Will Fashion and Retail Maintain Sustainability Momentum in 2025? Industry Experts Weigh In

Many retailers are now exploring circular retail models as an evolution of their sustainability efforts. Circular retail includes selling “gently used” or “previously loved” products alongside new. It includes designing and selling more durable products that are easier to repair, repurpose, resell, donate or recycle and facilitating consumers’ ability to do so. The most successful circular retail models can save consumers money, increase brand loyalty and generate retail profits while creating environmental and social benefits.

Nikki Baird, vice president of strategy and product at Aptos, a retail technology company

I’ve seen myself over the years that retailers just can’t get consumers to pay more for sustainable goods. All things being even, consumers will select the more sustainable option, but they are consistently unwilling to pay more for it. And the fact is, those goods cost more.

The fashion industry has been at a bit of a standoff over this contradiction for a while. But retailers are starting to experience the costs of not being sustainable — explicit costs imposed by governments, or the direct supply chain shocks of climate change, or even the indirect costs driven by protectionist responses to climate-driven (and conflict-driven) immigration.

Retailers and brands can’t afford to stand pat on whatever they have or haven’t done on sustainability in the past. The economics are changing rapidly, and the risks of being caught unprepared for some of those shocks are high enough that retailers need to pay attention in 2025.

It is less about making the case to consumers that sustainable goods are worth a higher price and more about making sure goods that don’t have this focus don’t suddenly become very expensive or hard to source.

Ian Fredericks, chief executive officer at Hilco Consumer Retail, division of Hilco Global

I have thought this for years: All of the movement into sustainability and other initiatives that the consumer is demanding but cost companies a lot (and not just in retail, but sort of across the board), it’s going to be the first thing that gets cut when companies have to go into cost savings.

Nobody is going to advertise that they’re moving away from sustainability, but I think you’re going to see that’s going to be one of the first costs they start to cut out unless the entire business or their whole brand is around sustainability. If your whole brand is sustainable or has a sustainability component to it, then you need to stick with it. Otherwise, you’ll lose the brand loyalty. You’ll lose the customer.

But for those that have moved into sustainability to try to peel off customers, they’re going to realize it hasn’t necessarily driven more sales or profit to the bottom line because it’s just not associated with their brand. So, I would say, where you have brands that sustainability is not a component of it, they’re going to drop it quietly.

There are sustainability regulations existing in Europe that they’re talking about having come here, but we’ll see what really happens. I don’t know how hot the new administration is on sustainability that comes at a cost. So, I think, over the next four years, we’re probably not going to see a lot of European influence make its way in. I believe we’re going to more of a deregulatory type environment rather than adopting a lot of the things that the Europeans have been doing either recently or for years.

Nicole Rycroft, founder and executive director at Canopy

Sustainability isn’t just an ethical imperative — it’s a business one. While economic pressures might tempt some to cut corners, the reality is that short-term thinking undermines long-term resilience. Forward-thinking companies recognize that sustainability drives innovation, reduces risk, builds supply chain resilience and meets growing regulatory and market expectations.

Many of Canopy’s partners have weathered economic storms without wavering from their commitments to sustainable sourcing and Next Gen solutions. They understand that aligning with planetary boundaries isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s what keeps them competitive and resilient both now and into the future. Conventional supply chains are increasingly volatile as the climate crisis is driving more floods, droughts and forest fires — and with it more business instability.

In spite of COVID and geopolitical instability in the past four years, we have had hundreds of new brands join the CanopyStyle initiative and seen sustainability become a C-suite priority with almost all 550+ fashion brands and retailers that we work with. I remain confident that the industry will continue to step up sustainability efforts because the cost of “business as usual” is far higher than the investment in solutions.

Upcoming EU regulations like the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation signal a sea change in how brands approach sustainability. These directives, along with others like the EU Deforestation Regulation, set clear expectations for brands — minimized environmental and social impacts of apparel, greater transparency, due diligence, and product design that prioritizes longevity and circularity. For the fashion industry, this means reassessing sourcing practices, ensuring supply chains are free from high-carbon forests and human rights violations, and designing products with end-of-life solutions in mind.

Clothing is an early priority product for the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. All of these regulations point brands — and their suppliers — towards circular Next Gen materials as the best low-risk path forward. This provides a powerful incentive for scaling these low-impact alternatives, including viscose made from recycled textiles or packaging made from straw.

These policies are a validation of what many of us — both NGO and industry leaders — have been advocating for decades. They recognize leadership, create a level playing field, encourage innovation and give brands a clear mandate to accelerate their shift to climate-friendly Next Gen materials. This isn’t just about ticking boxes. The brands that embrace the intent of these regulations early and ambitiously won’t just comply — they’ll lead the industry into the next decades.

Best of WWD

Sign up for WWD’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.