Consumption

The first edition of the Textiles Recycling Expo 2025 in Brussels brought together innovators, brands, policymakers, and recyclers to accelerate circularity in textiles. With cutting-edge recycling technologies on display and calls for robust EU policy frameworks, the event spotlighted the need to scale solutions through business model innovation, financing, and regulatory clarity.

New research shows that UK shoppers support small, visible Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) charges on clothing to fund textile recycling and promote sustainable fashion. Transparent communication and simple labelling could help drive a circular economy without deterring consumers from making purchases.

A new study explores how social media influencers impact the well-being of young shoppers, revealing that FOMO—fear of missing out—can drive fashion purchases and emotional responses. The research highlights how emotional attachment to influencers affects young consumers’ social, psychological, and financial health.

Are Trump’s tariffs reshaping the luxury fashion world? Here’s an analysis of the rapidly-shifting financial landscape for major brands, and the new cultural pressures arising from social media exposes, all against the backdrop of an increasingly uncertain future, also for fashion that is luxe.

Renting clothes can reduce the fashion industry's enormous environmental impact, but so far, the business models have not worked very well, says a study arguing that the best chance of success is for a rental company to provide clothing within a niche market, such as specific sportswear, and to work closely with the suppliers and clothing manufacturers.

To succeed with the EU’s textiles strategy, a systemic shift in the textiles system is needed, moving towards higher quality, longer use, reuse, repair and recycling. The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) new module of the Circularity Metrics Lab (CML) on textiles analysed 14 metrics and came up with some key findings.

In perhaps the first of its kind research, texfash.com maps the fashion choices of India’s young population—the Millennials and GenZ—probing key influences that shape how this key demographic consumes and shops—be it their sustainability quotient, budgets, style influences, fits, marketplace and more.

A report by global environmental action NGO WRAP has established clear benchmarks for repair and resale using data from six companies and helped to develop a single methodology that can be applied by businesses of all shapes and sizes, to give robust and comparable data on big environmental savings from preloved and repair, showing that introducing a little circular living into our lives reduces the price and the environmental price tag too.

Achieving sustainability in clothing rental platforms requires a shared commitment from both businesses and consumers. Only through collaborative efforts can these apparel-based services deliver on their promise: reducing fashion’s carbon footprint while fulfilling consumer aspirations.

Although many secondhand clothes sellers say they wash clothing before selling, you can never be too sure. This is why it’s a good idea to wash any secondhand clothes you buy regardless. It’s probably also a good idea to wash any new clothes you buy before wearing as well.