Tech, transparency and a future we can't delay

Mango announced its latest collaboration with the Swedish company Circulose to incorporate materials derived from recycled Cotton into its production process. Their strategic sustainability goal is to exclusively use fibres with a reduced environmental impact by 2030.  

RETURNS must be managed - killing profitability for brands and suppliers and the environmental impact is high. ASOS this week has updated its returns policy, increasing the time you can return garments from 28 days to 45. Additionally, if they notice unusually high rates of returns, they might rescind this offer. It'll be intersting to see the impact this has on ASOS' growth but is this setting a bad example going forward...?

AI

AI WILL TRANSFORM RETAIL

We must engage in it; it will impact many roles. There is a belief that 60% of these roles will disappear.  GEN Z and Gen A must learn to work with AI - we're seeing examples where automated demand forecasting is already transforming business

Amazon this week has laid off 150 people as a reaction to AI being used more within the business.  CEO Andy Jassy said "We’ll spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time thinking strategically about improving and inventing customer experiences"

Revolution in ethical sourcing practices

Why:

Garment workers—mostly women in the Global South are underpaid, overworked, and often exploited

● Living wages and fair contracts for all workers in the supply chain.

● Legally binding agreements between brands and factories.

● End outsourcing without accountability—brands must take full responsibility for their supply chains.

● Worker representation and unionization support

Revolution in policy & regulatory practices

Why: Voluntary compliance hasn't worked.

What needs to change:

● Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): make brands pay for the end-of-life of their products

● Bans on toxic dyes and microplastics

● Mandatory supply chain disclosure laws

● Global fashion climate accords—similar to the Paris Agreement.

In summary -revolutions in fashion require a multi-pronged approach—changing how clothes are made, how workers are treated, how consumers behave, and how the system is governed. It's not about tweaking what's broken; it's about rebuilding the entire framework of what fashion is and how it functions in society