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The London Fashion Week (LFW) returns to the city this week and brings five -day catwalk shows, creative show cases and celebrities. However, the conversation about fashion is developing, and the focus is on a new topic beyond the glamor and glamor: sustainability.
For the first time in the history of the LFW, the British Fashion Council has introduced environmentally conscious requirements that are aimed at the increasing environmental costs of the fashion industry. Applicants of the “Newgen” program that aim to increase the aspiring talent of the industry must have a recognized sustainability strategy, to avoid the destruction of unsuccessful clothing and samples and to adhere to strict criteria in their clothing.
These criteria contain that at least 60% of a collection of certified, preferred or Deadstock materials have to make up, do not contain a virgin fur, wild animals or feathers and eliminate the use of one-way props and plastic packaging in showcases.
It’s a promising move – but is it enough?
The reality is sober. The global fashion industry arouses more than 92 million tons of textile waste every year, with many clothing being worn less than ten times before they get to landfills. This short shelf life is very compatible with the cost of creation. The production of textiles such as cotton requires thousands of liters of water per kilogram as well as pesticides that pollute the soil, air and waterways in order to meet demand cheaply.
In the meantime, synthetic materials that come from petrochemicals are largely not biodegradable and instead end up in the ocean as a microplastics.
The increasing awareness of this environmental destruction has contributed to strengthening the advance after sustainable fashion, especially for the second-hand clothing market, which is expected to reach almost 600 billion USD by 2031. And while platforms such as Vinted and Ebay popular ways to reuse and recycle, recycle, recycle, recycle, many large brands also want to take circularity through recycling systems or obligations for organic materials.
However, promises are not the same as progress, and despite these measures, the problem worsens. The overproduction remains widespread, and 40% of all manufactured fashion goods are not sold. A problem that was massively accelerated by the meteoric increase in the fast fashion industry and reached 150.82 billion US dollars in 2025 – an increase of 11% compared to 2024, although the growing awareness of sustainability is growing. While the “Newgen” program can convey the value of sustainability in the “global high-end brands of the future”, it is clear that brands of the present may still have to struggle.
