This week, the Institute of Positive Fashion Forum will seek to push the industry closer to circularity and net-zero targets through a range of keynotes and panel sessions. But what does a better future really look like?
Shailja Dubé, the Institute’s deputy director, believes stringent target setting and driving equity through the supply chain are key. That’s echoed here by nine fashion industry experts, including designer Amy Powney, sustainability consultants Tom Berry and Harriet Vocking, and more, that we asked about their vision of a truly sustainable future in luxury fashion.
These conversations showcase the breadth of ethical questions in 2025—no longer are discussions about sustainable luxury limited to its most conspicuous issues, like the use of fur and exotic animal skin. That’s not out of ignorance or because they’re not still an issue, but because everyone from consumers to activists is empowered to ask deeper questions about the notoriously secretive industry.
It’s a pivotal moment for the sector. At the same time as political shifts threaten sustainability initiatives across the board, rising prices are frustrating shoppers. Analysts are warning of a downturn. Consumers are craving in-person experiences in the face of AI and infinite scroll. And recent allegations of labour exploitation in Loro Piana, Dior, and Armani’s supply chains have underlined that the vision consumers are sold of luxury manufacturing doesn’t match the reality.
Brittany Sierra, founder of Sustainable Fashion Forum, says these high standards, which were long assumed to be integral to luxury’s DNA, are the reason it has mostly fallen under the sustainability radar until now: “Brands are now being scrutinised for cutting corners on quality and sustainability while still charging premium prices.”
Sierra underlines the power and influence that luxury brands have over consumer culture and mindset—another key point the experts we interviewed shared—and therefore an opportunity to shape the wider sustainability landscape through leading by example.
Here’s what nine industry insiders think that should look like.
Shailja Dubé, Deputy Director, Institute of Positive Fashion:
‘A holistic approach is needed in the face of global turbulence’
We are living in turbulent times, and geopolitical forces are impacting local and global economic systems. From a citizen and luxury customer perspective, there is even more focus on being custodians of our garments and looking after them with greater care and longevity in mind.
I would love to see the luxury sector continue to strengthen climate and nature goals of its practices, from net-zero targets to using lower impact materials. There is a need to continue to raise awareness and drive social change and equity through the supply chain, to putting more focus on diversity and inclusion programmes.
Tom Berry, sustainable fashion business consultant, ex-Farfetch
‘Luxury companies strongly impact on the culture surrounding fashion’
Luxury fashion companies hold a unique position when it comes to sustainability. They can invest more than others in materials, so could prioritise preferred materials from lower-impact sources, and invest in sustainable material innovations beyond the reach of others.
They often have closer relationships with smaller scale suppliers, so could ensure those relationships are positive for people working in their value chain. They tend to invest more than others in design and quality, so could ensure that items are designed for durability and recycling—which in turn allows them to invest in business models like rental, resale, and repair that help extend the life of the items they sell.
However, not all luxury companies invest in these more sustainable forms of materials, supply chain, design, and business models, or if they do, they don’t talk about it. Luxury companies have a very strong impact on the culture that surrounds fashion, setting the bar for aspiration in the industry as a whole, so the lack of transparent communication on their efforts is a missed opportunity for them, and for progress in the industry.
Brittany Sierra, founder of Sustainable Fashion Forum, host of the Green Behavior podcast
‘Brands need to build prestige through cultural resonance’
Modern sustainable luxury is defined by a brand upholding the traditional markers of luxury—high-quality craftsmanship, premium materials, and exclusivity—while actively engaging in environmental responsibility, ethical production, and transparent business practices.
There are two key dynamics at play:
For sustainable brands aspiring to luxury status, it’s not enough to simply focus on responsible production and lower-impact materials. To truly be considered luxury, they need to cultivate brand affinity, creating a strong sense of social currency, and cultural relevance. Luxury isn’t just about the product itself—it’s about the status and emotional connection it generates within a community. These brands need to build prestige through cultural resonance, allowing consumers to feel they’re part of something bigger.
For established luxury brands, the challenge is different. They need to commit to sustainability in a transparent and meaningful way, ensuring their high standards of craftsmanship and exclusivity are matched by a genuine dedication to ethical practices.
I also believe the definition of exclusivity is changing. Rather than being solely about class and inaccessibility, modern sustainable luxury can be inclusive and accessible, while still delivering exclusivity through values, design, and cultural influence.
The future of luxury will be defined not only by quality and the prestige of a name but by the values it upholds, the cultural relevance it maintains, and the positive impact it seeks to make on the world.
JD Shadel, editor-at-large at Good On You
‘Sustainable luxury requires reimagining the architecture of desire’
Luxury has always been as much about storytelling as materials or craft. What’s changing now, in my view, is that the most compelling luxury narratives are no longer about scarcity or exclusivity alone, but about permanence in an era of disposability.
The media ecosystem around luxury has traditionally thrived on novelty — an accelerating churn of collections and micro-trends that encourage consumption rather than celebrate longevity. It’s not merely about “slowing down.” It’s changing the system. The most forward-thinking brands are now investing in storytelling approaches that challenge this acceleration.
Luxury brands have a unique opportunity to reshape how consumers understand value, particularly in supporting artisanal communities and heritage practices that embody deeper relationships with both materials and makers. As it so happens, this approach also aligns directly with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #12 on responsible consumption.
What’s particularly interesting is how this shift meets broader cultural currents. Just as people increasingly crave offline experiences, they’re seeking brands with genuine heritage. The luxury sector can lead by decoupling creative expression from volume-driven business models.
In a media ecosystem where we’re now seeing slop synthetic content to promote synthetic fast fashion products, the most genuine luxury might be thoughtful media that helps us want better rather than merely wanting more — design and editorial approaches that honour complexity rather than reducing sustainability to simplistic slogans.
Amy Powney, former creative director at Mother of Pearl
‘It all comes down to reconnecting with nature’
Sustainable luxury fashion is about slowing things down, which mirrors what I feel humanity needs in general.
It’s about finding those timeless, forever pieces that resonate with you and that have really beautiful quality and craftsmanship. Having time to think and form your own opinions on what products you need to build your wardrobe, rather than being told what you should look like or following trends.
I think we need to take a deep breath and look at what we’re consuming, how fast-paced the world is, how much information we’re being fed on a daily basis, and how that makes consumption rampant. We’re on an unsustainable trajectory of overstimulation and overconsumption, which is driven by social media. Luxury is the ability to step away from that.
Fundamentally, it all comes down to reconnecting with nature in the end—if we restore that and we begin to understand what we own and where it comes from, then we can change the levels of respect for the world around us and the things we buy.
Sarah Needham, senior director of engagement and partnerships at Textile Exchange
‘A high price point must reflect the labour that has gone into production’
The luxury fashion sector has a unique opportunity to drive beneficial climate and nature impacts through the intimate relationships it holds with both its customers and its supply chain. There are already great examples of how some luxury fashion brands are making the most of their direct and long-standing relationships with their suppliers and raw material producers to support best practices in relation to regenerative, animal welfare and human rights in particular.
Sustainable luxury fashion, with a focus on longevity and quality, can weave into its campaigns, storytelling and business models the importance of slower production models that are not driving the depletion and extraction of finite resources.
Some of the terms most commonly associated with luxury are becoming synonymous with sustainability, where a high quality material has to mean it is a preferred one, where a high price point has to accurately reflect the labour that has gone into its production, and where rarity has to mean it is part of a slower production model. It is really exciting to see these shifts develop with new sustainable fashion brands that are embedding these principles from the onset.
Jessica Ouano, ratings analyst at Good On You
‘We need to place more value on Indigenous and minority cultures’
Many consumers value the brands more than the craft, culture, and the makers behind the product. For instance, a consumer might be willing to spend £2000 for a handmade bag by a globally renowned luxury brand, but they wouldn’t spend the same for one that’s handcrafted by an artisan from an Indigenous community. Even if the latter took longer to make, it is not valued equally.
Not everyone realises that the ways of dressing, handcrafted textiles and cultures of several Indigenous and minority communities have been used by luxury brands as a source of inspiration for their products, without giving proper credit and benefit to the communities where they originated from. I believe sustainable luxury is about addressing the issue of cultural appropriation and the erasure or devaluing of Indigenous and minority cultures.
Luxury fashion brands have the power to create desire and value, and they should use that to open up spaces and opportunities for diverse cultures to be recognised and valued more deeply by consumers. This means encouraging consumers to reflect more deeply on the craftsmanship behind the products and the significant cultural value they hold. And if a luxury brand intends to take inspiration from an indigenous community’s culture, they should get permission from the community and learn as much as they can about the culture by having conversations and spending time with them. If the community is interested in collaboration, the brand can facilitate a cultural exchange where they co-create designs with the community. Through this, the community can make sure their culture is represented by the brand in an appropriate way. Lastly, these communities also need to be compensated fairly for the use of their cultural heritage.
Harriet Vocking, founder of For.Tomorrow consultancy, ex-Eco-Age
‘Sustainable luxury fashion is an item that you are going to cherish forever’
Sustainable luxury fashion is less about brand names and trends, but more about an item that you are going to cherish forever.
True luxury is knowing that you have invested in a piece that has been lovingly crafted and that your purchase is having a positive impact. Sustainable luxury is about using your purchasing power to uplift the brands that have positive social and environmental values held close to their heart. Buy less, but buy products that look great whilst making a difference.
Nina Gbor, founder of Eco Styles, and sustainable fashion educator
‘We need ethically made, sourced, and justly paid resources and materials’
To do justice to the term sustainable luxury fashion, its definition should include couture that is made with the highest standard of natural fibres, excellent craftsmanship that will last many years and stay in good condition to be passed on to others, circular design (so that it can be reused, repurposed easily without waste), artisanal design, no toxic chemicals used in making the garments.
Often the discourse around the term ‘sustainable’ focuses on the environment and leaves out the human and animal wellbeing in fashion’s supply chain. But sustainable luxury fashion should include liveable wages for workers throughout the supply chain with no modern slavery involved in making the garment; and ethical treatment of animals in the supply chain. We need ethically made, sourced and justly paid resources and materials.
