Last month, the British Fashion Council (BFC) hosted their annual Institute of Positive Fashion (IPF) Forum for 2025, and I had the pleasure of attending. As a sustainable fashion blogger and activist, I often feel like I am on the outskirts of the fashion world, so it was a joy to be invited into a larger forum to learn about the steps the BFC is taking to support the British fashion industry in adapting to new sustainability principles. Here are my insights from the day…
8 Insights from the Institute of Positive Fashion Forum 2025
1. We Have To “Hold The Line”
Esteemed lawyer and climate justice activist Farhana Yamin opened this year’s forum. In the face of political uncertainty, and a rollback on the climate and nature agenda, Yamin urged us to “hold the line”, highlighting the importance of creating a kinder world to ourselves and to the planet.
Fashion has the “power of creativity in sharing pressing issues”, she said, and this tracks with the themes I noted at this year’s London Fashion Week:
Yamin continued onto the power of behaviour change: “Where’s there’s an action there’s a reaction- and it will be bigger and more beautiful I promise you that.” I was roused by her words, pairing action with positivity and hope.
2. Decoupling Production & Profit Is More Important Than Ever
“Our relationship with consumption needs to change – and the fashion industry is a big part of that,” Yamin noted, earlier on in her keynote. This was one of the boldest calls for degrowth across the day, and while the other keynotes and panels touched on the idea of decoupling production and profit, she was the only one to directly note its significance. It seems there is still a (somewhat justified) fear of raising the idea in an industry that has seen overproduction soar, while also struggling to embrace circularity.
My question to you is: what can you do instead of shop? Fashion brands need inspiration further than buying and selling product, and it seems that outside of the ateliers, they lack imagination. How can we show them we can enjoy fashion without relying on new stuff? Check out the work I’m doing with the Brighton Fashion Collective for my own answer to this question.
3. Beware of Inertia and Inaction
Despite being the British Fashion Council’s event, there was an undeniable ripple of fear whenever global politics was mentioned. It seems British fashion has not gone unscathed by Trump’s administration – both directly and indirectly.
At the top of the day, Sarah Kent noted that voluntary action around green efforts and DEI were now being cancelled in the US, watered down in the EU.
Farhana Yamin confirmed the backlash, and how this was creating inertia not just on climate, but also biodiversity, pollution, toxicity, plastics. It illustrates how right-wing politics are putting not just climate action, but existing sustainability efforts at risk.
On the flip-side, Zehra Zaidi, Lawyer, Policy Strategist & Mission Holder, spoke out against the Trump administration directly, took to demonstrating how fashion had allowed us to overcome patriarchal structures, and gives us community.
4. Consider Company Culture > Certifications
On the topic of community, let’s talk company culture. In his keynote, Andrea Baldo, new CEO at Mulberry, highlighted his efforts to build upon and progress the Somerset brand’s company culture. It started small – removing red meat from the menu in the Mulberry canteen, which was welcome if not strange step from a brand known for its leather – to a bold declaration that “you can fake a B Corp score, you can’t fake company culture.”
It comes after a number of socially good brands have pushed back on B Corp certification after controversial admissions to the club, including Nespresso, Nestle, and Unilever. (Dr Bronner’s statement on dropping B Corp certification is well worth a read.)
I will say, I’m a fan of Mulberry, and the direction it has taken in pursuing regenerative solutions. From their low carbon capsule, to launching their exchange programme, they are evolving. One thing I’m not so sure on is Baldo’s (twice repeated line): “Mulberry is not a fashion brand, it is a luxury brand.”
5. Fashion Has To Focus On Decarbonisation
On the Decarbonising UK Fashion Panel, I was left feeling a disappointed. Decarbonisation seems to be one of the most widely-accepted routes to more sustainable operations in UK fashion. Not only is it measurable, it’s effective, too. And while Fashion Revolution unearthed in its What Fuels Fashion? report how poorly the world’s leading brands are tracking their Scope 3 emissions – which account for 96% of fashion supply chains – Scope 1 & 2 seems to at least be covered. Despite this, the panel didn’t seem to have much to report – M&S rely upon the much-contested Higg Index, Nobody’s Child is playing around with Digital Product Passports, and Santander explained away a lack of progress due to a need for “certainty”. It felt a bit like a game of naming existing (or upcoming) regulations and highlighting small initiatives rather than reporting real progress.
6. Independent Brands Are The Innovators We Need
In contrast, I was impressed by the passion and clarity from the independent brand founders who spoke across the day. These brands were open in their high standards, and their brands’ agility to design and create fashion to those standards.
Bernice Pan, Founder of Deploy, took us back to the drawing board. “If it doesn’t answer a problem or if it already exists, it’s not worth designing.”
Anna Foster, Founder of E.L.V Denim, rallied for more brands to speak up about their activities – “You shouldn’t be scared to say things,” – while also calling for a better word than “sustainable” to describe their upcycled designs.
Lucy Tammam, Founder of Tammam, showed the commitments she has achieved with her brand “We are making fully compostable garments – using organic cotton, regenerative cotton, even down to the threads.”
And Oliver Spencer couldn’t justify the brands who don’t know their own supply chains. “We all start with the cloth… Go and see [factory partners]. Go and see them on the ground.”
7. Intelligent Brands Respect Their Customers, Data, & The Future
In addition to these ethical commitments and actions, a number of designers referenced a need to be smarter with their brands. Rounding off the presentation of the IPF’s Low Carbon Transition Programme, Patrick McDowell said, “It feels much for intelligent to create a brand that works for the next decade [than not].”
This was backed up by Josephine Phillips’ insights from her clothes repair solution, Sojo. “[It’s] really commonplace to repair elbows in knitwear – but are we questioning whether we should be redesigning the original garment?” she asked. Her brand not only performs these repairs, but feeds them back to brand partners to help address quality issues and improve design decisions.
Finally, Bernice Pan spoke on re-evaluating the intelligence of customers: “By treating customers as customers we are shutting them out of the door. To think we need to educate them? They likely are well informed. How are we relating to customers?” Is it time fashion brands think of us as citizens, rather than simply customers? I’ve been calling for this mindset shift for years.
8. Should We Consider Displaced Clothes?
Over the course of the day, I took a lot of notes. When compiling this summary, I realised there was a theme of my own forming: what happens to displaced clothes?
Speaking with Dominique Palmer, Climate Activist and fellow attendee, she asked “why are brands not disclosing what happens with returns?”
Further to that, I want to know, are brands considering what happens to the clothes they displace? I know it’s still revolutionary to ask brands to simply consider what happens to the clothes they sell at the end of their life – look at the #TakeItBack movement by Wendy Ward – but what about the ones they are supplementing?
I’ve often wondered this when browsing second-hand apps and sites – what happens to all the items that go unsold? But further than this, could we ask fashion brands to take on the duty of recycling clothes that we are actively shopping to replace?
9. We Need To Take Action – Now
Finally, a call to arms. There still is a flame burning for social justice and climate justice within British fashion, albeit perhaps a smaller, more cautious flame.
First, there were the usual calls for better regulation. Oliver Spencer made a call back to the recommendations of the 2019 Fixing Fashion Report, saying “I think the government should be providing tax credits for businesses that are operating sustainably; that can prove their circularity.”
And Farhana Yamin highlighted how quickly government could move in response to the Covid pandemic: “Look at Covid… [we need to] make things more mandatory than voluntary, especially in regards to tax, labour laws, etc.”
Next, a few rallying cries for braver words and actions. Yamin put simply, “I’m tired of being palatable”, while Zehra Zaidi told the audience “You can’t wait for the Trump administration to pass.”
So, over to you. What are you doing to take action? Have you joined a local group? Could you start an insider movement at your workplace? Are you asking the straight questions at shareholder meetings? How are you asserting your rights as a citizen, not just a consumer?
Watch all of the keynotes and sessions from this year’s event on the BFC IPF Forum Content Hub.
