It ain't fashion, if it ain't sustainable

University College London

UK Fashion Sector / Challenges Ahead

4 February 2025

8 minutes

Reductions in the environmental impact at a product-level are being overshadowed by increases in unit consumption overall. This may partly be the result of a rebound effect, i.e. consumption increasing as products are made more efficiently and therefore more cheaply.

Report Calls for Rewarding Sustainable Practices in UK Industry, Level-Playing Field Would Be Crucial

A new research report explores how UK fashion and textile companies are developing sustainable and circular practices, including their response to regulatory change associated with green growth and the transition to net zero. The study urged on the need to forge the business case for firms to invest in gathering detailed supply chain data to obtain product-level carbon footprints, as well as launch new circular business models.

Special Correspondent

Report

Wearables / Robotic Clothing

7 October 2024

3 minutes

VIVO devices include: clothing that ‘puts itself on’; smart garments to help prevent falls; and soft exosuits to help people get up from a chair, climb stairs and walk for longer.

Robotic Clothing which Can Aid Walking Gets £11 million Funding

An £11 million funding in the UK will help develop clever robotic clothing which keeps people active and independent, addressing the needs of the country’s 6.7 million people with age or disability-related mobility issues.

Staff Writer

Fashion Footprint / London Study

5 July 2023

3 minutes

In London, a large proportion is thrown away by consumers. Of the 142,700 tonnes of clothing discarded by Londoners in 2019 (around 44 items of clothing per person), over 40% ended up in the waste bin where 90% is lost to energy from waste/incineration and 10% goes to landfill.

Londoners Buy 48 Items of Clothing, Throw Away 44. Every Year

A recent study has mapped material flows across London's fashion supply chain, identifying where carbon hotspots occur and shows that fashion makes a significant contribution to the city’s consumption-based emissions associated with the stuff are used.