From Environmental Crisis to Industry Awakening

The push for sustainability in fashion is rooted in hard realities about the industry’s environmental impact. The fashion sector has been notorious for its outsized carbon and resource footprint. It contributes roughly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than all international flights and shipping combined. Producing textiles is extraordinarily resource intensive: making a single pair of jeans can consume 10,000 liters of water, and overall the industry generates about 20% of global wastewater. Equally alarming, the "take-make-waste" model of fast fashion results in mountains of discarded clothing. An estimated 85% of textiles end up in landfills or incinerated rather than reused or recycled. In the United States alone, over 11 million tons of textile waste go to landfill each year, with only about 15% of textile waste being recycled. Historically, such figures were hidden costs of fashion’s success, but in recent years they have become impossible to ignore.

Amid growing public awareness of climate change and pollution, an industry awakening is underway. Major reports and campaigns by organizations like the United Nations and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation have spotlighted fashion’s environmental crisis, spurring both consumer concern and corporate commitments. "Sustainable fashion", a broad term encompassing eco-friendly materials, ethical labor, and lower impact production, has entered the popular lexicon. Likewise, the concept of circular fashion has gained traction.

Circular fashion means moving away from the linear take-make-waste model toward a closed loop system where products and materials are continually repurposed, reused, or recycled. In practice, this involves designing clothes for longevity and recyclability, keeping garments in use longer through resale, rental, or donation, and recovering fibers at end of life to make new textiles. These ideas have rapidly moved from the fringes to the mainstream of industry dialogue. Today, sustainability is a top line issue for apparel CEOs, and circularity is frequently cited as a guiding principle in corporate sustainability strategies.

Crucially, consumer values have shifted in parallel. Shoppers, especially younger generations, are increasingly favoring brands and products that align with their environmental and social principles. Surveys show that over 80% of Gen Z consumers are interested in or have purchased secondhand apparel, and two out of five items in the average Gen Z wardrobe are now pre-owned. In the U.S., approximately 58% of all shoppers bought secondhand clothing in 2024, and a remarkable 40% of apparel items purchased in 2023 were secondhand rather than new. These figures represent a dramatic cultural shift: thrift and reuse have shed old stigmas and become aspirational, driven by both cost consciousness and ethics. What’s more, 85% of consumers believe buying pre-owned fashion is good for the environment, and 70% see it as a sustainable answer to fast fashion’s excesses. This groundswell of consumer behavior change has sent a clear message to the industry: sustainability is not a passing fad, but a demand that brands must address or risk losing relevance.

The Explosive Growth of the Secondhand Market

Nothing illustrates the rise of circular fashion better than the booming secondhand apparel market. Over the past few years, resale and thrift shopping have grown from niche segments into a global phenomenon reshaping retail. By the mid 2020s, secondhand fashion has become one of the fastest growing areas in the apparel industry, far outpacing traditional retail growth. In 2023, for example, U.S. clothing resale grew nearly 15 times faster than the broader retail apparel sector. This meteoric expansion is expected to continue: analysts project the global secondhand apparel market will increase roughly 10 to 15% annually for the rest of the decade.

Boston Consulting Group estimates the worldwide resale market, now over $200 billion, will reach up to $360 billion by 2030, growing about three times faster than the overall fashion market. By 2025, pre-owned clothing is on track to make up around 10% of the global apparel market in value, a stunning statistic that underscores how thoroughly resale has entered the mainstream.

Several factors are powering this secondhand surge. Economic motivation is one driver: inflation and rising retail prices have made consumers keen to save money, and buying gently used clothing can be far cheaper than buying new. Especially in an uncertain global economy, shoppers appreciate the budget friendly nature of thrift. But beyond thriftiness, sustainability concerns and the hunt for uniqueness are fueling resale’s popularity. Many consumers view purchasing pre-owned items as a tangible way to reduce waste and lower their carbon footprint. In fact, opting for a used garment over a new one cuts carbon emissions by an average of 25% and saves significant water and energy. Others are drawn by the thrill of finding unique or vintage pieces and expressing personal style beyond the mass produced selections in malls. This treasure hunt aspect of secondhand shopping, amplified by social media where thrift hauls and vintage finds are shared, has made it especially popular with Gen Z and Millennials.

The digital revolution has also supercharged the resale trend. Online resale platforms and marketplaces have dramatically expanded access to secondhand goods. Over the past decade, dozens of tech enabled resale startups have emerged, turning what used to mean scouring local thrift stores into a convenient, global shopping experience. Platforms such as ThredUp, Poshmark, Depop, Vinted, and luxury focused The RealReal connect millions of sellers and buyers, using algorithms and apps to make secondhand shopping as easy as buying new. These sites have grown into multi-billion-dollar businesses themselves, validating the resale model. Traditional retailers are following suit by integrating resale into their own channels. As of 2023, more than 160 apparel brands and retailers have launched their own resale programs, either in house or via partnerships, an increase of 31% in just one year. Department stores and e-commerce giants are adding pre-owned sections, and new peer to peer resale models continue to appear for every niche from children’s clothes to sneakers. This omnipresence of resale options has normalized secondhand purchasing for a much wider audience. No longer confined to thrift aficionados, buying pre-loved fashion is now broadly accessible and increasingly chic.

New Models: Rental, Repair and the Circular Economy

Resale is just one part of a broader transition toward circular business models in fashion. Alongside buying secondhand, consumers and companies are exploring models based on renting, repairing, and recycling clothes, all aimed at keeping products in use longer and reducing the need for virgin production. This multi-pronged experimentation marks a departure from the linear buy-wear-dispose pattern that dominated 20th century fashion.

Clothing rental services have risen to prominence in the last decade, particularly for special occasion wear and trend driven items. Companies like Rent the Runway in the United States and Rent the Ramp in Asia have popularized the idea of accessing a rotating wardrobe without owning it. Subscribers can borrow designer outfits for a fraction of the retail price and then return them, allowing garments to be worn by multiple people in succession. Rental appeals to consumers who crave variety or high end fashion on a budget, and it inherently promotes a more circular usage pattern. Each item’s utilization rate increases with every rental turn. Major retailers have noticed this trend. For instance, urban fashion chain Urban Outfitters launched its own rental service, Nuuly, and luxury department stores have tested rental offerings for couture pieces. While the rental market is still relatively small compared to resale, it is growing and diversifying. Analysts expect fashion rental revenues to keep rising as younger consumers warm up to the idea of fashion as a service and as logistics for cleaning and delivering garments improve. Rentals align well with sustainability goals by potentially reducing over purchasing of items that would only be worn a few times.

Repair and refurbishment programs are another pillar of circular fashion. Traditionally, the apparel industry paid little attention to what happened after the point of sale. Now, an increasing number of brands are extending their responsibility beyond the sale by helping customers maintain and fix their clothes. Leading the way are outdoor and heritage brands with reputations for durability. For example, Patagonia has long offered free or low cost repairs on its garments and even runs Worn Wear, a program to refurbish and resell used Patagonia items. The North Face and Arc’teryx have similar repair programs for their outdoor gear, and Levi Strauss & Co. encourages customers to repair jeans rather than replace them, even publishing guides on how to do simple mends. Luxury brands too have expanded their repair services. Gucci, for instance, now provides extended after sale care and refurbishing for its products to support longevity. Such services not only keep clothing out of landfills, they also strengthen customer loyalty and brand storytelling around quality. Take-back schemes are complementing repairs. Many retailers, from fast fashion to high end, invite customers to return old garments, either for recycling or for store credit toward a future purchase.

Underpinning all these models is a push for innovative recycling and materials technology, essentially closing the loop by turning old textiles into new fibers. Traditional textile recycling, like turning cotton scraps into industrial rags or insulation, has existed for decades, but true fiber to fiber recycling that can yield high quality new garments is more challenging. In recent years, however, significant advances have been made. Startups and material science companies have developed processes to chemically recycle polyester and nylon back into yarn, to regenerate cellulose from cotton or viscose waste, and even to create leather alternatives from plant based sources. One notable example is the Swedish company Renewcell, known for its Circulose material, which recycles worn out cotton clothes into a new cellulose pulp that can be spun into textile fiber. Major fashion players have shown keen interest in these next generation materials. By late 2025, Circulose had signed multi-year partnerships with at least eight brands, including high street names like H&M, C&A, Mango, and Marks & Spencer, as well as smaller sustainable labels.

Industry Leaders and New Entrants Driving Change

Sustainable and circular fashion’s rise has been accelerated by pioneering companies and innovators who demonstrated that new models can work, and by fast followers who have replicated and expanded those ideas. A decade ago, if one looked for paragons of sustainability in fashion, a few names like Patagonia or Stella McCartney might come up. Today, the landscape of leadership is much broader, with brands across segments embracing circular principles in various forms.

In the outdoor and sportswear sector, Patagonia remains a trailblazer, not only championing repairs and resale but also using recycled materials in the majority of its products and even urging customers to buy less through memorable ad campaigns. The North Face, Arc’teryx, and REI, Recreational Equipment Inc., have all launched recommerce platforms to sell used gear and have made durability a key selling point. These brands treat longevity and reuse as extensions of their quality promise, resonating with consumers who value gear that lasts. Sportswear giant Nike has also taken notable steps. It introduced a program to refurbish and resell gently worn footwear and has been experimenting with circular design, such as shoes that are easier to disassemble for recycling. Nike’s forward looking projects include using digital product passports, essentially scannable data chips embedded in products, to track an item’s materials and history, which can facilitate authenticity checks and recycling at end of life. This kind of tech driven transparency is emerging as a valuable tool for circular fashion, enabling better sorting of materials and giving consumers confidence in secondhand goods.

In high fashion and luxury, where exclusivity and brand heritage are paramount, the shift has been more recent but is gaining momentum. Luxury houses once shunned the resale market, fearing brand dilution, but have started to see opportunity and inevitability. Gucci, Burberry, Valentino and others have partnered with upscale resale platforms or launched their own certified vintage programs. Notably, Gucci was among the first luxury brands to team up with The RealReal, a resale marketplace, in a promotional campaign highlighting the sustainability of buying pre-owned Gucci items. Today Gucci is also cited as one of the frontrunners in circularity, thanks to efforts like using more recycled materials and offering product care services. LVMH brands have been slightly more cautious, but even they are investing in sustainability startups and exploring ways to improve product longevity. For instance, Louis Vuitton now offers repairs and has experimented with made to last modular designs in its high end sneakers. In the luxury segment, circularity is framed as an extension of craftsmanship and quality. A well made product should have multiple lives. This narrative aligns circular principles with luxury values, helping to overcome the earlier stigma of secondhand in high fashion.

Crucially, many mainstream high street and mid market brands are also onboard, ensuring that circular fashion isn’t confined to niche players. Fast fashion retailers, often criticized for fueling waste, have started to pilot circular initiatives. For example, H&M has garment collection boxes in stores worldwide, collecting tens of thousands of tons of used clothing every year for recycling, and has even introduced a resale platform in some markets where customers can buy pre-owned H&M products. The company has declared a goal to become 100% circular by 2040, encompassing recycled or sustainably sourced materials and full product circularity. Inditex, parent of Zara, launched a repair and resale platform in the UK and pledged to extend it further after positive reception. Brands like UNIQLO run take-back programs and downcycle old garments into insulation or new textile products. Mid market labels such as Levi’s have created their own secondhand marketplaces, for example Levi’s SecondHand for vintage denim, and emphasize the timelessness and durability of their designs, a notable shift from decades of pushing rapid style turnover.

The leadership circle, however, remains relatively small. Kearney’s 2025 Circular Fashion Index found only 3% to 5% of brands have achieved truly extensive circular practices at scale. Brands like Patagonia, Levi’s, Gucci, and The North Face consistently rank at the top in these assessments, pulling ahead of the pack through comprehensive approaches. Their examples set important precedents for others to learn from.

Policy Pressure and Collaborative Initiatives

While market forces and consumer demand are propelling sustainable fashion, government policy and industry wide collaborations are adding further momentum and creating accountability. Notably, the European Union has emerged as a regulatory frontrunner in driving circularity for textiles. In 2022 the EU launched its Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, a comprehensive plan aimed at fundamentally altering how clothing is made and disposed of in the EU. By 2030, the EU intends for all textiles sold in Europe to be durable, repairable, and recyclable, and to contain a significant share of recycled fibers. To get there, officials are rolling out a suite of measures. New eco-design requirements will set standards for garment longevity and recyclability. Digital product passports will likely be mandated, providing each product with an electronic record of its material composition and origin. Extended Producer Responsibility rules will require fashion companies to take responsibility for the end of life of their products. In practical terms, EPR could mean brands funding textile recycling programs or infrastructure, much as electronics or appliance makers do for e-waste in some jurisdictions.

Concrete regulations are already coming into effect. Starting in 2025, EU member states are required to set up separate collection of textile waste so that clothing is no longer simply tossed out with general trash. This is a game changer for waste management. As collection networks improve, the volume of textiles available for reuse or recycling will sharply increase, and so will pressure on industry to absorb that material in a circular way. Some EU countries are moving even faster on certain fronts. France, for instance, has an existing EPR scheme for textiles and has banned brands from destroying unsold clothing, forcing them to find reuse or recycling solutions. In 2023, France also introduced a repair bonus program that subsidizes consumers for getting clothes and shoes repaired, in order to extend product lifetimes. Such policies not only incentivize circular practices but actively penalize the old linear model of waste. Outside of Europe, other regions are following with their own measures. In the U.S., while there is no federal mandate yet on textile sustainability, states like California and New York have proposed bills that would require large fashion companies to disclose environmental impacts and plans for waste reduction.

Besides government action, industry wide coalitions and non-profits are playing a key role in advancing sustainable fashion. The Global Fashion Agenda and its annual Copenhagen Fashion Summit, for example, convene brands, suppliers, and policymakers to collaborate on sustainability solutions. This platform produced the 2023 Fashion Industry Target Consultation, setting joint targets for things like material recycling rates and emission cuts. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched the Make Fashion Circular initiative, bringing together companies like Nike, H&M, and Burberry to pilot circular design and recycling projects. Many brands have also signed onto the Fashion Pact, a voluntary agreement among over 60 global fashion companies to work on climate, biodiversity, and ocean protection, with reporting mechanisms to track progress. While such agreements are not enforceable like laws, they indicate peer pressure and shared commitment, which often lead to more substantive action. Collaboration is essential in this domain because no single company can build a circular economy alone. It requires coordinated efforts up and down the supply chain, new standards, and sometimes pre-competitive investment in infrastructure, like textile recycling facilities or improved sorting technologies.

Bridging the Gap from Ambition to Execution

For all the momentum around sustainable and circular fashion, the industry still faces a fundamental challenge: translating high level ambitions into on the ground transformation. Most fashion brands today find themselves in the early stages of this transition, making progress in pockets, but not yet achieving full circularity across their operations. Kearney’s Circular Fashion Index 2025 highlights this dichotomy. It found that while over 70% of brands have moved beyond minimal efforts and into moderate engagement with circularity, very few have gone further to truly integrate these practices at scale. Many companies now have sustainability teams, capsule collections of eco-friendly products, or pilot programs for take-back and resale, all positive signs that circularity is becoming mainstream in concept. However, only about 3% to 5% of brands have reached an extensive level of circular implementation, where circular principles drive core design, sourcing, and business model decisions across the board. In other words, a vast majority are still stuck in a limbo between aspiration and full execution.

Why is scaling circular fashion so difficult? There are several interlocking reasons. One major hurdle is the business case and profitability of new models. Traditional fashion economics are built on selling more products. Moving to a model where revenue comes from services, like repairs or rentals, or fewer, longer lasting items can be inherently at odds with short term growth. Many brands worry: will encouraging durability and resale reduce demand for new collections? The answer isn’t straightforward, and in the transition period, there may indeed be trade offs. Kearney’s research notes a lack of a clear business case is holding back more aggressive circular investments for many companies. Implementing recycling or resale infrastructure can be costly, and returns on those investments are uncertain or long term. For instance, setting up an in-house resale operation means building new logistics capabilities and could yield slim profit margins on secondhand goods. Likewise, using innovative sustainable materials often comes with higher costs. Recycled or bio based textiles can be more expensive than conventional fabric, impacting margins unless consumers are willing to pay a premium.

Another challenge lies in operational integration and scalability. It’s one thing to run a small pilot, say a few stores taking back old clothes, or a limited collection made of recycled fabric, and another to embed circular practices into a global supply chain and every product line. Many brands have found that their sustainability initiatives operate in a silo, often in the CSR or marketing department, rather than being integrated into design, production, and merchandising teams. Changing this requires internal transformation. Designers need to be retrained to think in terms of modularity and recyclability. Sourcing managers must develop new supplier relationships for sustainable materials. Retail teams need to adjust to selling services or secondhand items alongside new inventory. Moreover, existing supply chains are optimized for linear production at scale. Reversing the logistics, collecting and sorting used garments, or handling one off rental returns, can be logistically complex and require new partnerships.

Despite these challenges, the gap between ambition and execution appears to be narrowing each year, as lessons accumulate and early investments start paying off. Many brands stuck at moderate engagement are steadily expanding their programs, turning pilots into permanent offerings and rolling out successful initiatives to more markets. The experience of companies like Patagonia, Levi’s, or Eileen Fisher demonstrates that circular practices can build brand equity and customer loyalty, which eventually reflects in the bottom line through repeat business and a differentiated value proposition. Moreover, as regulations tighten, making waste more costly and unsustainable materials riskier, and consumers continue to raise their expectations, the cost of inaction will likely outweigh the cost of action.

Fashion’s Future: Toward a Truly Circular Economy

A sustainable and circular fashion industry is no longer a utopian ideal but an emerging reality, albeit one that is still taking shape. The trajectory is clear: the future of fashion will be defined by those companies that successfully integrate circular principles and prove that style and sustainability can walk hand in hand. The implications of this shift are profound for all stakeholders.

For businesses, embracing circularity opens new avenues for growth and resilience. In a resource constrained world with rising costs for raw materials, companies that can reclaim and reuse materials have a strategic advantage. Already, brands that invested early in resale or recycling are seeing payoffs in customer engagement and extended product revenue. For example, some retailers report that offering trade in credits for old clothes encourages repeat purchases and builds brand loyalty, effectively creating a closed loop customer relationship. In the long run, the circular model could decouple fashion’s economic growth from constant resource extraction, meaning brands can generate revenue from services, subscriptions, and experiences rather than just pushing ever more product volume.

For consumers, the mainstreaming of sustainable fashion means far greater choice and convenience in making ethical purchasing decisions. Not long ago, finding eco-friendly or secondhand clothing required significant effort or compromise on style. Now, whether one shops high end or high street, online or in store, there are options that cater to sustainability values. The experience of fashion is also evolving. It’s becoming more common for a single garment to have multiple owners over its life, or for a shopper to subscribe to clothes instead of owning them outright. This generational shift in consumption mindset portends a future where owning fewer, better items that last longer and holding them in higher esteem could supplant the throwaway culture of the past.

In sum, sustainable and circular fashion has moved from the periphery to center stage, and it is poised to become the new standard by which the industry measures itself. The coming years will reveal which companies can successfully adapt to this new paradigm and lead the way in weaving sustainability into every stitch. Those that do will not only help secure the planet’s well being but also ensure their own relevance in the next chapter of fashion’s evolution. The stage is set, and the spotlight on circular fashion will only grow brighter from here.

Sources, References, and Further Reading

• UNFCCC News (2018), UN Helps Fashion Industry Shift to Low Carbon (September 6, 2018). United Nations Climate Change News. Insight into fashion’s share of global emissions (10%), water use, and waste impact. URL: https://unfccc.int/news/un-helps-fashion-industry-shift-to-low-carbon
• Capital One Shopping Report (2025), Thrifting Statistics (2025) (September 10, 2025). Capital One Shopping Research. Statistics on the secondhand apparel market growth and consumer adoption. URL: https://capitaloneshopping.com/research/thrifting-statistics/
• Boston Consulting Group & Vestiaire Collective (2025), Resale’s Next Chapter: How Fashion and Luxury Brands Can Win in the Secondhand Market (October 9, 2025). BCG Henderson Institute. Findings on global resale growth and digital product passports. URL: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2025/how-fashion-luxury-brands-can-win-secondhand-market
• Accenture (via ESG Dive) (2025), Circularity in fashion is ‘mainstream’ but progress slowing: 2025 Circular Fashion Index (July 22, 2025). ESG Dive summary of Kearney’s annual report. Data on circularity engagement levels among global brands. URL: https://www.esgdive.com/news/kearney-circular-fashion-index-sustainability-circularity-mainstream/753635/
• European Commission (2025), EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles (2022). Manchester Fashion Institute summary and EU Environment news (December 18, 2025). Outlines EU 2030 goals for textile durability and recyclability. URL: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/news/how-best-recycle-europes-fast-fashion-waste-grow-mushrooms-it-say-researchers-2025-12-18_en
• Vogue Business (2025), Circulose Signs Bestseller, Reformation, John Lewis and more by Bella Webb (December 16, 2025). Discusses partnerships in textile recycling and material innovation. URL: https://www.vogue.com/article/circulose-signs-bestseller-reformation-john-lewis-and-more