🌱 Trump’s Tariffs: What Do They Mean For Sustainable Fashion?
+ 7 bits of good news + 4 roles we're excited about
What a week! Struggling to keep up with the news? Us too. It feels like every day there’s something new to digest (or detest) online. SO, in usual Following the Footprints fashion, we’re breaking it down and then cracking into some good news too! Fear not folks, no trade wars in this corner of the internet.
We’re thrilled to have Joey Yip jumping into the writing seat today. If you joined our Black Friday collaboration event with Nudie Jeans in November, you may have met her - she was the one walking home with the best dressed prize (sorry everyone else). Having previously worked everywhere from Grazia to celebrity stylists to Real Zero, today Joey is both Bauer Media Group’s project coordinator AND FTF’s impact-of-tariffs-on-sustainable-fashion expert. Thanks Joey!
Let’s dig in…
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> In Focus…
Trump’s Tariffs: What Do They Mean For Sustainable Fashion?
Trump’s tariffs are rattling the global stock market and leaving the world’s economy hanging in the balance, and sustainable fashion is looking to be caught squarely in the crosshairs.
For an industry already grappling with economic challenges and shifting consumer behaviours, the outlook isn’t entirely black and white. While many fear that rising costs will squeeze already tight margins and stall progress, there could be a potential silver lining - that these geopolitical shocks could nudge the industry towards much-needed transformation.
For many brands, the immediate, short-term impact is clear: higher operational costs.
Brands are faced with absorbing these increases or passing them onto the consumer, within the context of an overall decline in consumer spending on both luxury and fast fashion apparel.
Leading luxury fashion groups have reported a slump in demand and revenue declines in the wake of the pandemic, with LVMH’s sales dropping 5% and Kering’s by 16% in Q3 2024. Elsewhere, leading fast fashion retailer Boohoo Group reported a 17% decline in revenue for 2023. And so, brands are now more hard-pressed than ever to adjust profit forecasts and re-evaluate strategies to maintain market positions, in the face of reduced consumer spending driven by the cost of living crisis. With the added economic pressures of Trump’s tariffs, sustainable fashion, notorious already for its price premium, stands particularly exposed.
Sourcing sustainable materials - such as organic cotton, TENCEL™, and recycled textiles - already costs brands an average premium of around 20-30% over conventional options. As Elizabeth L. Cline, author of The Conscious Closet, notes: ‘If tariffs inflate the cost of sustainable raw materials, some brands may revert to environmentally harmful fabrics to protect their bottom line’.
It’s not just raw materials under threat.
Ethical certifications like Fair Trade and B Corp, supply chain audits, and the technology that enables transparent sourcing, all come at a cost. Eco-friendly logistics and operation methods, such as biodegradable packaging and carbon-neutral shipping methods, are likely to be deprioritised or shoved aside as brands focus instead on short-term survival.
‘Sustainability has always had a price premium - tariffs just make it steeper,’ notes Ayesha Barenblat, founder of ethical fashion advocacy platform Remake.
Consumers seeking ethical choices may increasingly find themselves priced out as brands pass on tariff costs to their customers, inadvertently pushing them back towards fast fashion’s affordability, and widening the accessibility gap.
And yet - could Trump’s tariffs be the nudge sustainable fashion needs?
Paradoxically, these tariffs could catalyse the exact shifts the industry needs - a forced re-evaluation of global supply chains could drive brands to shorten production cycles, localise manufacturing and reduce transport emissions.
Last year, more than 60% of textile imports into the US came from China, Vietnam and Bangladesh. As an escalating trade war unfolds between the US and China, with retaliatory tariffs currently in place at 125% for Chinese imports to the US, as well as 46% and 37% earmarked for Vietnam and Bangladesh respectively, could this be the beginning of an overhaul of well-established industry practices? This could be the fashion industry’s impetus to shift away from a globalised supply chain and over-reliance on Asian suppliers, towards local manufacturing and/or the diversification of textile sources.
On a surface-level, this could drastically reduce fashion’s carbon footprint - no small feat, considering the industry as a whole is responsible for about 10% of global carbon emissions - more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.
As the US attempts a return to domestic manufacturing, it’s important to note the deeper challenges that accompany this structural shift. Rapid domestic production would face significant barriers - from labour shortages to lack of materials and infrastructure - especially at the scale of which Western consumers are numb to. Regardless of whether brands pivot to domestic manufacturing or remain tied to global supply chains, the outcome is largely the same: higher costs for producing apparel.
One thing is certain - a shift is on the horizon.
Amidst all the noise - the impacts on supply chains, rising consumer costs, volatile market conditions, and the BBC’s ‘Breaking News’ notifications - one thing remains unchanged: the need for a collective shift in mindset.
Faced with these inevitable price increases, consumers may begin to reassess their approach to fashion altogether. Second-hand shopping platforms, upcycling, wardrobe rental and repair services could see accelerated growth into mainstream consumer habits, as shoppers begin to prioritise value and longevity in their purchases. While the fashion industry wrestles with rising costs and environmental imperatives, consumers can trigger this shift - through small, considered choices.
The age-old mantra of ‘buy less, buy better’ has never felt more relevant. Real change will come from systemic transformation, but it starts with the simple question - do we really need to buy so much, so often?
> The Good(s) News
🎯 City to Sea announced their partnership with Culligan UK and Network Rail to celebrate the partnership that has saved 69,000+ plastic bottles and 4 tonnes of CO2e. They are on a mission to help more hubs embed refill culture and cut single-use plastic.
🎯 Bemari announced their partnership with Unibloom, helping companies navigate Scope 3 complexity and climate action, to support their decarbonisation transition and alignment with the Science-Based Targets initiative and other climate goals.
🎯 Xampla announced that Just Eat Takeaway.com is using their plastic-free Morro™ Coating on their packaging, alongside partnership with Huhtamaki, to provide a range of packaging that is suitable for a wide range of dishes, fully recyclable and SUPD exempt.
🎯 Better Nature announced their expansion of their Organic and Smokey Tempeh, launching to 200 more REWE stores across central Germany, making their Tempeh products are now available in 1,300+ stores.
⭐ Polytag Limited announced that Waitrose & Partners has just become the latest retailer to join their Ecotrace Programme, to improve the recyclability of its packaging. This initiative was launched to transform the tracking and recycling of single-use plastic packaging in the UK.
⭐ Aldi UK announced their own-label wine bottle made from aluminium, offering a more sustainable packaging option. This launch aligns with their ongoing efforts to reduce environmental footprint, as the aluminium bottle is significantly lighter than a typical glass wine bottle.
⭐ Sodexo announced that they are rolling out more plants to its U.S hospital menus with the help of nonprofit Greener by Default. They have been working together since 2022, and the program has effectively cut the health system’s carbon emissions by over one-third in its first year.
Have good news? Share it with us - info@followingthefootprints.com!
> Bulletin Board
This week we’re all about those next career steps…
In the midst of sending your resumes out, go see ‘Fixing Our Broken Planet’ - the new gallery that’s opened at the Natural History Museum, too!
> Finally, in case you missed it…
🚀 Launching: MITIGATE AI Search
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Until next time!
Team FTF
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