Institute of Positive Fashion Forum 2024

We are facing a climate crisis; one that needs to be measured in human terms as a humanitarian crisis. The fashion industry has an enormous role to play in this, contributing to 10% of annual greenhouse gas emissions globally – with huge impacts that have far-reaching implications on both people and the planet. As we move away from an era of voluntary action on climate change to an era of one enshrined in law and regulation, we expect the landscape of fashion to shift drastically for industry players and consumers alike. These shifts will challenge us to adapt our thinking, mindsets, and business models.

In 2020, the British Fashion Council launched their world-leading sustainability programme, The Institute of Positive Fashion (IPF). Its mission is to establish a just and prosperous fashion and textiles UK economy, with a focus on decarbonisation and the circular economy. The IPF Forum is an annual, action-oriented conference designed to galvanise the British fashion industry to achieve a circular fashion ecosystem in the UK by 2030. Deloitte is proud to act as the Delivery Collaborator at the event and the IPF annual forum report.

In 2024, the IPF Forum was curated with inspiring and thought-provoking speakers, to instil a sense of duty, action, and activism. The focus of the day was tangible actions for business, government and citizens and what stakeholders can do to move us forward to a lower carbon future, with circularity as a key framework for this change. In response to the discussions and solutions explored Deloitte and the British Fashion Council completed a report that outlines the key learnings and actions from a Government, Citizen and Business standpoint, the latter is outlined below.

• Take a holistic approach across the end-to-end value chain, looking bottom-up as well as top-down.
• Collaborate across the industry to share knowledge and improve the viability of circular business practices through scale.
• Implement circular business models such as repair, rental, and resale to promote circularity and reduce waste.
• Educate customers in a language they understand and with a two-way dialogue.
• Link circularity and decarbonisation, as circular models, and the use of low-impact materials in circular design can ladder up to net zero targets.

The full report is available now for fashion organisations to use and implement into their journey towards circularity and carbon reduction.