Taking sustainability from a standalone function to a core business driver in fashion requires a true meeting of the minds—one that reaches design rooms, finance teams and executive leadership. The problem? Such minds usually have different priorities.
“From Promise to Process: Operationalizing Sustainability in Fashion,” a panel held at the winter edition of Texworld NYC, gathered experts from Coach, Tory Burch, Steve Madden and the finance world to explain how to make the business case for sustainability so all stakeholders can get on board.
Moderated by Jennifer Gootman, Tory Burch’s global head of sustainability and ESG strategy, the panel gave real-world examples of how far the industry has shifted from viewing sustainability as a mere compliance or communications exercise to a core business capability. And how far it still needs to go.
Steve Madden’s VP of sustainable product design, Miranda Morrison, offered the design perspective, describing the challenge of aligning sustainability goals with aesthetics, performance, and especially price.
“No material will save the world if nobody wants to buy it,” she said, noting that sustainable developments also have to fit into the brand’s overall DNA. “A lot of [sustainable materials] that come across my desk aren’t as good as what we are using, so I advise material exploration to make it more sexy. There’s often a so-called ‘green tax’ to pay on sustainable products. So if you’re [asking consumers] to pay more, they need to get something fabulous.”
Morrison cited Steve Madden’s experimentation with innovative materials such as Aircarbon, made using Arctic krill that eats methane gas and captures carbon. Steve Madden has been testing a small amount of Aircarbon in one style’s outsoles, with Morisson’s department absorbing the costs until the kinks are worked out.
In a humorous anecdote, Morrison relayed how the powdered Aircarbon got stopped at Customs en route to the Mexico facility (“they thought it was fentanyl!”), and it cost ten times more than the price to get it unlocked,” she said, underscoring that even the best sustainability intentions can’t work without operational functionality.
The company is also assessing if and how to relay Aircarbon’s story to the consumer. “We’re figuring out how we’re going to message this without being accused of greenwashing. We’re going to have to teach our retail staff how to talk about it, then figure out whether it means anything to the customer,” she said.
The Business Case for Sustainable Product
Coach sustainability director Kim Matsoukas emphasized how its circular (Coachtopia) and pre-owned Coach (Re)Loved collections haven’t just paid lip service to sustainability, but are major contributors to the company’s bottom line. Even Coach’s repair initiatives have helped the bottom line by strengthening customer loyalty and highlighting production problems to be rectified for future collections.
At the same time, Matsoukas noted that companies must develop rigorous life cycle assessments to comply with extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulations and carbon accounting requirements. This adds both clarity–and pressure–to sustainability strategies.
She highlighted Coach’s partnership with Bank & Vogue, which upcycles used denim into handbags and apparel that consumers love, even without the sustainability story. But product still has to pass muster with international regulations.
“Our biggest challenge, besides the denim variations our design team had to deal with, was you just don’t know what’s in the denim because it’s from all over the world,” said Matsoukas. “There was so much work behind the scenes, but when we finally did a life cycle assessment on the product, it was 87% percent reduction in carbon compared to new denim. So a win for everyone, which is not always the case.”
From an investor and finance lens, advisor Jennifer Louie, formerly of Closed Loop Partners, encourages brands to think about financing partners as being more than just capital providers. “Selecting ones that truly are willing to lend their network expertise and resources to add value is going to be critical,” she said.
Once operational, sustainability teams need clear reporting lines, quantified KPIs, and links to variable compensation to make their business case and drive real change. She also pointed to growing opportunities in private markets to fund sustainable innovation, provided that companies can demonstrate transparency and credible impact metrics.
“[Companies] that want to embed sustainability need to give sustainability teams a seat at the table–have board members, leadership teams and investors working side by side,” she said. “Break down silos.”
Cross-Functional Collaboration and Change Management
Across the conversation, panelists returned to the need for cross-functional collaboration. Finance, design, sourcing and sustainability teams need to break down silos and work together—supported by integrated data systems such as PLM and bill-of-materials tracking—to translate ambition into action.
Teams must also not just talk to each other, but understand limitations and constraints. “I’m always trying to match up what design wants versus what production will do,” said Steve Madden’s Morrison.
Change management, however, can be the biggest hurdle. “Changing mindsets, getting people to think about things differently, is actually the hardest part of doing this work,” said Coach’s Matsoukas. “But once you switch them, it becomes easier. And they’ll be looking for new ways to scale things.”
Despite the headwinds, the panelists were optimistic about what is driving sustainability forward, both in boardrooms and design. Looking ahead, they identified tailwinds including digital product passports (DPP) in Europe, increased investor attention and strong sustainability interest among younger consumers.
“There’s an interesting convergence of policy that will require transparency, converging with creativity on the financing solution side, that can help to unlock some of this operationalization,” Louie said.
