Sustainable Fashion News - January 2026

Feb 4
4 min read

We still have a long way to go, but January offered clear signs of progress. From economic recognition to systems-level adoption, the month revealed how sustainability is beginning to move beyond intent and into execution.

Across supply chains, materials, platforms, verification and design, sustainability is increasingly being absorbed into the mechanics of how the fashion industry operates. What once sat at the edges - pilot projects, ethical positioning, experimental collections - is now shaping infrastructure, investment decisions and competitive advantage.

Below are the key themes that emerged this month, and what they signal for brands and industries navigating the next phase of fashion.

Pricing up sustainable fashion

Across January we saw a shift moving beyond ideological, becoming a financially viable and beneficial industry to invest and scale in. Verification, rental, resale, recycling and sustainable materials are increasingly treated as investable systems with revenue logic, not optional add-ons.

What moved this forward this month?

New market data predicts the global sustainable fashion sector will hit $7.29bn by 2025 (source)
The global online clothing rental market is forecast to nearly triple by 2035, as platforms like Rent the Runway, HURR Collective and GlamCorner normalise access over ownership (source)
Australia’s clothing market is forecast to grow from $24.6bn in 2025 to $33bn by 2035, with sustainability shaping consumer expectations without slowing overall demand (source)
The global textile recycling market is forecast to exceed $20bn by 2031 (source)

Taken together, these signals suggest sustainability is becoming increasingly seen as an economic layer of the fashion industry, not just a set of values brands align with.

For brands, this points to a shift in competitive advantage: value will accrue less to those who talk convincingly about sustainability, and more to those who understand where it is being monetised - and how to participate early.

A shift to infrastructure

This month made one thing clear: sustainability is no longer being framed as intent — it’s being treated as operating infrastructure.

What moved this forward this month?

Copenhagen Fashion Week’s 20-year evolution, where sustainability moved from ethos to enforced participation criteria (source)
Première Vision New York restructuring around vertically integrated sourcing, prioritising traceability over trend forecasting (source)
Bureau Veritas acquiring SPIN 360, signalling that third-party verification is becoming a commercial necessity, not a reputational nice-to-have (source)
French supermarket Carrefour is trialling environmental scores on clothing, bringing food-style eco labelling into fashion retail and testing how transparency affects buying behaviour (source)
Milan-based sustainability consultancy C.L.A.S.S. has launched InsideOut, a value-based framework designed to help brands and consumers decode sustainability beyond surface-level storytelling, with backing from Italy’s fashion institutions (source)

Sustainability is no longer something you communicate, it’s something your systems either support or expose. Brands that can’t evidence traceability, sourcing and impact through infrastructure (partners, data, certification) will struggle to scale, wholesale, or defend claims.

Circular models are scaling through convenience

January showed that circular fashion is scaling fastest when it removes friction. The next phase of circularity will be won on ease, access and integration. Brands exploring resale, rental or repair need to design these systems as convenient extensions of shopping, not alternative value systems.

What's moved this forward this month?

By Rotation partnering with Uber, testing speed and logistics as drivers of rental adoption (source)
Vinted’s US expansion marks the scale of resale as default consumer behaviour (source)
eBay scaled its Circular Fashion Fund across Europe and North America, positioning resale and repair as default behaviours for investment (source)
Spain piloting reward-based clothing collection, experimenting with financial incentives as opposed to moral messaging (source)

Taken together, these signals suggest circular fashion scales fastest when it removes friction. For brands, this points to a shift in competitive advantage: value will accrue less to those who moralise consumption, and more to those who design circular systems that feel seamless.

Biomaterials are moving out of R&D and into commercial reality

This month marked a noticeable shift in how alternative materials are being positioned leaning much more into input and scalability.

What moved this forward this month?

JACK & JONES scaling Spinnova fibres into high-street ranges (source)
SUSMATA debuting Wastea at Lineapelle, placing agricultural-waste leather alternatives in luxury material pipelines (source)
Saudi Arabia and Red Sea Global funding seaweed textile pilots, framing algae as an economically positive industrial material strategy (source)
Fashion students from Loughborough University have collaborated with Next, testing how design-led sustainability can move from education into mainstream retail source

Material innovation is no longer about experimentation alone - it’s about integration readiness. Brands should be asking: can this material survive supply chain pressures, cost scrutiny, and design expectations at scale?

Design beyond 'that sustainability look'

Across January, design stories showed sustainability shedding its familiar visual language. Rather than relying on recognisable 'eco' aesthetics, designers and brands are integrating sustainable systems beneath aspirational, couture-level and high-fashion expressions. The result is sustainability that doesn’t announce itself, it performs quietly inside luxury, craft and mainstream desirability.

What moved this forward this month?

Ronald van der Kemp continued positioning upcycling as couture infrastructure at Paris Couture Week, without sacrificing glamour or spectacle (source)
Yuima Nakazato used digital pigment printing to reduce water use by up to 97%, embedding environmental efficiency into high-concept couture rather than altering its aesthetic language (source)
ARMEDANGELS reworked heritage styles with re-engineered materials, maintaining competitive fashion appeal while upgrading underlying systems (source)

Taken together, these signals suggest sustainable design is no longer defined by how it looks, but by what it’s built on. This points to a shift in competitive advantage: value will accrue less to those who signal sustainability visually, and more to those who can integrate sustainable systems without compromising aspiration.

The industry still has a long way to go, but taken together, January’s signals point to a clear shift in how sustainability functions inside the fashion industry. It is no longer a parallel conversation running alongside growth, creativity or scale - it is increasingly embedded within them.

From infrastructure and circular models to materials, valuation and design, the direction of travel is consistent: sustainable systems are becoming normalised, monetised and expected.

The brands best positioned for what comes next won’t necessarily be the loudest or most visible - but the ones building systems that can scale quietly, perform under pressure and hold up to scrutiny.