Finnish Fashion Lessons for the Creation of a Sustainable Textiles Industry

The detrimental effects of textiles and the fashion industry on the planet are well-known.In its 2022 Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles (the EU Textile Strategy) the EU proposed aggressive actions to transform the textile industry to implement the commitments of Europe’s Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan. The Textile Strategy’s aim is simple but ambitious: to end fast fashion. Its proposals will regulate textile businesses along the whole supply chain, but the views of the smaller enterprises that make up the majority of the supply chain have been overlooked, even as larger players lobby for policy changes. This paper focuses on eight small and microbusinesses (MSEs) already attempting to operate sustainably in the textile supply chain to understand how these proposals will affect them.

The MSEs we questioned used some certifications and ecolabels to assess where to buy sustainable products (whether for their business or personal consumption) but they were suspicious of the accuracy of these certifications and often used the location of their supplier as a better guide to its level of sustainability. None of those interviewed used certifications on their own products and, while many considered the EU Textiles Strategy initiatives to be praiseworthy, they were concerned about the tools that the EU might use to measure sustainability, and the potential costs of compliance with new legal requirements. Understanding how these often-overlooked industry players view sustainability and understand regulation can assist policymakers to ensure that the EU Textile Strategy can “keep textile products in the economy for as long as possible, end fast fashion, and make reuse and repair services widely available.”