Writer, Investor, Advisory Director, Berkshire Partners – Professor of Practice, Fletcher School Tufts University
The fashion industry continues to advance voluntary and unlikely solutions to its plastic problem. Only higher prices will flip the script, writes Kenneth P. Pucker.
https://www.businessoffashion.com/opinions/sustainability/why-fashion-should-have-a-plastic-tax/?utm_source=newsletter_dailydigest&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily_Digest_030524&utm_content=intro
In all the years I’ve spent covering American consumerism, I’ve heard one type of question from readers far more than any other: This can’t go on forever, right?
Maybe they’d learned what happens to the huge volume of online purchases that get returned, or saw one too many questionably sourced mascaras and sunscreens hawked on TikTok Shop, or realized that the newly minted e-commerce behemoth Temu is spending many millions of dollars to urge you, quite explicitly, to shop like a billionaire. Whatever the impetus, the people asking this question tend to regard the consumer landscape with a mix of exhaustion and incredulity. The ever-expanding American closet is already swollen with cheap clothes, and our junk drawers and spare rooms and storage units already overfloweth with everything else. Americans have so much excess stuff that much of it can’t even effectively be given away. Can we—the people who have bought so much already—really keep buying more, and at a hastening clip?
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/04/americans-peak-stuff-shopping-temu-shein/678224/?gift=mZJJfvLLK2-N-97mYsXvt5j5Hty0oatfqOoAPrpRKTM&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
H&M’s new deal to buy $600 million of “circular” polyester over seven years from Syre, a Swedish startup it co-founded, underlines one of fashion’s dirty secrets: Making new polyester from recycled bottles sounds environmentally friendly but, in reality, polyester is a huge source of pollution. And recycling bottles to make more polyester might be worse than the alternative — keeping the bottles in the beverage industry where they can be recycled.
Now some fashion companies are moving toward circular, textile-to-textile solutions that cut recycled bottles from the process altogether.
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/why-hm-turning-away-polyester-recycled-bottles?
utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=Circularity&mkt_tok=MjExLU5KWS0xNjUAAAGSTOPV6kTgCsfQ9RWoislXUGzKE6XEQIv4CH-P6WpK0l-NGzM9fPViOR3tM2ngKUsw_sCb6KDitxIt3RmbbiT-ktO8BYzhmECT-CcGvJJk7g
Ken Pucker, professor of the practice at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, worries about many things. One of them is whether the fashion industry is going about circularity the wrong way. 
The collapse of Renewcell, which until recently transmuted clothing castoffs into sheets of dried pulp that could be dissolved to create viscose, rayon and other man-made cellulosic fibers, has been preying on his mind. Shortly after the Swedish company revealed that it would be declaring bankruptcy, H&M Group, its largest stakeholder, announced that it was linking arms with investor group Vargas Holdings to launch a new venture to ramp up the production of textile-to-textile recycled polyester. The retailer currently sources its recycled polyester from bottle-to-textile recycling, which has come under fire for nicking old plastic bottles from the more efficient and repeatable process of making new soda or water containers.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/syre-succeed-where-renewcell-failed-130000814.html
With the French and European elections happening in June, French Republicans are trying to sway voters by targeting Shein and its production practices. Some are taking to TikTok to promote the most recent bill dubbed the “fast fashion tax”.
The proposed legislation, called “loi 2268”, which was passed by the center-right political party Horizona through the lower Assembly on March 14, now has to go through the French Senate next spring. It was promoted by Antoine Vermorel-Marques, right-wing MP, in a March 14 video on TikTok. On the platform, he parodies fast fashion haul videos while promoting his political proposals.
The ‘instant fashion’ juggernaut’s explosive growth is attracting imitators. But keeping up with Shein’s relentless churn puts the industry on a perilous course when it comes to sustainability
https://www.businessoffashion.com/opinions/sustainability/shein-fast-fashion-hm-sustainability/?utm_source=newsletter_dailydigest&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily_Digest_050324&utm_term=SY6SWPMZQBDD7D52PZ42I4CDEU&utm_content=top_story_2_title
Instant fashion has exploded in recent years, led by Shein whose sales have multiplied by more than 20 times since it entered the U.S. less than six years ago. As Shein explores an IPO, the author reviews the social phenomena that have contributed to instant fashion, the factors that allow it to succeed, and the dangers of the industry’s model. While there’s clearly demand for these products, consumers and policy makers also need to be aware that the business model comes with side effects — particularly the privatization of profit and the socialization of costs, including social and environmental harm.
https://hbr.org/2024/02/the-lingering-cost-of-instant-fashion
Fashion companies argue proposed government mandates for greater supply chain transparency are ‘impractical.’ They shouldn’t be, writes Kenneth P. Pucker.
https://www.businessoffashion.com/opinions/sustainability/why-big-brands-are-pushing-back-against-sustainability-regulations/
In this episode, Dr. Divya Jyoti and Kim sit down with Ken Pucker, former Timberland COO turned sustainable fashion critic, who now works as a Professor of Practice at the Fletcher School. Fun fact: Ken’s career began in manufacturing, and at the time he joined Timberland, they were still producing much of their footwear.
Though it wasn’t necessarily their intention at the outset – this episode ended up focusing on levers for change. Ken shares why he has chosen to focus on shifting the rules of the game through legislative action, but we also discuss the need for systemic change, or to rebuild the “whole house” – and the difficult task of shifting cultural beliefs needed to achieve this.
Ken also reflects on his time at Timberland, and his realization that despite Timberland being a poster child for sustainability, the company’s environmental impact worsened under his watch. He shares how this led him to let go of ideas and assumptions based on infinite resources and growth. If you’re interested in learning more about Ken’s view, I highly suggest checking out his recent publication, “A Circle That Isn’t Easily Squared,” featured in the Stanford Social Innovation Review.
This episode is part of the “Crossover Moments” miniseries, where we explore key moments of personal transformation that led people to question and ultimately reject conventional approaches to sustainable fashion.
Excess is built into the economics of the industry at every step of the value chain, writes Kenneth P. Pucker.
https://www.businessoffashion.com/opinions/sustainability/fashion-waste-business-model-design/?utm_source=newsletter_dailydigest&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily_Digest_201223&utm_term=R7CCWIZCQJD3ZPWK6R3U72MNQA&utm_content=top_story_2_title