A new industry report has found that the fashion industry would need to slash absolute emissions by 42 percent by 2030, from a 2022 baseline, to stay within the 1.5°C target of the Paris Climate Agreement.
To achieve such a drastic reduction in emissions, say researchers at Paris Good Fashion, brands would need to reduce the emissions intensity per item and improve efficiency by adopting measures such as using better materials and production processes, logistics, circularity, and energy reduction or moves to renewable sources.
However, even with these changes, the study – which was reported by Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) – warns that brands will still need to reduce yearly production volumes to reach the absolute emissions reductions needed under the Paris Agreement.
The larger the baseline volume, the more reduction is needed, researchers say, with mass market brands cutting their volume by 12 percent while luxury brands could remain stable or cut by 1 percent. Premium brands could increase their volume by as much as 3 percent, provided circular models are scaled.
Paris Good Fashion is an organisation that pushes for greater focus on sustainability in the industry, gathering representatives from every level of fashion to develop strategies for decarbonisation. It recently brought together industry executives from major luxury brands, premium brands, mass-market players and emerging independent designers, along with scientists and business analysts at its first Midsummer Camp. Participants collaborated on developing new frameworks for sustainable fashion, spurred by the findings of the report.
The first study of its kind to pool data from across the industry, it analysed product mix, including product volumes, a key area for decarbonisation historically overlooked by the fashion industry in favour of emphasising efficiency and future tech.
[See more: Fast fashion is far more expensive than you thought]
Some 25 brands, representing 86 billion euros (US$99.96 billion) in turnover, contributed data for the report. Although all data was anonymous, some of the brands known to have participated include Chloé, Christian Louboutin, Agnès B, Balzac, Célio and Etam, as well as companies like Kering and Richemont, both home to leading luxury brands.
Currently, most of fashion operates on a linear model, producing large volumes of clothing and footwear, mostly made from fossil fuel-based synthetics that aren’t designed to be reused or recycled, driving overconsumption and exacerbating waste. Circularity offers a more sustainable path with items designed to last, crafted from renewable materials, with options for repair, redesign, rental and reselling before recycling. The goal is to keep resources in use as long as possible, extracting the most value possible while in use, then recovering and regenerating products and materials at the end of their service life.
Developing business models for a circular economy was a central focus of the Midsummer Camp, with Andrée-Anne Lemieux, sustainability director at Institut Français de la Mode, telling WWD that economic headwinds have slowed implementation of such models.
She highlighted the urgency of decoupling financial growth from emissions and the need for collective action. The report backs up this perspective, noting that while brands can reduce their emissions by 21 percent working alone, collective action enables an additional 17 percent reduction.
“The brands know that if they don’t act, they won’t survive,” Paris Good Fashion co-founder and executive director Isabelle Lefort told WWD. “We are really at a tipping point. Before [sustainability] was more for the communications department, but that’s finished. Now [sustainability] is arriving in the financial department – how to improve profitability, reduce environmental impact and align the value drivers.”
Communication, she added, will also be critical — not only to demonstrate the value of circular models, but also to reduce reliance on fast-changing trend cycles that confuse consumers.
