Good News Round Up: April 2025
56% of 16 - 25 year-olds think that ‘humanity is doomed’. We may or may not agree.
But living in a state of climate doom not only impacts your mental health, it impacts the amount of impact you perceive yourself as able to make.
45% of young people feel that ‘climate related anxiety and distress is affecting their daily lives’ and 47% believe theres nothing we can do at an individual level.
So let’s pause. The fear is very valid and very real but living in a state of debilitation doesn’t help anything, in fact if we let fear push us into in-action, then we’re letting this broken system win. The truth is we aren’t powerless, and we aren’t alone.
That’s why we’re bringing you regular instillments of a good fashion news round up. So let’s get into the good stuff, and get excited for all the amazing changes that we, as individuals and a collective front, can make on our industry.
LFW Took a Big Step Forward
In February this year London Fashion Week took a stride ahead of The Big Four fashion weeks, announcing mandatory sustainability standards. Emerging brands entering the schedule via their Newgen incubation scheme which will be fully implemented by January 2026. This brings LFW into line with the standards set by Copenhagen Fashion Week and focuses on: formal ESG strategies, D&I strategies, use of sustainable materials and elimination of single use props. What’s next? Well, it would be great if some of the big and established fashion houses could also be held to these standards next year!
Earlier this Month LFW also paid attention to the support needed by their young designers, and scrapped Junes’ fashion calendar to focus on showrooms and opportunies that actually translate into sales for their designers.
Scotland Honoured its Witches
Scotland has a violent history in relation to the UKs history of violence against women under the guise of witchcraft and witch trials.
Earlier this year Scotland certified an official tartan to honour its thousands of ‘witches’ who were falsely accused under the 1563 Witchcraft Act.
The details are bleak, scapegoating, sham trials, false accusations and the execution of thousands of women. The Sri colour tartan s officially in the Register of Tartans and directly represents the trials through colour symbolism of red (blood), grey (ash), and pink (the ties used to tie the legal documents) with each square of the tartan consisting of 173 threads, one for every year the act was enforced.
We love to see fashion showcase its deep history and connections to the human spirit, tartan has always been a part of Scotlands rebellious heritage and it is beautiful to see it used to commemorate history in this way.
WRAP standardised the impact of sustainable fashion choices.
WRAP is an incredible initiative, which has set sustainable clothing action plans since 2020. Their new report ‘Displacement Rates Untangled’ has done amazing work in quantifying the impact of various circular economy models for fashion. Proving their impact and making them something measurable, and consequently - something we can understand and create targets for.
Key insights are:
Out of every five garments repaired, four prevent the purchase of a new item – a displacement rate of 82.2%.
For every five second-hand items purchased, three are substitutes for new purchases – a displacement rate of 64.6%.
Opting to repair a single cotton t-shirt rather than buying a new one can lead to a carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) saving of over 7.5kg.
Purchasing pre-owned jeans online as opposed to acquiring a fresh pair can result in CO2e savings exceeding 30kg.
Science-Based Targets for Nature set Brands Guidelines for Natural Resource Use.
The Textile Exchange released SBTN (Science-Based Targets for Nature) Guidance for Brands. The guidance encourages brands to consider the broader environmental impacts of their raw materials, including freshwater and land use, beyond greenhouse gas emission. Providing practical steps like this, which brands can follow makes the process simpler for them, which mean they’re more likely to actually do it. Yay!
UK Brands Now Face Fines for Greenwashing
The UKs CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) has gained the power to fine fashion brands up to 10% of their global revenue if they get caught out for greenwashing. A fine that can be actioned without even taking them to court. False greenwashing could be anything that implies sustainability with a wish-y wash-y statement that doesn’t really mean anything, like ‘plastic-free’ or ‘carbon neutral’ when used with no backing. The CMA's Green Claims Code outlines six principles that brands must follow to ensure they comply with consumer protection law.
Shien and Temu got Fucked by Trumps Tariffs
Shien and Temu lost their import loophole thanks to Trumps Tariff chaos.
While his antics have disrupted the global economy and hugely damaged lots of independent and important brands, its also successfully fucked over these fast fashion giants, with low-value shipments from China not facing a 120% tariff.
The stats at the beginning of this article are from @commonsearth & their podcast @secondnatureearth.