The Latest Sustainable Fashion News - September 2025

The EU did not come to play in September. We have had some transformational fashion legislation in sustainable fashion news front this month that is going to change how the entire fashion system can operate globally - and it’s all very exciting.

These legislations are going to change entirely how global fashion brands manage their products from design, to communications, to managing what happens to them at the end of their lifespan - ideally elongating that as far as possible. It comes down to sustainability action beyond just doing the right thing, those that don’t comply will face huge fines and limited access to global customers. The ripples from September will span far into the future. Let’s get into it. 

Sustainable digital passports to come into play by 2030

This one is huge. By 2030, Digital Product Passports (DPPs) will be mandatory in the EU. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is bringing in DPPs as a tool for transparency and traceability.

So, what exactly are DPPS going to look like in fashion? It looks like they may take the form of scannable QR codes, NFC tags, or blockchain-based records, linking each garment to its materials, production history, carbon footprint, repairability and end-of-life pathways. 

This is such a big movement as if fully realised, DPPs will transform fashion products into a verifiable information economy: garments become data assets as much as physical ones. It promises to shift consumer trust from branding to transparency, disincentivise greenwashing, and enable product circularity (reuse, repair, recycling).

Like any new process, rolling it out is going to have teething issues: how it’s going to work in one way across different IT systems, data privacy, standardisation of metrics, and costs for smaller brands. There are some brands, especially in luxury, who are already experimenting. For example the Aura Blockchain Consortium (Prada, LVMH, Richemont, OTB) is embedding traceable lifecycle data into high-end goods, which may mean they gain consumer trust and level up their market positioning. 

But by 2030, DPPs may become a regulatory baseline rather than a differentiator - fashion brands need to do some serious prep. This article outlines how they can go about this. 

Europe tightens the rules: brands now financially responsible for their waste

Another massive update from this month is that the European Parliament signed off on a landmark revision of the Waste Framework Directive, which makes fashion and textile producers explicitly financially liable for the waste their products generate. From clothing and footwear to home textiles, every product placed on the EU market will fall under these obligations, whether sold by an EU brand or an overseas e-commerce player.

This is the start of a regulatory regime where waste management is hardwired into the business model. Brands will need to budget for the true cost of textiles beyond the checkout basket - collection, sorting, reuse and recycling infrastructure.

Fashion companies that rely heavily on low-cost, low-durability production (aka fast fashion brands) will feel the pinch most. But the law creates an exciting new playing field: designing for longevity, using recyclable fibres, or offering take-back schemes won’t just be good PR, they may reduce future liabilities.

This ruling sets the stage for a fundamental realignment. In Europe, brands will no longer compete solely on product design or price point, but on the sustainability of their systems. The linear model of “produce-sell-forget” is being phased out, and those who integrate circular logistics now will be better placed when enforcement sharpens in the years to come.

Textile Extended Producer Responsibility by 2027: adapt or fine

So, same same but different, while the Waste Framework Directive sets the principle, the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) defines the practice. By 2027, EU member states must have operational systems in place that make brands pay for the waste they generate. This means brands are financially liable for the collection, sorting, recycling, and disposal of their products. Those that don’t comply may face fines or restricted market access.

This is where the high-level policy becomes very real, it takes the issue of waste away from taxpayers and hands it over to brands. By 2027, brands that haven’t invested in waste-reducing design, recyclable materials, or reverse logistics could find themselves writing cheques to cover national waste management schemes, or facing restricted access to EU markets. The financial risk transforms sustainability from a reputational issue into a compliance necessity. Those who build flexible systems like interoperable tracking, modular design, transparent supply chains will thrive.

This is really exciting as it mandates a reintegration of waste management into product economics like we’ve never seen before. Design choices like fibre type, modularity, and disassembly are suddenly as critical as aesthetic ones. Super interesting how this might move and elevate aesthetics across the industry. 

Globally, fashion supply chains will need alignment: brands serving multi-region markets will face overlapping EPR regimes. So any fashion brands wanting to maintain a global market customer base will need to embed circularity as a core principle. 

Italy fines Shein €1 million for greenwashing

The EU’s non-stop rampage against Shein continues. Italy’s AGCM (competition authority) has imposed a €1 million fine on Shein for misleading environmental claims on its platform. It came about in response to Shein’s messaging in “environmentally-led” (biiiig bunny quotes) sections like #SHEINTHEKNOW, evoluSHEIN, social responsibility statements included vague, overly generous, or partially neglectful assertions that misled consumers about recyclability, sustainable materials, and circular practices. So all the greenwashing.

This is not its only a massive regulatory hit, but a financial one - if you’ve missed new of previous months France recently fined Shein €40 million for deceptive promotional and environmental practices.

These ongoing fines and negative publicity are hammering home that in the current fashion climate greenwashing is no longer a costless marketing tactic, it is a huge regulatory risk. Big fast fashion players like Shein are being held publicly accountable for the clarity and verifiability of their sustainability claims.

We can expect more legal scrutiny and disputes towards brands acting up this way. The positives are that brands will need to be increasingly robust in verifying environmental claims, using third-party verifications and more transparent reporting. 

Fashion for Good announces “The Next Stride” - biobased materials in partnership with the world’s biggest brands

A big movement on materials in footwear! Fashion for Good has launched “The Next Stride: Bio-Based Materials for Footwear Soles”, a 12-month initiative aiming to replace fossil fuel–derived materials in shoe soles with bio-based polymer alternatives. Partners of the program include Adidas, Target, Zalando, and innovators like Algenesis Labs, Balena, Evoco, KUORI, and Yulex.

The project will focus on testing, validating and scaling high-performance, biodegradable, or bio-based materials that maintain durability and performance, but it speaks to the next generation of sustainable innovation. Switching up materials rather than merely optimising processes and waste management. Obviously, the shoe sole is one of the highest-impact components of footwear, so breakthroughs here ripple across the entire industry.

If successful, everyone from big brands to startups might adopt or license these bio-based materials, reducing reliance on petrochemicals and enhancing circular design options. For the industry as a whole, the move signals that future sustainable advantage lies not just in doing less harm, but in proactively creating new material paradigms which give the biggest innovators, small or large, the best opportunities for investment at a huge scale. 

Want to keep up with all the sustainable fashion news?

let's keep in touch