Copyright Newsweek
Sustainability has had a pretty rough go of it these last few years. Despite major strides in the right direction, the push for a greener future has been dealt several devastating blows from a fraught supply chain, economic headwinds and political setbacks. Fashion, a notoriously unfriendly industry for the environment, is no exception. Last week, Newsweek released its ranking of America’s Greenest Companies 2026, a list recognizing 450 U.S. companies for their environmental sustainability leadership. The ranking welcomed two new additions from the textile and apparel manufacturing sector—Fruit of the Loom and Steve Madden —but as a whole, the industry saw a nearly 43 percent decrease in representation from last year’s ranking. Only a dozen textile and apparel manufacturing companies were recognized on this year’s list, compared to the more than 20 organizations that were recognized on America’s Greenest Companies 2025. And yet, as tensions remain between fashion and sustainability, certain luxury brands are ascending to the top and cementing their status as the industry’s biggest environmental champions. Tapestry, the parent company of luxury brands Coach and Kate Spade, made its second consecutive appearance on the ranking this year, while also making significant year-over-year gains. Insights from data partner Plant-A reveal that the company improved its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 25 percent, its water usage score by 16 percent and its waste generation score by almost 10 percent. The fashion holding company also outperformed the industry average for GHG emissions by 47 percent, water usage by 62 percent and waste generation by 36 percent. “Sustainability is woven into our purpose, ‘make every beautiful choice a responsible choice,’” Peter Charles, the chief supply chain officer at Tapestry, told Newsweek. “It’s not an add-on; it’s how we design, source, make, and support the people behind our brands.” Tapestry’s Fabric of Change strategy is made up of four pillars, each aimed at investing in a diverse workforce, biodiversity solutions, product innovations designed to minimize waste and pollution and empowering communities to support the supply chain. As a result of this framework, the company has cut direct and indirect GHG emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions) by 84 percent from its baseline from Fiscal Year 2021. Internal from Fiscal Year 2024 also shows that Tapestry has achieved 96 percent renewable energy for its global operations and has sourced 99 percent of its leather from certified responsible leather tanneries. “Luxury has the power to lean in on ‘fewer, better’ products that last and circulate—and at Tapestry, our approach prioritizes durability, repair and circularity,” Charles said. Tapestry’s four-pronged approach may make it look easy to address sustainability, but one of the biggest challenges facing the industry is its scale and scope. Of the 100 billion garments produced each year, 92 million tons of textile waste is produced globally. According to the Global Fashion Agenda, that is the equivalent of a garbage truck full of clothing being incinerated or sent to a landfill every second. “On average, it will take these pieces approximately 100 years to decompose,” Karen Pearson, a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), told Newsweek. “That’s a huge challenge in and of itself." Because the fashion supply chain—which includes design, sourcing, manufacturing, distribution, sales and consumption—is quite expansive on its own, Pearson added that the industry also touches other industries that aren’t typically considered fashion-related, like farming and agriculture, which can be invisible to the consumer. Shoppers might be looking for cotton or linen garments, but when most of us are browsing the racks, we aren’t always thinking about those items as raw materials that need to be spun and woven, or the footprint of those practices. “Making fashion more sustainable starts deep in the supply chain—with the people, places, and materials that bring every product to life,” Charles said. “For Tapestry, that means knowing where things come from and working with our partners who share our commitment to doing better.” Charles said while tracking materials across countries and tiers is no easy feat, Tapestry has successfully mapped out 95 percent of its raw materials and remains committed to maintaining that traceability. The company has also brought its suppliers into the fold, offering programs that help suppliers cut their emissions and shift to renewable energy. Through its decarbonization program, Tapestry measures its partners' carbon footprints to create a tailored reduction roadmap for each. So far, Tapestry already has engaged 40 key suppliers. In the most recent fiscal year, Tapestry reached 100 percent renewable electricity across operations. And they’re not stopping there. The company has set multiple targets for itself: it's joined an effort to support more than 100 megawatts of new solar capacity in Spain, partnered with Pivot Energy to develop six new solar projects in Illinois that will total 22 megawatts, aims to have 40 percent renewable energy in its supply chain by Fiscal Year 2030 and plans to phase out coal completely by 2026. But according to Pearson, the most important part of the supply chain is the end. “We can’t not talk about the consumer because a lot of what these companies do is geared specifically towards what their consumers tell them they need or what they believe the consumer wants or needs,” said Pearson, who chairs FIT’s sustainability council. The good news for sustainability advocates is that consumers increasingly want fashion brands to go greener. Despite today's economic pressures, 80 percent of consumers said they’re willing to spend more on sustainably produced or sourced goods, according to PwC’s 2024 Voice of the Consumer Survey. Separately, 58 percent of Americans report being prepared to make more environmentally conscious purchasing decisions, according to research published by the British Standards Institute last year. Tapestry is paying attention. According to the company's internal research, more than half of Gen Z values sustainability but what it’s really focused on is merging those values with younger consumers’ affinity for authenticity and self-awareness. Charles said that Tapestry has embraced these insights “wholeheartedly” through initiatives like Coach (Re)Loved, a collection of restored and upcycled handbags, and Coachtopia, a line of bags that are crafted with quality leather scraps to reduce waste. “These programs enable us to offer products that are not only beautiful but also have a reduced carbon footprint,” he said. “As these expectations gain momentum, they are steering the industry toward a more sustainable future.” In FY24 alone, the Coach (Re)Loved program gave 14,000 items a second life through resale and completed 91,000 repairs. Christina Lee, an adjunct instructor at FIT and the founder of lifestyle brand chng+crw, isn’t surprised by the popularity of these initiatives. She told Newsweek that back in the day, most consumers weren’t paying attention to sustainability. “It was all about making a profit," she said. “[Brands] were dictating to the consumer what the trends were.” Today, however, Lee said consumers are far more knowledgeable. They can easily obtain data on how committed a brand is to sustainability, its impact on local and global ecosystems and whether a company is making itself appear more environmentally conscious through what's known as “greenwashing.” Both Pearson and Lee have witnessed these cultural shifts in real time. Pearson said the biggest shift she’s seen is how much her students know when they walk into the classroom. Ten years ago, she said, she might have introduced them to the concept of sustainability. But today, they arrive knowing the statistics around sustainability in fashion, the approaches that brands have taken and the major pain points in the supply chain. “I have these conversations [with my students], and they’ll say, ‘You know what I think about? I think about if I can wear that piece over and over again, or if it's something I only wear a few times,’” Lee added. “When I was in college, I was definitely not thinking about that.” Because of their massive carbon footprint, it’s particularly poignant for brands like Tapestry to become sustainability stalwarts in the industry, Lee said. “When a bigger giant in this space makes a change, that change or commitment, even if it feels small and insignificant... that choice is really impactful,” Pearson agreed. “Anytime they make a commitment and adhere to that—because the scale and scope of what they’re producing—it’s huge.” “There are companies out there that are making amazing commitments and demonstrating that they can be a profitable, responsible company," she said, adding, “We’ve got to cheer for them.”
