Powerful drivers such as regulation and ambitious impact targets are pushing the fashion industry towards NextGen material adoption, and the scaling of NextGen technologies in the industry is a certainty, a new report has contended.
- The report—Next Gen to This Gen: Scaling Material Innovations in the Fashion Sector by Sustainabelle Advisory Services—is based on a survey of 157 stakeholders and 62 expert interviews which capture insights on the NextGen material innovation landscape today, including diverse perspectives from innovators, brands, suppliers, investors, and support organisations.
MARKET FORCES DRIVING ADOPTION: The findings from the survey and interviews suggest that despite an uncertain economic climate dampening the investment and retail landscape, there are strong drivers in place making a transition to NextGen innovations all but certain. There are four pointers on why next gen materials will help:
- Ambitious Impact Goals: It will be impossible for brands to reach their climate and impact goals without NextGen materials. NextGen materials are critical in achieving goals to stay within the 1.5℃ temperature rise scenario by 2050, as “up to 80% of a product’s environmental impact is determined in the design phase and is baked into materials and dyes.”
- Incoming Regulation: NextGen materials offer a pathway to compliance. The incoming legislation will include requirements for recycled content, recyclability, improved circularity, and the phase-out of harmful chemicals.
- Consumer Demand: NextGen materials will provide an innovation story in addition to a sustainability story. These changing consumer demands will drive fashion to prioritise new and more sustainable NextGen materials for products.
- Traditional Supply Chain Risk: NextGen materials provide alternative feedstock options and process efficiencies to buffer risk. A recent report shows workers and manufacturers face productivity impacts from extreme heat and flooding that are estimated to be equivalent to 5% or more of the brand’s net operating profits after tax.
THE TECHNOLOGIES EXIST: The report points out that technologies needed to move forward already exist. Fashion for Good estimates that there are over 650 innovations in the material innovation space across materials and recycling, up from 130 in 2017—an increase of 400%.
- In all, 63 of the 184 innovators in the Fashion for Good alumni network have developed material or recycling technologies. Collectively, these innovators have raised €1.19 billion in investment since joining the Fashion for Good programme.
THE CHALLENGES AHEAD: Each stakeholder group identified its main challenges in the path towards adopting NextGen materials.
- Brands: Difficulty in meeting performance specifications and aesthetic standards.
- Innovators: Difficulty in getting brands to commit to long-term contracts (brand) and difficulty in paying higher price point for new innovative materials (supplier/manufacturer)
- Investors: Higher price points are attached with new innovative materials.
- Manufacturers: Difficulty in paying higher price points for new innovative materials.
- Supporters: Difficulty in paying higher price points for new innovative materials.
SUGGESTED INDUSTRY ROADMAP TO SCALE: The report has identified three priority areas to create a pathway to scale for the industry. All of the proposed actions are within the fashion industry's control and may not require large time or financial investments.
- Priority 1 — Information Creation: Focus on alignment and standardisation through industry cooperation and transparency.
- Priority 2 — R&D Optimisation: Optimise R&D through supplier partnerships and shared resources.
- Priority 3 — Confronting Funding: Focus on catalytic funding opportunities—both public and private.
