Sustainability Pulse#104
Sustainability Trends & News Worth Exploring — January 6, 2024
As we step into 2024, I’m embracing this year with a mix of curiosity, creativity, and personal intention—both for my wardrobe and the world of sustainable fashion. From AI revolutionizing design to global conversations about textile waste, there's no shortage of inspiration to start the year right. But sustainability begins at home, and my New Year’s style resolutions are setting the tone:
Alter My Own Clothes: Everyone should know how to sew a button or take up a hem; it’s a practical, empowering way to love your wardrobe.
Ditch Minimalism or Maximalism: Whatever your style, let it be yours. Your wardrobe should represent you—not a trend.
Excavate My Wardrobe: This year, I’m letting go of things I’m not wearing and rediscovering hidden gems.
Proceed with Lightness: In 2025, I plan to embrace play, discovery, and a magpie-like affection for my finds. It's just clothes. There’s no uniform. It’s not that serious.
With that in mind, this month’s sustainable fashion highlights are making waves across the industry.:
Artificial intelligence transforms everything from supply chains to design studios, bringing the future directly into our closets. Meanwhile, the devastating fire at West Africa’s Kantamanto Market has disrupted one of the world’s largest secondhand hubs, sparking urgent conversations about global textile waste management. Innovators like Depop and Vestiaire Collective lead the charge toward a circular fashion economy, proving that rental and resale are here to stay.
On the policy front, the U.S. government has finally acknowledged the growing issue of textile waste, with leaders advocating for meaningful sustainability reforms.
Let’s make 2024 a year of impactful conversations, bold style choices, and transformative action.
Keep reading for these stories and more!
AI Changed Fashion in 2024, and It Is Just Getting Started
From the supply chain to the design room and the final sale, artificial intelligence is making itself at home in fashion and retail.
What the Kantamanto Market fire means for sustainable fashion
A fire at West Africa’s largest secondhand clothing market leaves thousands of retailers displaced and shops destroyed, while textile waste handling hangs in the balance.
Missoni Cofounder Rosita Missoni Dies at 93
The designer and cofounder of the luxury brand has died at 93.
Power 100 2024: Who are this year’s Rental and Resale Revolutionaries?
By Rotation, Depop, Ebay UK, Hirestreet, Hurr, Sign of the Times, Vestiaire Collective and Vinted Marketplace make up this year's Rental & Resale Revolutionaries.
Hurr is partnering with eBay to resell its ex-rental archive
The collection offers access to high-end pieces for a fraction of the price
Did fashion deliver on its sustainability promises in 2024?
Elections! Bankruptcies! Scandals! It’s been an eventful year for sustainable fashion.
How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe
Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people’sbodies. Her bosses halted her work. As the EPA now forces the removal of the chemicals from drinking water, she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world.
@kellyrutherford photographed in Paris by @philipgay for @elleromania with @amiamaliaofficial January 2025 cover.
Birkin bags were pricey if you could even snag one. Then a dupe showed up at Walmart.
When a knockoff of the iconic Hermès handbag appeared on Walmart’s website earlier this month, it caused a fracas.
Many happy returns: sustainable startups are turning a profit from your unwanted clothes
Now that half of our clothing purchases are sent back, reverse logistics – or the returns industry – has become big business, with companies finding ways to reduce waste
Alibaba sells majority share in Sun Art Retail Group
In a regulatory filing, Alibaba said the consideration for the sale was determined after “arm’s length commercial negotiations between the parties” that took into account the recent and historical prices of the Sun Art Shares on the Stock Exchange, among other factors.
Amazon sellers are in revolt over a new policy they say hurts profits and gives up guarded business data
“Just before the holidays, when a lot of people shut down, they sneak in this little bombshell that has real financial repercussions for a lot of sellers,” said Derkits, a former Amazon corporate employee who has been selling on Amazon for five years and now runs a consultancy for sellers. “I understand the outrage.”
Central Texas designers dazzle in avant-garde sustainable fashion show
The spectacle was part of Metanoia, an avant-garde fashion show documented by local film director and producer Hannah Varnell. As usual, she teamed up with Bloodbath's resident designers, Danielle Shephard, Benjamin Medina, and Navarr Gonzales, who are creative directors of all the collaborative's shows.
Community-driven consumption dynamics: An analysis of how consumer participation in fashion retailing can strength sustainability
AN ANALYSIS OF HOW CONSUMER PARTICIPATION IN FASHION RETAILING CAN STRENGTH SUSTAINABILITY
3 policy changes that need to happen to make fashion more sustainable
The ThredUp CEO wants to see stronger government action to reduce the fashion industry’s environmental impacts.
Amazon and eBay to pay 'fair share' for e-waste recycling
Circular economy minister Mary Creagh said planned reforms would create a "level playing field" for electronics producers by putting more onus on international retailers to contribute to recycling costs.
Entrepreneur sets up sustainable fashion brand
Freddie Jones from Hereford looked into ways to reduce damage caused by fast fashion and began buying and selling second hand clothes through an online vintage clothing platform.
Sustainable AI-Driven Fashion Tech
A New Era for Chile’s Atacama Desert
In the heart of northern Chile’s Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, I found myself standing among mountains of discarded clothes. The stark beauty of the desert contrasted painfully with this massive waste. These piles, a byproduct of fast fashion’s relentless cycle, felt like a grim reminder of our throwaway culture. I was there not just to witness the environmental damage but to understand how we could turn this tide. And surprisingly, the answer wasn’t more recycling—it was artificial intelligence.
Shoe designer Jimmy Choo shares his views on the future of fashion — and a warning over AI
Choo opened the academy in 2021, offering students a bachelor's or master's degree in entrepreneurship in design and brand innovation — with business a key part of the program.
The AI Revolution In Fashion: How Genera Is Shaping The Digital Future Of Design
Genera is shaking up fashion’s design-to-wholesale process with AI, cutting waste, accelerating the workflow, and pushing the industry closer to its sustainability goals.
I’m a model, and I’ve seen firsthand how AI can manipulate the fashion industry
New York’s Fashion Workers Act would create basic labor protections for models—including around digital replicas and AI-generated content.
How Vestiaire is improving fashion treasure hunts with AI
The Paris-based fashion resale platform is adding computer vision to solve the unique challenge of specific searches among a vast product catalogue.
The US finally acknowledges textile waste in new report
The Government Accountability Office has shed light on the country’s waste problem and potential policy solutions for the first time. Is it enough?
Meet the innovators driving change in fashion
At the Vogue Business Fashion Futures event in London on 4 December, a group of startups and founders presented solutions to some of the industry’s thorniest challenges.
One Scoop Store founder: ‘Secondhand shopping is here to stay’
As the cost of living continues to bite, Holly Watkins, founder of secondhand clothing retailer One Scoop Store, argues that secondhand shopping is not a fad, but here to stay, and shares her tips on how to capture these consumers.
‘Do 50 press-ups and a daily meditation’ – the 10 wisdoms of Yohji Yamamoto
The 81-year-old master of fashion offers his philosophies for a happy life
Social media trend encourages young people to buy less and reconsider their consumption
Last-minute sales, limited-time offers and half-off deals can be hard to resist for some holiday shoppers. This season, Americans were projected to spend seven percent more than 2023. But a social media trend urges eager consumers to pause before pressing the purchase button.
The 51 most disruptive startups of 2024
You’ll note that OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, and other big AI model makers and newsmakers (like Perplexity), are not named on this list. While these companies are among the most disruptive of the year — and possibly of a lifetime — TechCrunch focused on those startups that aren’t as well-known or highly watched.
Threading the Innovation Chain: Scaling and Manufacturing Deep Tech in the United States
by Melik C. Demirel and David Adler
Professor Melik C. Demirel is Huck Chair in biomimetic materials at Penn State and a cofounder of Tandem Repeat Technologies, a climate-positive smart textiles company.
David Adler is author of the monograph The New Economics of Liquidity and Financial Frictions and coeditor of the anthology The Productivity Puzzle, both published by the CFA Institute Research Foundation. He is also a contributing editor of American Affairs.
This article discusses the challenges of scaling deep-tech innovations in the U.S., focusing on bioengineered fibers inspired by squid proteins. It highlights financing gaps, workforce limitations, and a lack of integrated manufacturing infrastructure while contrasting these with China's strategic approach to advanced manufacturing.
From Hermès Birkin To Walmart’s Wirkin: The New Face Of Luxury In 2025
How I sourced one of the most searched for Chanel bags secondhand
the circular fashion tool I used when my sister asked for one of most searched for bags of 2024 for Christmas
Dr Martens Creative Director Darren Mckoy exits
Mckoy first joined the British bootmaker in January 2015 as Global Category Manager for footwear, before being promoted to Global Product & Merchandising Director in October 2017.
Reconomy partners with Fabacus for Digital Product Passports
International circular economy specialist Reconomy has partnered with data technology business Fabacus to offer Digital Product Passports (DPPs) as part of its textile Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) solution.
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