Selfridges, Mulberry and New Look among signatories of Drapers Conscious Fashion Manifesto

Drapers Conscious Fashion Manifesto

Our call to action to government on behalf of the fashion retail industry

Drapers, the voice of fashion retail since 1887, has canvassed the industry to find out what government support the sector – worth £62bn annually to the UK economy – needs to make business operations more sustainable, and comply with European Union sustainability directives, while continuing to thrive.

From this we have compiled the Drapers Conscious Fashion Manifesto.

Our vital industry supports 1.3 million jobs and raises £23bn in tax revenues, data from the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT) and Oxford Economics shows.

On behalf of the fashion retail industry, Drapers asks you to consider these points when forming policy – and looks forward to your response.

Guidance on sustainability regulations

An overwhelming concern for fashion retailers when it comes to sustainability is confusion around legislation – here and in other key markets, notably the European Union.

The majority of businesses say they have not received communication from relevant government departments or trade bodies about impending legislation relating to sustainability – and many say they need more clarity over timescales as well as what new laws mean in practice, in order to meet demands.

The UK government needs to work with businesses to help them make sense of this shifting landscape by providing UK fashion businesses with clear, timely information and guidance on relevant sustainability regulations.

Financial help for compliance with new obligations

UK fashion businesses are asking for financial support and incentives to make operations more sustainable. Grants – for costly incentives such as digital product passport implementation – are a key piece of support they are asking for.

Some of the typical costs involved with sustainability incentives:

• Digital product passports Implementing digital product passports across all products can cost up to £50,000 for a small and medium-sized fashion business
• Certifications If a retailer wanted to claim a standard such as GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) and to audit for a full certification across its supply chain for organic and ethical sourcing this could be £100,000-plus a year, depending on number of factories and company locations.
• Lifecycle assessment (LCAs) Could cost at least £10,000 for a small programme to up to more than £200,000 a year for much more complex sourcing/multiple channels and extensive ranges.
• Supporting organic farming Funding conversion from conventional to organic in India, for example, can cost anywhere from £50,000-£100,000 per implementation partner.
• Solar panels Installing solar panels on a medium-sized garment factory in Bangladesh or India could be anywhere between £80,000 and £500,000 up front, depending on project size, panel type and installation complexity.

Meanwhile, financial incentives to help and encourage businesses to make more of their products here (see “Made in UK” point below) would support sustainability initiatives.

Recycling and end-of-life infrastructure

Fashion businesses tell us improved clothing recycling/end-of-life management infrastructure here in the UK would help them comply with WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) 2030 commitments – which aim to reduce clothing’s carbon impact by 50% and water footprint by 30% by 2030 – as well as future-proofing against any impending textiles EPR legislation at home, and current EPR legislation in key markets in Europe.

As of WRAP’s most recent Textiles Market Situation Report 2024 there were 50 textile-sorting facilities in the UK but just 14 textile-recycling facilities. The report says most of these recycling facilities source their feedstock from post-industrial waste generated during manufacturing, rather than post-consumer waste (used clothes) because of the complexity of sorting by fibre composition and the number of items that are unsuitable because of their composition of blended fibres. The average capacity of these 14 facilities was 5,000 tonnes per year.

Items unable to be recycled into new textiles and are instead sold at a lower value for use as insulation, cleaning rags, car seat stuffing or building materials.

The key to providing textile-to-textile recycling could lie in more automation at the sorting stage.

Meanwhile, several recycling companies have collapsed in recent years.

Government should look to European recycling funding models to improve facilities and support businesses operating them, and boost collection services and textile-to-textile recycling capabilities.

Support for made in UK

Many fashion businesses say support with manufacturing here in the UK would be a boost to sustainability efforts – almost half (45%) identify this as something they want to do. As well as ensuring fairer labour via stronger employment laws, enabling greater transparency (rendering transparency compliance more straightforward and less costly) and promoting local economies, producing fashion here significantly reduces carbon emissions.

The UK government must support UK fashion businesses and factories to produce more clothing products here. This should include:

• promoting relevant apprenticeship schemes and manufacturing careers more effectively to young people and the wider workforce
• investing in factories and machinery
• committing to placing orders for military/NHS/other public sector such as police uniforms could all support this aim.

Signed on behalf of Drapers,

Jill Geoghegan, editor