending.

• Wedding resale: Searches for wedding dresses rose 247%, vintage engagement rings 198%, wedding shoes 321%. Gen Z drove the biggest increase.

• Vintage momentum: Dries Van Noten searches rose 76%, Roberto Cavalli +110%, Yohji Yamamoto +43%.

• American brands rising: Ralph Lauren vintage searches jumped 270%. Coach outerwear and leather bags up 160%. Newcomers like Diotima (+152%) are gaining traction.

Better Cotton partners with Planboo on biochar. Better Cotton partnered with climate tech startup Planboo to help farmers reduce emissions and generate carbon credits through biochar application. Planboo's digital MRV system will track biochar production and carbon removals, with the first project targeting smallholder cotton communities in India. Read more.

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MAS Holdings receives SBTi climate target approval. Sri Lankan apparel manufacturer MAS Holdings had its science-based climate targets validated by SBTi, committing to net-zero emissions by 2048. Read more.

Lenzing launches digital fiber platform. Lenzing Group introduced Lenzing Pro, a digital platform streamlining certification and branding for textile supply chains. The platform features a fiber catalogue with technical specifications for TENCEL™ and LENZING™ ECOVERO™ fibers, plus fabric certification and brand licensing tools. Read more.

France urges EU to delist non-compliant platforms. The French government urged the European Commission to adopt powers allowing it to "delist" online sales platforms violating EU laws from search engine results, primarily targeting companies like Shein. Minister Véronique Louwagie wrote to EU Commission requesting urgent action against platforms facing accusations of selling counterfeit products and consumer rights violations. This is after France recently fined SHEIN €40M (July 2025) for misleading practices and €150Mn (Sept 2025) over cookies. Read more.

Singapore delays climate reporting for smaller companies. Singapore's regulators delayed climate reporting requirements for smaller listed companies by up to five years after only 4% felt confident meeting original timelines. While all listed companies must report Scope 1 and 2 emissions from FY2025, ISSB-based disclosures are pushed to FY2028 for companies over $1Bn market cap and FY2030 for smaller firms. Scope 3 reporting becomes voluntary for non-STI (Straits Times Index, Singapore's main stock market index) companies. Read more.

California releases climate risk disclosure guidance. California Air Resources Board published guidance for companies preparing first reports under SB 261, affecting US companies doing business in California with revenues over $500Mn. First reports are due January 1, 2026, with biennial reporting thereafter. CARB clarified that emissions reporting won't be required for initial reports, and scenario analysis can be qualitative rather than quantitative. Read more.

As some of you know, I’m still searching for the right technical cofounder, and I’m taking my time. I’ve spoken with dozens of talented people, many excited about this journey of democratizing transparency. But the truth is, I’d rather be solo than choose the wrong partner. A cofounder is the single most important decision in a startup. Many say it’s like marriage (except often longer, with a 10+ year commitment).

The more I work with people, the more I realize how critical it is to have the right team. In my experience, a team of 5 exceptional people that get along performs 10x better than a team of 30 people who are great, but not as close or as passionate as those initial 5. Take it from personal experience.

And, to close, here comes my shameless ask: if you know a rockstar full-stack developer passionate about sustainability and excited about building with AI, let me know!

Let’s become friends, you can find me on LinkedIn.

What keeps you up at night? Send me a message. I am all ears.

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Hello sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

What a week it has been. I’ve been driving through the Southwest (pictures in Mi Corner) and visiting family in Colorado. This week, I’m sharing lots of exciting news on sustainability. Personally, I’m most curious to see how ASKET’s 50-product limit approach will play out, and whether a brand can grow and remain profitable with that model.

Also, the de minimis exception is finally over. How will it impact consumer behavior? Answer in the poll below!

Stay bold,

Donatela

Flash recap:

Brand & Industry Moves

• Asket completes 50-piece permanent wardrobe

• Café du Cycliste expands RECYCLISTE resale platform

• Janet Mandell expands luxury rental model with consignment and AI try-on

• M&S opens secondhand clothing store on eBay

Sustainable Fashion Tech Announcements

• Spinnova and Suzano target 1 Mn-tonne fiber capacity by 2031

• C&A launches capsule with CIRCULOSE® recycled fiber

• Pinterest launches “Thrift Shop” for direct, sustainable secondhand shopping

Upstream News

• Australia’s fashion industry faces scrutiny over alleged human rights abuses

• India Denim Deal Hub launches to scale circular denim

Standards & Regulatory Shifts

• U.S. ends duty-free parcels policy

🫒 Asket completes 50-piece permanent wardrobe. The Swedish slow fashion brand released its final product, wool trousers, after ten years of developing what it considers the perfect essential wardrobe. The brand will continue refining and improving its deliberately limited collection of timeless menswear pieces, with no new products planned beyond the 50-item range. Read more.

🫒 Café du Cycliste expands RECYCLISTE resale platform. The cycling apparel brand extended its resale platform from France to Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands, partnering with Treet to manage the secure marketplace. Sellers can choose cash or enhanced store credit (e.g., 80% cash / 110% credit on the German site). Read more.

Janet Mandell expands luxury rental model with consignment and AI try-on. The couture rental brand is adding a consignment service that lets clients rent or sell their own pieces and introducing an AI-powered try-on tool, debuting at New York Fashion Week on September 10. Read more.

M&S opens secondhand clothing store on eBay. Marks & Spencer has launched a dedicated resale platform on eBay as part of its “Another Life” circular fashion initiative. Customers can send in pre-loved M&S items via free courier, receive an online £5 voucher (for online spend of £35), and have items that are cleaned and repaired by Reskinned listed for resale. Unsellable goods are recycled or repurposed. Oxfam receives 15% of the profits from these sales. Read more

Spinnova and Suzano target 1 Mn-tonne fiber capacity by 2031. The partners behind Woodspin plan to scale SPINNOVA® production through modular facilities, starting with their first commercial plant in Jyväskylä, Finland. The goal is to reach 1 Mn tonnes of sustainable, wood-based fiber annually by 2031. Read more.

C&A launches capsule with CIRCULOSE® recycled fiber. The retailer unveils a stylish collection of denim and knitwear featuring CIRCULOSE®, a next-generation cellulosic material made from discarded textiles. Each garment includes 30% CIRCULOSE® in its viscose share. Read more.

Pinterest launches “Thrift Shop” for direct, sustainable secondhand shopping. From August 20 through September 26, Pinterest is spotlighting vintage and pre-loved fashion via its first-ever Thrift Shop experience, allowing users, especially Gen Z, to discover and purchase curated items directly on the platform, in partnership with global thrift retailers and tastemakers. Read more

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Australia’s fashion industry faces scrutiny over alleged human rights abuses. A new Oxfam Australia report, supported by the Human Rights Law Centre, reveals alarming conditions across Bangladesh’s garment supply chains, linking them to Australian brands. Key findings (as quoted):

• Widespread evidence of children employed in subcontracted factories, often underpaid and subjected to heavier workloads and abuse.

• 28% of surveyed workers self-reported experiencing forced labour, including intimidation, withheld wages, and excessive overtime.

• 95% of workers earn below a living wage, rising to 100% among women. Many also fall below the minimum wage.

• More than 1 in 5 workers faced deliberate wage delays, withholding of salaries, or unfair deductions, sometimes timed before holidays to prevent them from leaving jobs.

• Workers reported job insecurity, coercive financial control, and widespread physical and verbal abuse, particularly in subcontracted settings.

• Nearly 25% of workers said fingerprint-based attendance systems were used to blacklist those who complained, preventing them from finding work elsewhere.

The report calls for stronger laws with real penalties, as the existing Modern Slavery Act is criticized as ineffective. Meanwhile, legal action is underway, with the Human Rights Law Centre supporting a complaint by the Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women’s Association (AUTWA) against Kmart over possible use of suppliers tied to China’s Xinjiang region. Read more.

India Denim Deal Hub launches to scale circular denim. The Denim Deal, together with GATS and Enviu Textiles, has established a new hub in India to accelerate circular production of denim. The initiative brings together brands, manufacturers, and recyclers to build shared infrastructure for closed-loop denim, supporting the global goal of 1Bn jeans with at least 20% recycled cotton by 2030. Read more.

U.S. ends duty-free parcels policy. Effective August 29, the U.S. ended the de minimis $800 exemption. For six months, small parcels face a flat duty option ($80–$200, by origin) before shifting to standard tariff rates by product. I expect higher costs and friction for DTC e-commerce, including Shein and Temu. Read more.

I just got back to my desk, where there is finally Wi-Fi. Thank you all for your patience as I write this week’s La Impact Weekly. Other than wildlife sightseeing (bears, turkeys, elk, deer), I’ve been busy being an aunt and the dog mom of a crazy pup.

On my drive to Colorado, I kept reflecting on the illusion of “wilderness.” Only about 23% of the world’s land surface is considered wilderness, and just 13% of the world’s oceans remain in that category. And perhaps even sadder: only 2–3% of Earth’s land surface is ecologically intact (meaning habitats that still support their native species and functional ecosystems). Those numbers are hard to swallow, no?

We must stop purchasing beyond our needs. We must stop being consumers only. We must become creators, thinkers, philosophers, friends, neighbors, and protectors. Humans are uniquely set up to become protectors of other species. What if we move from consumers to protectors?

As Daniel Quinn puts it in Ishmael (great book, I suggest it):

“No one species shall make the life of the world its own. … The world was not made for any one species.”

Let’s become friends, you can find me on LinkedIn.

What keeps you up at night? Tell me by filling out the survey, and I will cover it next.

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Hello sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

I bring you another week of great sustainable fashion tech announcements, some promising moves on the regulatory front, and exciting brand announcements.

Sustainability slow down? Maybe a bit, but momentum is strong.

Stay bold,

Donatela

Flash recap:

Brand & Industry Moves

• 🫒 JoJo Maman Bébé launches resale platform

• 🫒 MATE the Label launches Make the Switch

• Shein partners with Lufthansa Cargo on transport emissions

Sustainable Fashion Tech Announcements

• Allbirds launches Remix line with Circ and Blumaka

• Elsa Hosk curates Reklaim luxury capsule

• ThredUp shares surge year-to-date

• Everbloom raises funding for protein waste textiles

• Bestseller backs German polyester recycler Matterr

• SizeSense.ai partners with Browzwear for sizing

Standards & Regulatory Shifts

• California climate disclosure laws survive latest challenge

• EU hopes to expand PFAS ban scope

• ZDHC launches air emissions tool

🫒 JoJo Maman Bébé launches resale platform. The UK maternity and children's brand partnered with TheLittleLoop to launch a trade-in program where parents can send in pre-loved items in exchange for store credit. Accessible via the UK website, parents can now earn store credit and send in secondhand pieces through the platform. I appreciate that you can add the items you will send, and get an estimate. See picture above. Read more.

🫒 MATE the Label launches Make the Switch. The sustainable activewear brand introduced a campaign promoting organic cotton alternatives to synthetic workout wear. Made with 92% organic cotton and 8% spandex, the collection uses breathable materials and non-toxic dyes. Read more.

Shein partners with Lufthansa Cargo on emissions. The latest move from SHEIN to clean up its image: SHEIN signed an MoU with Lufthansa Cargo to explore lower-carbon air freight options through sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and efficiency improvements. The partnership hopes to “cut Shein's logistics footprint.” I doubt SHEIN would actually invest enough to make a dent as SAFs are ~10% to 3x more expensive than regular aviation fuels. Read more.

Allbirds launches Remix line with Circ and Blumaka. Allbirds dropped its Remix collection, partnering with Circ to turn discarded polycotton textiles into lyocell fiber for shoe uppers and Blumaka to create midsoles that cut carbon emissions by up to 65% using algae and recycled foam waste. Read more.

Elsa Hosk curates Reklaim luxury capsule. The supermodel partnered with resale platform Reklaim to handpick over 70 pre-owned designer pieces including handbags and watches from Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, and Cartier. The collaboration is exciting because it shows how celebrity partnerships can elevate secondhand shopping. Read more.

Everbloom raises $10M for protein waste textiles. California-based Everbloom raised about $10Mn and is already working with leading Italian textile mills (e.g. Filati Biagioli Modesto) on its protein-derived fibers. Everbloom's process converts waste from food production into fibers that match the performance and feel of traditional luxury materials. Read more.

ThredUp shares surge 700% year-to-date. Onto some good news: the online resale platform's stock skyrocketed as investors bet on secondhand fashion's growth and the company's path to profitability. We have seen recently growing confidence in the secondhand market as consumers are becoming more ok with buying pre-loved clothes and pressure from tariffs push them to look for affordable options. Read more.

Bestseller backs German polyester recycler Matterr. The Danish fashion group invested in Matterr's chemical recycling technology that transforms worn-out textiles and packaging waste into virgin-quality polyester. Matterr secured €30Mn in EU grants and will build its first plant in 2026, processing 10,000 tonnes of polyester waste annually. Bestseller has invested a total of 240Mn Danish krone (€32Mn euros) in future materials through its Invest FWD platform. Read more.

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SizeSense.ai partners with Browzwear for sizing. The AI-powered platform announced partnership with 3D design software Browzwear to connect product design data with eCommerce size recommendations. Brands can use garment design data to power personalized size guidance online, reducing returns. Read more.

California climate disclosure laws survive latest challenge. A federal District Court judge denied the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups' request for a preliminary injunction against SB 253 (the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act) and SB 261 (the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act). The court held that the laws requiring companies with over $1Bn in revenue to report emissions and climate risks likely survive First Amendment challenges because they serve the state's substantial interest in providing reliable information to investors. The case is set for trial beginning October 20, 2026, while companies must still prepare for compliance deadlines starting January 1, 2026. Read more.

EU hopes to expand PFAS ban scope. The European Chemicals Agency published its updated opinion recommending broader restrictions on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, expanding beyond the initial proposal to include additional chemical groups and applications. ECHA’s updated PFAS draft indeed broadens the scope of a planned EU restriction (adding uses like technical textiles, printing, machinery, etc.). The committees will now issue opinions and the proposal goes to the EU Commission for a final decision. Here is to hoping! Read more.

ZDHC launches air emissions tool. Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals launched a digital platform to help brands and suppliers track and reduce VOC and GHG emissions across manufacturing operations. Read more.

Last week I got asked: why do you do what you do? Why sustainability?

I don’t see myself doing anything else. But, to answer question…

Ever since my father explained to me the impact of climate change as we were standing in front of the Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina, I have been obsessed with stopping it. I failed, clearly, but I have not given up. I am hopeful for a future where we value nature, where we protect other species, and where our children can truly thrive. I refuse to give in to the notion that sustainability is "no longer in" and therefore we should all succumb to a toxic and suffocating future and continue our day to day lives, like fiddling while Rome burns (a phrase I recently learned).

Nope. Not me. Not you. Not us.

We will continue the fight, no matter what. It takes lots of resilience, and a little burnout, but we will change things. I choose to believe that.

Let’s become friends, you can find me on LinkedIn.

What keeps you up at night? Tell me by filling out the survey, and I will cover it next.

Subscribe to La Purpose Brand 🫒. Let’s change the world.

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Hello sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

Reporting in from sunny Miami 🏝️! This week I’ve got some great new reports on circularity. But what I’m really excited about is a piece on consumer behavior dropping soon, featuring the one, the only, the amazing Shakaila Forbes-Bell. If you don’t already know her, she’s the Fashion Psychologist, and she’s diving into how to actually get consumers to buy into sustainability. More on that soon!

But, first, some feedback from you:

Stay bold, 🤘

Donatela

Flash recap ⚡️

Brand & industry moves

• 🫒 Maison Deux x Copenhagen Studios launch sustainable Hygge Blanket

• 🫒 Munthe showcases plant-based dyes at CPHFW

• Mango supports regenerative cotton farmers with Materra collection

• Textile Exchange releases LCA integrity guidelines

Sustainable fashion tech announcements

• 🫒 Trove launches Trade-In Plugin with Db

• eBay launches Endless Runway for second year

• SoftWear Automation secures $20Mn Bestseller funding

• Loop acquires Indian site for recycled fiber facility

• BCG reveals $150Bn annual textile waste value loss, but critics disagree

• ACT UK reports challenges in citizen textile sorting trials

• Depop publishes displacement research using WRAP methodology

Upstream news

• RMG workers protest in Ashulia over unpaid wages

Standards & regulatory shifts

• Plastic pollution treaty talks collapse in Geneva

• EU Commissioner "shocked" by dangerous Shein, Temu products

• EU urges Bangladesh labour law alignment

🫒 Maison Deux x Copenhagen Studios launch sustainable Hygge Blanket. The collaboration introduces limited-edition 100% New Zealand wool blanket featuring Maison Deux's playful design. Each hand-finished blanket is made in Lithuania from 100% biodegradable, renewable wool, individually numbered, certified with Woolmark and OEKO-TEX labels. The release includes matching lamb fur slippers crafted in Portugal. Read more.

🫒 Munthe showcases plant-based dyes at CPHFW. The Danish brand presented its Spring/Summer 2026 collection at Copenhagen Fashion Week featuring garments made with plant-based dye techniques using real flowers and leaves for unique prints. The collection combined earthy neutrals and soft pastels with lace, embroidery, and layered tailoring, while accessories included interchangeable-handle bags and sandals. Personally, I love the vibe. Read more.

Mango supports regenerative cotton farmers with Materra collection. The Spanish retailer launched tees and denim made with verified regenerative cotton from Materra's India program, building on their December 2023 collaboration. The collection supports Mango's goal to exclusively use lower environmental impact fibers by 2030. Read more.

Textile Exchange releases LCA integrity guidelines. Textile Exchange published "Ensuring Integrity in the Use of Life Cycle Assessment Data," outlining best practices for responsible LCA use in fashion. Key takeaways:

• Only use LCA data with full understanding of assumptions, methods, and use cases.

• LCA limitations include static nature, geographic averaging losing context, inability capturing biodiversity, soil health, animal welfare, social impacts.

• Adopt "LCA+ approach," combining traditional LCA metrics with additional context-specific factors like biodiversity impacts, social conditions, and animal welfare to capture holistic sustainability view. Read more.

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🫒 Trove launches Trade-In Plugin with Db. Resale service provider Trove debuted its new Trade-In Plugin with Scandinavian travel gear brand Db, enabling seamless integration of trade-in services directly into brand e-commerce sites. Db became the first brand to deploy the plugin for its "Lost & Found" resale program across EU and Norway, allowing customers to trade pre-owned gear for vouchers. The lightweight, customizable plugin eliminates separate platforms and accelerates multi-market rollouts. Read more.

eBay launches Endless Runway for second year. eBay announced its global circular fashion initiative returns in September, featuring pre-loved runway shows during New York Fashion Week (Sept 10) and London Fashion Week (Sept 18). New designer partnerships include Erdem, Luar, Altuzarra, Kallmeyer, and Ahluwalia, incorporating archival pieces from previous collections into SS26 shows. The shoppable runway shows stream live via eBay Live. Read more.

SoftWear Automation secures $20Mn Bestseller funding. Danish fashion group Bestseller led a $20Mn Series B1 funding round for autonomous sewing technology firm SoftWear Automation through its sustainable innovation platform Invest FWD. The Atlanta-based company develops automated sewing machines with cameras and sensors that adjust material like human tailors. SoftWear Automation expects third-generation T-shirt Sewbot worklines commercially available in 2026. Read more.

Loop acquires Indian site for recycled fiber facility. Polyester and PET recycler Loop Industries acquired a 93-acre site in Gujarat, India for developing an Infinite Loop manufacturing facility with initial 70,000 metric ton capacity producing low-carbon recycled dimethyl terephthalate and recycled mono-ethylene glycol. The facility, powered by 80% renewable electricity and biofuel, will reduce emissions up to 80% compared to virgin petroleum-based PET. Read more.

BCG reveals $150Bn annual textile waste value loss, but critics disagree. Boston Consulting Group published "Spinning Textile Waste into Value," revealing 120 million metric tons clothing discarded globally in 2024 worth $150Bn in lost raw materials with only 1% recycled into new fibers. Key takeaways:

• Five critical actions needed: promote demand for recycled fibers, collect more waste, modernize sorting with AI/robotics, scale recycling solutions, invest in innovation.

• Circular system could achieve 30% waste recycling rates, generate $50Bn fiber value, create 180,000 jobs.

• Success requires public policy support, cross-industry collaboration, consumer engagement.

• Critics argue forecast is "akin to fiction," noting recycled polyester costs 2X virgin materials, requiring trillions in capital expenditure and regulatory compulsion for meaningful change. Read more.

ACT UK reports challenges in citizen textile sorting trials. The Autosort for Circular Textiles Demonstrator project concluded its 2 year blueprint for automated textile sorting plants, showing that citizen pre-sorting accuracy fell short for direct textile streams. Personally, I am hopeful that the DPP would be able to help a bit, but it is still an uphill battle. Key takeaways:

• 6 trials with major retailers showed citizens supported recycling but struggled accurately separating reusable from non-reusable textiles.

• UK discards 744,000 metric tons post-consumer textile waste annually, requiring automated sorting as "missing link" for recycling scale-up. Read more.

Depop publishes displacement research using WRAP methodology. Depop released 2025 displacement research showing secondhand purchases prevent new item purchases at rates of 64% (US), 68% (UK), 72% (Australia), based on survey of 3,759 users using standardized WRAP methodology. Key takeaways:

• Over 3 in 5 secondhand purchases displaced new items, with fast fashion displacement at 63-74%.

• 71% buyers would continue searching or forgo purchases rather than buy new if items unavailable, only 6% opting for new fast fashion.

• Research used conservative methodology accounting for impulse purchases, contributing to industry standardization of circular fashion measurement. Read more.

RMG workers protest in Ashulia over unpaid wages. On August 14, garment workers in Ashulia protested unpaid wages, blocking the Baipail-Abdullahpur road for 3 hrs and forcing 15 factories to declare a holiday. Workers from Nassa Group arrived expecting operations to resume after a four-day closure, only to find another closure notice without July wage payments. Read more.

Plastic pollution treaty talks collapse in Geneva. The sixth round of UN negotiations to develop the world's first legally binding treaty on plastic pollution ended August 15 without consensus after 10 days involving delegates from 183 countries. Over 100 countries supported legally binding production caps and toxic chemical restrictions, but oil-producing nations including Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Iran opposed production limits, favoring waste management focus instead. Countries agreed to resume negotiations at a future date amid deep divisions. Read more.

EU Commissioner "shocked" by dangerous Shein, Temu products. EU Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath expressed alarm over hazardous goods including baby teethers with choking hazards, children's raincoats with toxic chemicals, sunglasses lacking UV protection, and cosmetics containing banned fertility-harming substances. The EU processes 12Mn low-value parcels daily from non-EU retailers, with 4.6Bn cheap imports flooding the bloc in 2024, 91% from China. McGrath plans to address violations with Chinese authorities while EU considers removing duty-free thresholds. Read more.

EU urges Bangladesh labour law alignment. On August 13, a high-level EU delegation met with BGMEA leaders emphasizing urgent need for Bangladesh to align labour laws with International Labour Organization standards. BGMEA requested EU relax 37% market concentration limit under Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), a trade program offering duty-free access that Bangladesh could lose if supplying over 37% of EU imports in specific garment categories. Read more.

Currently in Miami getting hit with a nostalgia wave. Between homemade meals and proper Argentine masa finas, I'm living my best life.

But nothing hits quite like walking into your old room and getting absolutely transported by the time capsule you accidentally created: posters from my dream school which eventually became my alma mater, a runway Barbie courtesy of my high school sweet heart, nerdy trophies, and walls painted in what I now realize is Brat green. Let me tell you something: Brat green might look great on nails and dresses, but it's not great to live inside of it. Not sure what I was thinking. Perhaps I was ahead of the times?

All in all, I can only stay here for a couple of days. Memories are great and all, but I would rather live in my present which I love, trying to change the world one SME brand at a time.

Let’s become friends, you can find me on LinkedIn.

What keeps you up at night? Tell me by filling out the survey, and I will cover it next.

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Hello sustainable fashion enthusiasts,

I will be switching things up. I realized that the previous La Impact Weekly newsletters have been wayyyyyy too long. So, I decided to focus on must-know news and reports. You will still receive how-to guides, deep analyses, and featured news every couple of weeks. Keep your eyes open for a great how-to guide on how to transition full collections to preferred materials with MR MARVIS this week!

To get us started, let me know when you would like to receive these:

Flash recap:

Brand & Industry Moves

• 🫒Stem showcased Octarine Bio's bio-based purple pigments at Copenhagen Fashion Week.

• 🫒 Finisterre expands Yulex wetsuit rental to adapted suits.

• Veronica Beard has partnered with the Cotton Lives On™ to launch recycling campaign in London.

• 1,000 Gucci Italia workers staged action after Gucci refused welfare payments from expired agreement.

• Kering-Inditex regenerative fund hits 1Mn hectares milestone.

Standards & Regulatory Shifts

• European Commission opened consultation for legislation targeting doubled circularity rates by 2030.

• ICE enforcement in Texas created labor shortages affecting 700,000 tonnes of clothing exports.

• Mexican authorities demanded Adidas stop selling sandals copying local designs.

• Italy penalized Shein for misleading environmental claims and false statements.

• Florida Attorney General launched antitrust probe against CDP and SBTi

🫒 Stem debuts Octarine Bio purple dyes at Copenhagen Fashion Week. Danish designer Sarah Brunnhuber showcased her Edition 4 collection featuring bio-based purple pigments from Octarine Bio's PurePalette™ technology, which uses precision fermentation with engineered microbes to avoid fossil fuels and toxic chemicals. The collaboration paired innovative dyeing with Stem's waste-free woven system that combines weaving, cutting, and assembly in one step. Read more.

🫒 Finisterre expands Yulex wetsuit rental to adapted suits. The B Corp brand expanded its world's first Yulex rental program to include adapted wetsuits made with plant-based natural rubber, partnering with Bodyline to make sustainable surf gear more accessible for all abilities. The expansion furthers the brand's mission to make ocean access more inclusive while promoting environmentally responsible wetsuit materials as alternatives to neoprene. Read more.

Veronica Beard launches denim recycling drive. The American womenswear brand partnered with Cotton Lives On™ to collect unwanted denim at its London boutiques, offering customers 20% off new denim in exchange. Collected items will become recycled cotton insulation for roll mats supporting people experiencing homelessness, extending cotton's lifecycle while addressing textile waste. Read more.

Gucci Italia employees protest unpaid welfare benefits. Around 1,000 retail and logistics workers declared industrial action after Gucci refused to distribute welfare payments from an expired collective agreement. Unions criticized the company for wasting time and disregarding employees while linking payments to a comprehensive incentive scheme review. Read more.

Kering-Inditex regenerative fund hits 1Mn hectares milestone. The Regenerative Fund for Nature surpassed 1.1Mn hectares across eight countries and introduced tiered partnerships to attract more brands, lowering entry from $3Mn to $200K annually. The fund, spanning cotton, wool, leather, and cashmere projects, has benefited 105,000 farmers and communities. Read more.

EU launches Circular Economy Act consultation. On to good news from the hot-and-cold EU… The European Commission has opened consultation for its upcoming Circular Economy Act, targeting goals to double the EU's circularity rate and establish global leadership by 2030. Key pillars include tackling e-waste and creating a single market for secondary raw materials, with the Act planned for adoption in 2026 following consultation through November 2025. Read more.

Immigration raids disrupt US secondhand clothing chains. Heightened ICE enforcement in Texas border states created labor shortages at sorting facilities and warehouses, causing inventory backlogs and shipment delays in the global reuse market. The US exports roughly 700,000 tonnes of used clothing annually, with disruptions threatening cash flow for exporters and affordable apparel supply to overseas markets reliant on these imports. Read more.

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Oaxaca officials accuse Adidas of cultural appropriation. Mexican authorities demanded Adidas stop selling sandals they claim copy traditional huarache designs from Indigenous Zapotec communities in Yalalag village. Governor Salomon Jara threatened legal action against designer Willy Chavarria, while the Ministry of Cultures called for dialogue and redress with affected Indigenous communities. Read more.

Italy fines Shein €1Mn for greenwashing. Italy's antitrust authority penalized the fast fashion giant for misleading environmental claims on its Italian website, including false recyclability statements and vague emissions targets that actually increased in 2023-2024. Shein responded by strengthening internal review processes and updating website claims to comply with regulations. Read more on FashionUnited and Apparel Resources.