Fashion is on track to whoosh right past its climate targets, despite much talk about progress. One of the main reasons? The industry refuses to tackle growth (or even disclose production volumes).
In its latest report, non-profit Textile Exchange is facing this challenge head-on. The report is intended to “challenge preconceptions about growth”, says sustainability strategist and report author Rachel Arthur. “Reimagining growth is not just an economic shift but a cultural and systemic one.”
We highlight small-scale case studies of degrowth in action, as academics and activists place greater emphasis on the model as the way forward for fashion.
This conversation is long overdue, adds Beth Jensen, senior director of climate and nature impact at Textile Exchange, which has its own goal of helping the industry reduce greenhouse gas emissions from raw materials sourcing by 45 per cent before 2030. “We cannot keep going down a path of unchecked growth as traditionally defined and expect to stay within planetary boundaries. In order to ensure the resiliency of businesses and the industry into the future, as well as to achieve corporate climate and nature targets, it is now a necessity to consider ways to create business value outside of continually increasing the amount of new materials extracted and new products made,” says Jensen.
The report is based on a literature review of growth resources and critiques, as well as a survey of 149 fashion professionals exploring the terminology around production volumes and revenue growth targets relative to sustainability, and consultations with a further 27 anonymous professionals.
It includes several recommended “pathways for change” for brands and retailers. This includes eliminating the use of virgin fossil-based synthetic materials and swapping them for sustainably sourced renewable and closed-loop, textile-to-textile recycled feedstocks. Textile Exchange also proposes scaling circular business models such as repair, resale and rental, and eliminating marketing practices that drive overconsumption and overproduction — as highlighted in Arthur’s 2023 report for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Sustainable Fashion Communication Playbook.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to reimagining growth. The report treats natural and recycled materials very distinctly from virgin synthetics. It advocates for phasing out virgin fossil-based synthetics “as rapidly as possible” — which goes beyond COP28’s agreement to “transition away” from fossil fuels, although even that has been watered down and rolled back in the year since it passed. For natural materials such as wool and cotton, “growth must be limited to prevent the conversion of pristine ecosystems that require protection”. Still, natural materials grown using regenerative, organic or “other preferred concepts” should be available, and may therefore need to grow.
However, this is a far cry from today’s reality.
Per Textile Exchange’s 2024 Material Markets report, global fibre production actually increased by 7 per cent in the last year, from 116 million tonnes to 124 million tonnes. This is expected to rise further to 160 million by 2030 if current trends continue. Virgin fossil-based materials also increased from 67 million tonnes in 2022 to 75 million tonnes in 2023. As for recycled textiles — for which the infrastructure is elusive at best and non-existent at worst — production decreased. Meanwhile, the percentage of preferred natural fibres remains low. In cotton, for example, which is difficult to aggregate because certifications can be something of a Wild West, cotton programmes including Climate Beneficial, Regenerative Organic Certified and Fairtrade represented just 7 per cent of all virgin cotton in 2023.
An opportunity for positive transformation
In sustainable fashion, growth is the elephant in the room. Discussing degrowth (a managed reduction of the economy and new materials in order to truly address the climate crisis) is still seen as radical by many, which is partly why Textile Exchange has instead titled its report ‘Reimagining Growth’. “Language is critical in this conversation because it shapes perceptions and drives engagement,” says Arthur. “Terms like ‘degrowth’ can be polarising or misunderstood, particularly by stakeholders who equate growth with progress and success.” Textile Exchange’s survey found that 65 per cent of respondents felt they could not use the word ‘degrowth’ in their company. Still, there is no perfect alternative, adds Arthur. “Focusing too much on finding the right one risks becoming a distraction from the essential work that needs to start now.”
Textile Exchange’s preferred terms are ‘regenerative economy’ and ‘post-growth’, aligning the shift away from exponential growth with well-being and prosperity, thus creating a more positive end state than ‘degrowth’ would suggest. This terminology is “positioning the conversation as an opportunity for positive transformation rather than as a threat to economic viability”, explains Arthur.
What are the limitations?
The report isn’t meant to be a fully fledged blueprint for change, but rather a starting point that defines key terms, outlines barriers and suggests pathways for brands and retailers. Growth is an incredibly challenging area for fashion to tackle, partly because — as the report acknowledges — “this transition cannot be achieved by a single brand or the textile industry alone”. Growth metrics are applied at the global level, and economists have dedicated decades to finding suitable alternatives without reaching a consensus. Fashion’s challenges with growth are “a product of the broader capitalist system we operate in”, says Jensen.
Coming from Textile Exchange, the report naturally focuses on Tier 4 (the cultivation and extraction of raw materials from the earth, plants and animals), but the entire fashion system would need to be overhauled to actually limit growth in a meaningful way, according to Arthur. “Broader levers would need to be considered in order to encompass a more holistic view of reimagining growth, such as through consumption and social change. Crucially, the integration of other key stakeholder groups such as policymakers and the finance world will be required for change to be viable at scale.”
Arthur also says she is painfully aware that the report — and much of the previous literature it leans on — is framed through the lens of the Global North. “Reimagining growth has to be fundamentally rooted in a just transition. There isn’t a world in which this can happen without ensuring it does so in an equitable way that does not perpetuate historical injustices or inequalities,” she says. “To be clear, the report is not calling for reductions in such a way that is detrimental to people; changing volumes of production and consumption based on new materials for new products cannot come at the expense of livelihoods in the Global South. There will need to be a redistribution of resources and opportunities, and in certain nations and markets, this will still mean prioritising sustainable development.” Moving forwards, workers and communities in the Global South will need to be involved in decision-making “at all levels”, Arthur adds.
The report is intended to set a “consistent baseline” for future discussions about growth, says Jensen. “We plan to partner with other organisations and convene the industry around specific actions to take as a next step,” she explains. “There will be more to come on this soon.”
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