Every month, the Good On You team scours the internet to bring you the most notable sustainability news from the fashion and beauty sectors.
French Senate Backs Law To Curb Ultra Fast Fashion (Reuters)
Senators in France’s parliament have voted unanimously to modify the country’s bill regulating fast fashion. If implemented, the modification will ban advertising by ultra fast fashion brands, and create a distinction between “classic” fast fashion (like Zara), and “ultra” fast fashion, such as Temu and SHEIN.
Under Pressure: Can Fashion’s Sustainability Efforts Survive? (Business of Fashion)
Following the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen, Business of Fashion’s Sarah Kent reports on the state of sustainability in the sector amidst global challenges and the growing effects of climate change, and it makes for bleak reading. Among those Kent spoke to at the Summit was slow fashion designer Eileen Fisher, who urged people to push on: “We need to have courage… We have to do more and show up and collaborate more,” she said.
Max Mara Workers Strike to Demand Dignity, Respect and Rights (FashionUnited Italy)
A report from FashionUnited Italy details a strike that took place in May by garment workers for Max Mara in the northern town of Reggio Emilia. Workers have complained of labour exploitation and are calling for basic rights to be implemented.
Fast-Fashion Retailer SHEIN’s Transport Emissions Jump in 2024 (Reuters)
SHEIN released its 2024 sustainability report in mid-June, and it revealed the fast fashion brand’s shipping emissions have jumped 13.7%. According to Reuters, that’s triple Inditex’s transport emissions, which have also jumped. Not only that, but the retailer found that its 2023 emissions calculation wasn’t quite right, and the number is actually 18% higher than previously reported.
SHEIN Faces Legal Battle Over Tax Loophole (The Telegraph)
It wouldn’t be a news round-up without multiple SHEIN stories, would it? In The Telegraph’s report, there are details of a new lawsuit accusing the retailer of “manipulating customs declarations for VAT [value added tax] evasion”. The lawsuit has been brought by a former customs agent for the brand, which claims its work was carried out “under pressure and reputational risk”.
A New Report Links Public Funds to Labour Abuses in Pakistan’s Textile Sector (FashionUnited)
A new report from Swedish NGO Swedwatch, ‘Public Money, Private Harm’, has revealed through interviews with garment workers in Pakistan that labour exploitation is ongoing in textile factories tasked with supplying uniforms and linens to Swedish public health sector—despite commitments to sustainability and codes of conduct being in place. Don-Alvin Adegeest at FashionUnited writes that the report “illustrates how voluntary sustainability guidelines, codified in the EU’s 2014 Public Procurement Directive, remain inconsistently applied and rarely enforced.”
Discarded Clothes From UK Brands Dumped in Protected Ghana Wetlands (The Guardian)
Unearthed and Greenpeace Africa report that textile dumps have been found in an internationally recognised Ghanaian wetland that is an important home for three species of sea turtle. According to The Guardian, clothes from Next, Marks & Spencer, George at Asda, H&M, Primark, and Zara have all been found in the area. Meanwhile, local people have complained that their fishing nets and waterways are clogged with “synthetic fast-fashion garments exported to Ghana from the UK and Europe”.
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Swedish Stockings Launches Tights to Art Collection
“Good” brand Swedish Stockings has unveiled a new collection of sculptures made from recycled tights and created by American artist Sienna Martz. The tights have been collected through the brand’s recycling scheme, and it’s part of the brand’s efforts to find innovative ways to transform discarded stockings into alternative items, “until a circular solution for making tights from nylon waste becomes possible”. The one-of-a-kind artworks are for sale on the brand’s website.
