Fashion Outlets Recognise Need for Improved Sustainability

Tuesday, June 11, 2019 - 14:30 by Paul Tissington

A study from Drapers has shown that retailers operating in the fashion sector appreciate that customers are now more interested in the sustainability of the clothing and accessories they are buying, whether from the high street or via safe shopping online.

Nine out of ten industry insiders questioned in the survey said that it made good business sense to shift their operations towards a more eco-friendly state of affairs, updating old practices and providing consumers with assurances about the greener nature of their offerings.

A similar proportion said that they had actively encountered these changing opinions amongst their customers, although just 60 per cent said that they believed people would happily splash out a little more cash in order to procure sustainable products.

The suggestion is that although shoppers are eager to see the fashion industry up its game in this area, they may not want to have the cost of making these changes passed on to them.

Around a third of the decision-makers who were grilled in the report said that they did not believe there was much demand amongst consumers for a shift towards sustainability, showing that this is a minority view.

Meanwhile, four out of five movers and shakers said that they believe other executives and leaders in their organisations were willing to put their backing behind any strategies which would boost sustainability and cut waste.

In terms of the projects which are being considered, the vast majority of fashion retailers believe that moving towards a zero-emissions state makes sense, while also supporting the imposition of targets for cutting carbon footprints across the board.

The firms would furthermore like to see the government doing its bit to help them go green by spending more money to enhance the availability of recycling services.