CO Data

Measuring the Sustainable Fashion Retail Sector

CO collected four types of data on sustainable fashion retail to produce indicators about the current scale of this growing but difficult to monitor sector.
close
Key Takeaways
  • Definitions of ‘sustainable’ or ‘ethical’ fashion vary, making it difficult to measure the scale of the sustainable fashion retail sector.
  • CO gathered data on the number of sustainable collections offered by major high street brands in the UK; on key issues monitored in six ranking reports of various global brands; on coverage of of sustainability in trade media, and Google Trend data.
  • The research shows that the sale of fashion that is actively promoted as sustainable and ethical is less than 1% of the retail offering in the UK.
  • A sizeable number of companies – particularly luxury names – are not engaging or engaging very poorly in improving supply chain practices on labour rights.
  • More than half of companies surveyed are not acting fast enough on environmental management in supply chains and are choosing only a tiny proportion of sustainably produced fabrics.

Arguments in favour of sustainable fashion have been aired for some time, but how far are they prompting the industry to change its practices? Anecdotally, changes seem to be afoot in various businesses but extrapolating from that to gauge the wider picture is difficult.

For a start, the definition of what is ‘sustainable’ (and/or ‘ethical’) fashion varies. Depending on which source is consulted, the terms can encompass a slew of environmental and social issues – from cutting waste, chemicals …

Join CO to access this content

Common Objective (CO) is the global platform for sustainable fashion. Join 50,000+ industry members committed to doing fashion better, access 300+ resources and tools, attend inspiring events and grow your network.

Sign up for free

Already a member? Click here to log in.

14 May 2018
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest
Download

Notices from our PRO members
Events • 7 hours ago

Looking for NewCustomers/Buyer

Mila is activly looking to add new customers/Buyers from all over the world. We are also looking for investors only from Brand owners.

Mila Fair Clothings
Mila Fair Clothings Pvt Ltd
News • 2 weeks, 6 days ago

B Corp by 2026!

As part of our mission to drive positive environmental and social change throughout the company, we are striving to achieve B Corp Certification by 2026.

ESG at JSD
Jermyn Street Design
Innovation • 2 weeks, 6 days ago

Sustainable Label engineering

Our award-winning product engineering platform helps reduce environmental impact and cost. Brands can unlock impact data towards their targets.

Discover more here
ITL Group