BRUSSELS — The fashion industry is feeling the pressure as the European Union rolls out a slate of new rules under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation.
The European Fashion Alliance welcomed policymakers and industry members alike for a series of roundtables at the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday, hosted by Member of European Parliament Christian Ehler.
The group’s report, “The Status of European Fashion,” revealed an industry that is at a critical juncture at a time of business and social transformations — and unprepared for the slate of EU regulations that are in the pipeline.
The research was conducted with the group’s 27 members, which include the British Fashion Council, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, Fashion Council Germany and France’s Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, among others.
For example, only 44 percent of respondents are familiar with the digital product passport, or DPP, which requires brands to provide detailed records of a product’s materials, origin and environmental footprint.
“Fashion brands from small to large, they indicate that they need financial support for their sustainable transition, as well as easier access to materials and infrastructure,” EFA chair Scott Lipinski said in opening remarks.
Brands are feeling “confusion” as multiple layers of regulations roll out, as well as facing the financial squeeze of getting up to speed. “There are these mixed feelings [from brands, and] the fear with all of the new legislation that it’s going to mean it will be harder to compete with businesses in other regions that don’t have this level of legislation coming in place,” said sustainability adviser Christine Goulay, who has worked with Kering, Pangaia and Eden brands, among others.
Many brands believe there is a “tsunami” of legislation coming, and they don’t know or understand the specifics of how to be compliant, lack the resources and skills to level up, or know how to finance the transition.
“This is a huge financial burden for the smaller businesses. We need subsidies if there is going to be the right sort of competition with the bigger players in other regions,” Goulay said.
Dirk Vantyghem, director general at the European Apparel and Textile Confederation, or Euratex, who was in the audience, highlighted that European companies are in competition with manufacturing countries like India or Pakistan, which can produce at a lower price. If the cost pressure increases with these new regulations, the European manufacturing sector will be hurt.
“The whole cost structure needs to be addressed,” he said.
Jessika Rosswall, European commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy
Eloide Meunier / Courtesy EFA
Newly appointed commissioner for Environment Jessika Rosswall called attention to one of the key problems that plagues the industry.
“Let’s be honest about the challenges that we face. One of the areas that requires attention is the low recycling [rate] and collection of recyclable textiles in Europe,” she said. Europe generates more than 12 million tons of textile waste annually, but only 22 percent is separately collected, and 8 percent reused, Rosswall added.
As of Jan. 1, member states will be required to establish systems for the separate collection of textile waste, but panelists discussed the lack of recycling facilities.
McKinsey & Company associate partner Nikolai Langguth noted that 80 percent of European clothing is imported, and said that number rises to 90 percent in the U.S.
As countries will be required to set up systems for separate textile waste in 2025, Ehler said that due to the deep fragmentation of the system, coupled with the fact that some markets are too small to make it financially worthwhile to recycle clothing, the block could consider an EU-wide integrated market in the future.
Annika Mohr Storfäit, Balenciaga global sustainability director
Eloide Meunier / Courtesy EFA
Balenciaga global sustainability director Annika Mohr Storfäit said she has seen a strong acceleration of the use of more sustainable textiles, such as organic cotton, and alternative “next gen” materials within the brand over the last five years. For example, 47 of the 58 looks in the pre-fall 2025 collection presented in Paris on Monday had some of these materials incorporated.
She noted that when the brand debuted its mycelium-based material Ephea wrap coat in 2022, only about 20 were produced for the consumer market. That was in part due to there being little of the material commercially available, and the cost of the textile.
“Cracking the material transition is going to be important, and I would advise brands to really take a quite strategic approach to help scale supply,” Langguth said. “Anybody who has purchasing power should use that purchasing power in a strategic way to work with innovators. That is a very powerful thing.”
Christian Ehler
Courtesy EFA
The concept of durability was another key topic. Max Mara board member Costanza Maramotti used the example of one of its coats.
The Product Environmental Footprint is a methodology that would assess how companies measure the environmental impact of their products throughout their entire life cycle, from the start of the supply chain through disposal. It’s still in the refining phase, but under the proposed PEF criteria, items made of fossil fuel-based plastics and synthetics are given a higher score because they don’t break down.
Under the current calculations, a Max Mara coat was given a three-month life span. “We were really, really amazed — and in a negative way…because it’s exactly the opposite of what our experience is,” she said, believing the score does not reflect consumer behavior or purchasing habits for the luxury brand.
Maramotti called for “intangible value,” including brand recognition and sentimental value, to be considered in the metrics.
Lieve Vermeire, sustainability manager for lingerie manufacturer Van de Velde, added that things like fit and comfort should also be assessed, particularly in her sector. Panelists called on fashion items to be tallied holistically and for changes in the metrics before the PEF is finalized.
Pascal Morand, executive president of France’s federation, also supported a reassessment of the criteria.
“We have a problem with granularity,” he said. “This is absolutely fundamental. If not, we’ll have a policy on that and measures which will rely upon a very fragile foundation.”
Some of the problem may be lost in translation, as Brussels, Paris and Milan are speaking different languages. “Because at this moment, when creative designers are talking about durability, and engineers are working on LCA and durability — they are not talking about the same stuff,” Morand added.
The PEF should include both quantitative data and qualitative characteristics, including sensory analysis, consumer psychology and the social welfare of workers, he said.
Maramotti also emphasized the need to support small-scale manufacturers and artisanal workers in two ways. She called for programs to teach craftsmanship techniques to the younger generation, so they are not lost, as well as support for small businesses to comply with the new reporting requirements, to be added the EU agenda.
“Their survival is at stake,” she said. One proposal put forward by the EFA is to create a Made in Europe label to add cultural cachet to goods made in the bloc.
European Parliament member Ehler emphasized there is money — and lots of it — available via European programs. Funding has been set aside to support cultural heritage to the tune of 2.3 billion euros, an additional 400 million euros for operational programs, as well as 3.5 billion euros from the European Innovation Council’s venture investment arm to support start-ups, he said.
With these funds available, Ehler requested the EFA present concrete proposals for how to support small brands and businesses.
“We will put on the table the instruments available, and you will tell us what you need,” he said.
Speaking after the panel, Lipinski estimated the group could have a first round of proposals within three months.
Max Mara board member Costanza Maramotti
Eloide Meunier / Courtesy EFA
In the report, the group laid out its manifesto with 10 key points to guide the industry, including cultivating quality rather than quantity, addressing overproduction; positioning fashion as an anchor for creative communities, and growing fashion weeks as cultural events.
Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana chair Carlo Capasa laid the blame squarely at the feet of high-street brands.
“The problem in Europe is fast fashion,” he said, drawing a line between mass brands and creative fashion houses, as well as European artisans and apparel producing countries.
“We talk very often about fashion like a general issue, but fashion is European when we talk about creativity,” he said. “We create dreams; other countries, they satisfy needs.”
Capasa emphasized the EFA’s key points, one of which is to recognize fashion weeks as cultural events and conveying quality to the consumer; however, the long tail of creating desire for consumers who cannot afford luxury price points was not addressed.
“What we’ve been talking about is more about pollution, carbon footprint, but we forgot to talk about the human being, about social sustainability, about what is behind this industry, what makes this industry unique — creativity,” Capasa added.
The French federation’s Morand emphasized the importance of the small- to medium-sized creative fashion houses that are being lumped in with behemoth international brands.
“We have to save the small brands, we have to save the small industry, because it’s made up of many, many small companies,” he said. “Whenever we are thinking to make some rules, we have to make rules that respect this side of the industry. If we don’t think that, we will kill something that is unique to Europe.”
