The Illusion of Progress: Why Environmentalism in Fashion Is Failing
By Robert P. Antoshak, VP of Global Strategic Sourcing & Development, Grey Matter Concepts
Today’s environmental push in fashion has created more problems than it has solved.
What began as reform has devolved into marketing, full of talk but short on action. Just ask the brands. Conferences, campaigns, and pledges are everywhere, while emissions and wasteful production continue to rise. We’re supposed to be changing the model. Instead, the industry has seemingly rewrapped the same machine in recycled packaging and congratulated itself on a job well done for the environment.
Sure, that’s the industry’s failure. Its aims weren’t wrong, but its execution fell short. And for good reasons: in today’s uncertain times, who can afford to gamble on expensive sustainability programs? As a result, sustainability has become a label used to sell products. The more we rely on hollow claims and circular buzzwords, the faster our credibility erodes. When economic reality clashes with environmentalism, business often wins.
However, harm to the planet persists. The damage is clear, despite what skeptics may claim. As an industry, it’s time to cut through the spin. If we don’t distinguish noise from real efforts, we will keep spinning our wheels while the impacts worsen. But what can be done during this period of economic and political change?
Green on the Outside, Same on the Inside
Most sustainability messaging these days is just branding. Recycled polyester from bottles? Claimed as progress. In truth, those bottles had higher-value closed-loop options. Instead, we downcycle them into short-lived textiles destined for landfills or burners. Not truly circular. Just more convenient.
Compostable hangtags, “carbon neutral” shipping, and a token regenerative cotton pilot that barely makes a difference. Good optics. None of it compensates for the core issue: an industrial system designed for excess speed and volume, run through supply chains that haven’t fundamentally changed.
Furthermore, we continue to believe that consumers will influence change through their spending. Consumers are overwhelmed with claims, lack clear data, and face price pressures. Fast fashion thrives on low costs and easy access, not ideology. Even motivated shoppers prioritize convenience. That’s the reality, not moral failure.
Yet brands still shift responsibility onto the buyer: purchase “better,” buy less, pick the “right” fiber, while blasting out promos and weekly drops. Without systemic change, behavior cannot scale. Messaging won’t fill that gap.
Supply Chains: The Weakest Link
Real environmental work happens upstream: farms, gins, spinning, weaving, dyeing, finishing, cut-and-sew. Those stages still operate on thin margins, short lead times, and price pressures.
We promote partnership, but we demand lower FOBs, faster turns, and capital-heavy upgrades without sharing the risk. Cleaner boilers, wastewater recycling, renewable energy—at whose expense? This isn’t reluctance from factories; it’s economic reality. Unless brands improve forecasting, extend contract durations, adjust payment terms, and manage volume fluctuations, suppliers can’t fund the transition on a large scale. Survival takes priority over experimentation when credit is tight and policy support is weak.
And what about workers? Well, ESG talk sidelines the “S.” Let me explain.
You can't claim sustainability when workers are in unsafe rooms, working with outdated equipment, and locked exits. More than a decade after the Rana Plaza disaster, too many facilities continue to operate with low wages, excessive overtime, superficial audits, and grievance channels that lead nowhere.
“Green” shells—solar arrays, LEED plaques—don’t matter if the inside reality involves 12-hour shifts, heat stress, and ergonomic risks. That’s green theatre. And if labor conditions stay exploitative, environmental claims are just superficial changes. Sustainability must lead to safer workplaces, fairer wages, and empowerment. Or it’s only public relations.
Moreover, we are flooded with labels, offsets, and dashboards that provide little clarity or verification. Fragmented LCAs, outdated baselines, audit fatigue, and selective disclosure continue to persist. Vanity metrics boost the perceived progress, while real metrics like energy per kilo, water per kg, chemical yields, and authentic wage ladders remain overlooked.
More badges won’t rebuild trust. We need unified, third-party, up-to-date data linked to procurement decisions, not marketing decks. Once credibility is lost, the rebuilding process is lengthy and expensive.
Too Many Conferences, Not Enough Consequences
Blah, blah, blah. The sustainability conference circuit has become an echo chamber—seemingly endless gatherings, panels, curated panels on “innovation,” predictable keynotes, hallway selfies. Then everyone flies home, and the operational status quo remains unchanged.
Same voices, recycled slides, unchallenged narratives—sponsored safe space. Pilot victory laps without scaling plans. Case studies stripped of cost, failure, or replication friction.
We don’t need more stages. We need fewer summits and more implementation sprints: cross-functional workstreams focused on reducing volume, reforming contracts, chemical substitution, and investing in worker safety, with published outcomes. Answers, not endless pontificating. Until that shift, the circuit wastes time and increases travel-related carbon emissions while problems deepen.
So, Is Environmentalism in Fashion Doomed?
Not doomed, just stalled at a crossroads.
If marketing stays disconnected from sourcing and factory realities, it fails. If “sustainability” is just a trend veneer instead of a real operational overhaul, it fails. If costs and risks are pushed onto suppliers and consumers, it fails.
Real work is progressing: fiber innovation, lower-impact dye chemistry, regenerative trials with credible measurement, factories investing in metering and process control, and brands stress-testing volume discipline. The question is about scale and speed before trust fully erodes.
Environmentalism here isn’t about perfect purity. It’s about staying on course. Drop the gloss and performative clutter. Create a playbook that promotes durability, upstream investment, transparent wages, reductions in chemical and energy intensity, and strict volume restraint.
Value people and incorporate carbon calculations. Publish both the misses and the wins. Link executive compensation to measurable performance metrics, not just soft narratives.
Be honest now, or you'll be having the same talk in 2030 with a less receptive audience and fewer options.
The clock’s running. Choose substance over spin.
About the Author
With over three decades of experience in the textile and apparel sector, Robert Antoshak currently serves as Vice President of Global Strategic Sourcing & Development at Grey Matter Concepts. He aims to align innovative sourcing strategies with business growth, delivering scalable and cost-efficient solutions that enhance supply chain resilience and competitiveness. Collaborating with various teams and global suppliers, Antoshak drives operational excellence and secures sustainable partnerships that help fuel the company's success.
Previously, as a Partner at Gherzi Textil Organisation, Antoshak led consulting initiatives across North America, offering strategic insights to the global cotton, textile, and apparel industries. By authoring thought leadership publications and managing a widely recognized industry blog, he contributed to shaping industry perspectives and advancing sustainable practices.
Antoshak’s expertise lies in fostering innovation, building strategic relationships, and driving growth across the apparel value chain. In addition to an extensive background in marketing, mergers and acquisitions, sourcing, information services, strategic planning, and government relations, he has substantial experience in trade negotiations, having worked as an FBI-cleared industry advisor to the U.S. government on numerous bilateral quota trade agreements, NAFTA, the MFA, and the WTO.
Widely published, Antoshak is a regular contributor to just-style.com and sourcingjournal.com.
