Dirty Fashion: Crunch time

The report finds a significant divide in the fashion industry's approach to sustainable viscose, with a small group of 'frontrunners' making progress while the majority of brands—particularly US and luxury labels—remain inactive. While over 50% of global viscose production is now aligned or committed to EU Best Available Techniques (BAT) standards, the authors argue that voluntary commitments are insufficient and call for mandatory EU legislation on human rights and environmental due diligence to ensure a sector-wide transformation.

• A significant portion of the fashion industry has failed to commit to sustainable viscose production; 75% of the 100 brands contacted have made few or no commitments to eliminate 'dirty viscose'.
• There is a notable geographic and market disparity in engagement, with US brands and luxury labels lagging behind. 90% of contacted US companies fell into the bottom two performance categories, and luxury brands such as Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, and Versace were among the lowest-ranked.
• Major viscose manufacturers representing over 50% of global production have aligned or pledged to align with EU Best Available Techniques (BAT) by 2022 or 2023. These include Aditya Birla Group, Lenzing, Sateri, and Asia Pacific Rayon (APR).
• Transparency remains a critical issue in the sector; most manufacturers do not systematically report progress toward EU BAT, and third-party audit reports, such as Higg FEM verification, are not made public.
• Despite manufacturing commitments, some producers continue to pose risks to biodiversity. Asia Pacific Rayon (APR) and Sateri have been linked to sourcing from cleared forested peatlands in Kalimantan and ancient or endangered forests.
• The report concludes that voluntary industry initiatives are insufficient for a total transformation and urges the European Commission to implement mandatory human rights and environmental due-diligence legislation for viscose imports and production.

APA

Changing Markets Foundation (2020). Dirty Fashion: Crunch time. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CM-EX-SUMMARY-DIRTY-FASHION-CRUNCH-TIME-NOV-2020.pdf

Chicago

Changing Markets Foundation. Dirty Fashion: Crunch time. 2020. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CM-EX-SUMMARY-DIRTY-FASHION-CRUNCH-TIME-NOV-2020.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Changing Markets Foundation |title=Dirty Fashion: Crunch time |date=December 2020 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CM-EX-SUMMARY-DIRTY-FASHION-CRUNCH-TIME-NOV-2020.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{changingmarketsfoundation2020dirty, author = {{Changing Markets Foundation}}, title = {{Dirty Fashion: Crunch time}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2020}, month = dec, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CM-EX-SUMMARY-DIRTY-FASHION-CRUNCH-TIME-NOV-2020.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }