This report shows how innovative green technologies can help the global fashion industry to manage and reduce environmental damage. Increasing interest from brands and investors, alongside new legislative frameworks, are creating avenues for a more sustainable resource management. Innovation and creativity can help advance a paradigm shift in textile manufacturing and production that results in a circular economy for fashion.
- Acknowledgments
- Executive summary
- Introduction
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Image: WIPO Key challenges on environmental impact in fashion
This section highlights how the biggest environmental impacts in fashion’s value chain occur in a range of manufacturing processes, from fiber production and textile processing to water consumption and microplastics.
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Image: WIPO Stages in the fashion and textiles value chain with high innovation potential for environmental benefits
This section presents an overview of sustainable innovative fashion technologies that can cut waste, save resources, and reduce pollution in fashion – from material production to recycling, retail, and logistics – delivering environmental benefits across the value chain.
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Image: WIPO The role of intellectual property in promoting green innovation
This section examines the role of intellectual property (IP) in fostering innovation, protecting traditional knowledge, and enabling green technology transfer. It also addresses some of the challenges and opportunities for IP in the circular economy.
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Image: WIPO Extraction of raw materials/textile manufacture
This section reviews innovations in areas such as sustainable fibers, materials, and processes, from bio-based and waste-derived textiles to waterless dyeing and circular production systems. These technologies aim to reduce the fashion industry’s environmental footprint.
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Image: WIPO Distribution
This section explores some of the digital tools in fashion, from AI-driven logistics and blockchain traceability to “re”-commerce platforms, demand forecasting, and virtual try-on solutions enhancing sustainability and consumer experience.
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Image: WIPO End of product life
This section highlights end-of-life textile innovations, spanning mechanical and chemical recycling, automated sorting, upcycling traditions, and the infrastructure essential for scaling circular solutions.
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Image: WIPO Synthesis and future direction
This section explores collaboration, market barriers, and trade-offs in scaling sustainable fashion technologies, highlighting SME innovation, technology adoption, and the shift toward a “just” and circular economy.
- Bibliography
- Copyright