Can Fashion Lower Its Climate Impact While Selling More Products?
On July 8, 2022 by Ken Pucker
Business of Fashion
“The narrative we’ve told ourselves around win-win solutions has deceived everyone into thinking there are no trade-offs,” said Kenneth Pucker, a senior lecturer at the Tufts Fletcher School and an advisory director at Berkshire Partners. “There are huge trade offs.”
* Decoupling = green growth. Attractive conceptually. Very hard practically. Especially post elimination of easy waste.
* Conceptual win-wins = eco efficiency, fortune at the bottom of the pyramid, creating shared value, circularity, regeneration…have yet to yield much, beyond rhetoric. Patagonia’s Worn Wear = < 1% of revenue.
* New Business Models = rental, reuse, repair …are not yet sustainable …meaning profitable. Hard to fund especially in an environment when profits matter.
* BioBased Materials = often replace less environmentally destructive processes, face valley of death funding challenges and often rely on scarce feedstocks. Also, harder to fund when profit matters.
Net. Change the rules. Make excess consumption less profit rich. Pass the NY Fashion Act.