True change will only come when brands recognize that workers are not “risks” or “costs” but “rights holders”, adds Kalpona Akter, executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity (BCWS). “The most overlooked area remains worker-led solutions. There is still very little direct investment in trade unions, worker education, collective bargaining and social protection systems. Workers are not just the beneficiaries of sustainability, but essential actors in making it real.”

Sustainability teams circled back to the business case

Between the various geopolitical tensions and economic headwinds squeezing brands and suppliers alike this year, the need to build a strong business case for sustainability was front of mind for many sustainability professionals.

“A major theme was the need to make sustainability efforts more business-ready and business-proof,” says Textile Exchange’s Bergkamp. “Instead of only talking about the importance of impact, the sector began to engage more seriously with capital, risk and the business models that can support long-term transformation. This is needed to strengthen the credibility of the work.” The risks of inaction — especially margin erosion, supply chain disruption and long-term competitiveness — were critical to this, Perkins adds.

“I think there was a welcome increase in honesty,” says Phang. “The industry became more open about where we’re falling short in making a compelling enough business case, about not bringing cross-functional partners on board early enough, or not clearly showing how sustainability ladders up to business strategy and growth.”

A mixed year for alternative materials

Among the bright spots this year was the renewed optimism around — and increased adoption of — textile-to-textile recycling, says Bergkamp. Circulose (formerly Renewcell) signed major partnership deals with H&M, Mango, Reformation, Bestseller and John Lewis, among others. Swedish recycler Syre was announced as Nike’s lead strategic supplier of textile-to-textile recycled polyester. Ganni inked a four-year deal with Ambercycle. And several innovators announced their first commercial-scale production plants. Meanwhile, two separate textile recycling alliances launched: the T2T Alliance in March and the European Circular Textile Coalition in October. “We saw real progress on both the technology and commercial sides, and we are at the precipice of this finally becoming a tangible part of supply chains,” says Bergkamp. “There is still work to do on collection and sorting, but the foundational steps for scale are now clearer.”