Sustainability Pulse #126
Sustainability Trends & News Worth Exploring - December 23, 2025
Here we are, at the edge of another year.
December always brings a particular quiet to sustainability reporting. Not because the issues have slowed, but because they’ve accumulated. By now, the patterns are clearer. The contradictions are too complex to ignore. The language is more familiar and, at times, more hollow.
This final edition of Sustainability Pulse gathers stories that feel emblematic of 2025. Resale promises relief while quietly fuelling overconsumption. Luxury proclaiming craftsmanship, while production trails lead to exploitation closer to home than many would like to admit. “Green” materials shedding microplastics into water systems already under strain.
And yet, alongside the disillusionment, there are signals worth paying attention to. Natural fibres are returning to the centre of the conversation(🥰). New approaches to leather, insulation, and textile-to-textile recycling that move beyond marketing into infrastructure.
I don’t see this list as a verdict on sustainable fashion, but as a map of where the tension sits right now: between intention and impact, innovation and extraction, ownership and responsibility. Between the clothes we buy quickly and the ones that stay. As always, my aim isn’t to overwhelm, but to curate.
Thank you for reading Sustainability Pulse this year. For your attention, your messages, your quiet presence on the other side of the screen.
Resale’s Hidden Carbon Cost:
A new Yale study finds that frequent shoppers of secondhand clothing tend to buy more new clothes as well, undermining environmental benefits and reinforcing a cycle of overconsumption.
‘Serious exploitation’: the Prada bags from Chinese sweatshops in Italy
Police discovered the luxury items during a raid. Investigators have also quizzed Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, and Givenchy over links to Chinese-run manufacturers
From Nike to H&M: How the fashion industry’s ‘big green plan’ is worsening microplastic pollution
An investigation into recycled polyester found microplastic pollution is being worsened by ‘green’ materials.
Fast fashion: EU laws for sustainable textile consumption
With fast fashion, the volume of clothes produced and discarded has skyrocketed. Find out more about the environmental impact and what the EU is doing about it.
Dutch Qorium lands €22M to reinvent real leather with cell-based tech
With the new funding, Qorium will expand its Maastricht facility, install larger bioreactor systems, and scale up production to serve commercial luxury, automotive, and goods clients.
The Frayed Edge: Are Fashion’s Sustainability Efforts Misplaced?
A disappointing COP30 deal was reached in Brazil, while floods across South and Southeast Asia showed exactly whyquicker action is required. Meanwhile the EU watered down sustainability legislation yet again, this time targeting deforestation. In some positive news, bans on fur and misleading ‘green’ ads made headway.
Patagonia’s CEO on Selling ‘the Unsexiest Thing in the World’
As the Californian outerwear brand publishes its first ever sustainability progress report, its 50-year effort to model and promote a more climate-friendly form of capitalism is under threat.
Prada to launch $930 ‘Made in India’ Kolhapuri sandals after backlash
The Italian luxury brand will make 2,000 pairs of sandals in India’s Maharashtra and Karnataka states, under a deal with two state-backed entities, Reuters news agency reports.
From wetlands to wardrobes – British FashionTech startup Ponda raises over €2 million for sustainable fashion innovation
Ponda, the Bristol-based biomaterials company pioneering regenerative-material supply chains, today announced the close of a €2.09 million Seed funding round to commercialise its flagship insulation, BioPuff.
Top Reasons For Brands To Commit To Natural Fibers
The Landmark Project’s Matt Moreau, partner and creative director, explained in an interview with the Lifestyle Monitor™ why the brand is so mindful regarding its fiber choices and production.
Europe Investigates Whether Fashion Brands Live Up to Green Promises | Promises Under Scrutiny | DW
Sustainable Fashion: A Surface Trend or a Genuine Transformation?
Sustainable fashion has transitioned from a niche concept to a widely discussed topic, yet the question lingers: is it merely a trend or a true change in how the world approaches clothing consumption?
PETA Coined a Term for Plant Fibres That Aren’t Wool. Yes, ‘Plant Wool’.
Do we need a new term to differentiate plant fibres that can be wool alternatives? As PETA wraps up its first-ever Plant Wool Month, we invited a campaigner there to make the case for the new label, which brands may use to highlight alternatives that aren’t synthetic.
The art of sustainable fashion: 10 ways to build an eco-friendly wardrobe without sacrificing style
Sustainable fashion isn’t about sacrifice, it’s about small intentional shifts that shape a wardrobe you truly love.
Shop Like a Billionaire? No Thanks. Here Are 30 Alternatives to Temu
Why ‘We Avoid’ Temu
Despite launching in 2022, Temu has quickly dominated the ultra fast fashion industry and brought serious competition to long-established multi-category retailers like Amazon. In fact, retail analyst Neil Saunders described Temu as “Amazon on steroids,” to the BBC in 2023, and it has around 13 million monthly users in the UK alone.
The clothes that stay
On keeping, revisiting, and collecting as part of fashion’s sustainability infrastructure
Why three fashion retailers’ “sustainable” ads, caught by AI-powered monitoring, breached the CAP Code
The ASA has ruled that ads from three major fashion brands did not comply with the CAP Code for containing misleading environmental claims. All three brands used the word “sustainable” to promote their products. Such broad claims must be qualified and/or substantiated, even if an ad is subject to character limits.
The ASA refers to guidance by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on environmental claims in the fashion retail sector, demonstrating its role as a compliance partner of the CMA.
The ads were discovered by the ASA’s Active Ad Monitoring system which uses AI to proactively survey ads in specific sectors.
I tried to save the world by recycling jumpers – now I’mmaking my own instead
After discovering the dark secrets behind high-street knits, Deborah Bee set her mind on creating truly sustainable and ethical cashmere
Is the future of sustainable fashion in textile-to-textile recycling?
The fashion industry is sitting on a goldmine it used to throw away. Every year, more than 92 million tonnes of textile waste are generated, and less than 1% is recycled back into new clothing. Yet, in mid-2025, a quiet revolution is underway. The innovation that is turning yesterday’s dresses, jeans, and t-shirts into tomorrow’s brand new collections. This isn’t just a sustainability story; it’s a multi-billion-dollar business transformation where textile-to-textile recycling is emerging as the industry’s next growth engine.
Interview with Javier Goyeneche (Ecoalf)
“A small company can save millions of liters of water by choosing a different way to produce”
Ecoalf was founded by putting recycling at the center of its strategy; what led you to start down that path?
Prescriptions for future of fast fashion
Apart from revamping its flagship SM MOA store and getting a Gen-Z brand ambassador, Andrea Brillantes, as firstFilipino endorser, international brand Guess is hoping to hook a younger generation of customers and start pulling away from being their moms’ and aunties’ brand by speaking the language of the Gen-Zs: sustainability.
Gen Z want to eco-shop, but lure of fast fashion, budget constraints can get in way
Gen Z consumers want to shop sustainably. They really, really want to shop sustainably. But a new survey shows 59% in the UK admitting admit their generation “talks more about sustainability than they practice”.
NIFAFest Highlights Need For Formal Institutions & Support For Sustainable Fashion Industry
The 3-day maiden festival, organised by Lowo Africa Art Republic supported by Nike Arts Gallery, Abuja, saw 20 local fashion brands display creative pieces comprising richly motif-ed ‘Adire’, ‘Tie-Dye’, ‘Ankara’, and upcycled textiles, as well as accessories like leather and fabric handbags, shoes, earrings, and bracelets.
The Fashion Brand Tabitha Brown Wears Is Built on Sustainability And Culture—Meet Coradorables
Founded by Cora Spearman-Chang, the WeLoveUs.Shop partner is an example of what can happen when fashion is intertwined with core values and craftsmanship.
From signals to actions: Understanding sustainable fashion consumption through a multisource signalling mechanism—evidence from China
The rapid growth of the fashion industry has caused significant resource consumption and environmental pressure, leading to a global demand for sustainable transformation. Balancing ecological impact reduction with innovation and competitiveness is a key challenge for both the industry and academia. This study explores how information from various sources affects consumer behavior regarding sustainable fashion consumption.
Everbloom AI Revolution: Transforming Chicken Feathers into Luxurious Cashmere with Sustainable Fashion Breakthrough
Imagine a world where your favorite cashmere sweater comes not from stressed goats, but from discarded chicken feathers. This isn’t science fiction—it’s the revolutionary reality being created by Everbloom, a startup using artificial intelligence to transform textile waste into premium fibers. In an industry where sustainability often comes with premium prices, Everbloom’s breakthrough promises to disrupt fashion with affordable, eco-friendly materials that could change how we think about luxury textiles forever.
The Best and Worst Rated Fashion Brands of 2025
Good On You rated more than 1,500 fashion brands in a tough year for more sustainable fashion. But it’s not all doom and gloom: there are some small brands doing the work to show what it means to function more responsibly in 2025. Read on to meet them, plus our round-up of the year in fashion news, and the brands to avoid.
What Defined Sustainable Fashion in 2025?
At the halfway point of the so-called “decade of action”, there was a lot riding on 2025. But who could have predicted the course of events that came to define the year in sustainable fashion? From regulatory U-turns to unprecedented tariffs, uncertainty was almost certainly the theme of the year.
I really hope you’re enjoying The Sustainability Pulse, my weekly newsletter looking at sustainability in the fashion industry. If you find the tips and insights useful, please share these articles to help spread the word.