Categories BUSINESS EDITOR'S PICKS NEWS & INSIGHTS

Market Update: July 2026

vegan fashion news

At Vegan Fashion Repository, we keep our ears firmly on the ground, collecting and curating news and insights most relevant to the vegan fashion industry—particularly in material innovation, circularity, accountable sustainability, and consumer behaviour—at the end of every month.

Don’t let the summer season fool you: the last thing the vegan fashion industry seemed to be doing this July was slowing down for the holidays. From policy developments and exciting launches to new partnerships and a wealth of essential reading released this month—including a comprehensive reassessment of leather’s carbon footprint by Mikaila K. Roncevich, Matthew N. Hayek and Juan P. Hinestroza, published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, and P. J. Smith’s exploration of how bio-based materials are entering the creative process of some of America’s leading designers in Sourcing Journal (links at the end of the article)—July brought developments that will undoubtedly make it onto our list of the most valuable reading for 2026.

Here are the highlights of July 2026:

Legislation and related news

Let’s start with the hottest news, pun intended. On 19 July 2026, it became illegal for large companies to burn unsold clothes and shoes in the European Union. Under the new rules, businesses must prioritise keeping products in use by selling them or preparing them for reuse. Medium-sized companies will be subject to the same rules from 2030. European Commission

To provide more context, a study published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research estimates that around 15 million tonnes of textile waste is openly burned each year across 137 countries. The central estimate includes around 2.8 million tonnes of cotton and 8.3 million tonnes of polyester. While burning polyester clearly has a greater climate impact as it releases fossil carbon dioxide, open burning of cotton can still release pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter which affect local air quality and human health. Natural Fiber Insight at Apparel Insider

While this all sounds promising, a major setback came when the European Commission removed leather from the scope of its deforestation rules. Under the Delegated Act updating Annex I of the EUDR, cattle hides, skins and leather, re-treaded tyres, soybeans for sowing, articles of vulcanised rubber, conveyor and transmission belts, and aircraft and motor vehicle seats have all been excluded from the Regulation as part of the Commission’s simplification package. The decision may appear surprising given the role leather has played in discussions around deforestation-linked supply chains. As Mongabay recently reported, the European Commission’s own research concluded that leather could account for up to 17 per cent of the deforestation footprint linked to imports covered by the EUDR. However, Transparency records compiled by the nonprofit LobbyFacts revealed that leather industry groups met with lawmakers at least 22 times since 2021, and the EUDR was explicitly listed as a discussion topic in 11 of the meetings. The lobbying efforts were led by two Italian leather tannery unions, COTANCE and Unione Nazionale Industria Conciaria. European Commission, Mongabay

Access to reliable climate information is also critical for the wider sustainability ecosystem. Across the pond, a group of former United States government employees led by Rebecca Lindsey recently relaunched Climate.gov as Climate.us, which has now become an independent and nonprofit platform hosting all the data, information and insights developed over 15 years, including climate data, reporting, visualisations and educational resources. The Fifth National Climate Assessment has also been restored. Climate.gov was shut down in 2025 by the Trump administration. Foodtank, Climate.us

Sustainability news

The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) has launched a carbon credits initiative for cotton farmers, designed to generate credits through regenerative agriculture, biochar and verified carbon sequestration that could allow participating growers to earn up to US$200 per hectare in additional revenue. A pilot phase is under way in Uzbekistan. ICAC has partnered with Merago Inc, which will oversee monitoring, reporting, verification, certification and trading of credits. Natural Fiber Insight at Apparel Insider

In related news, a new life cycle assessment commissioned by Cotton Incorporated suggests that US cotton fibre can achieve a negative cradle-to-gate greenhouse gas footprint when biogenic carbon stored in fibre and soil is taken into account. The study reports a footprint of –0.264 kg CO₂e per kilogram of fibre. It covers production up to the gin gate, including field operations, fertiliser, irrigation, harvesting, transport, ginning and packaging, but does not include spinning, garment manufacture, consumer use or end-of-life. Natural Fiber Insight at Apparel Insider

Collective Fashion Justice, with support from Steve Madden, has launched a free online course, Methane in Fashion 101, for fashion professionals. Building on CFJ’s research that produced the industry’s first methane footprint, the course guides fashion designers, SMEs and sustainability professionals through the fundamentals of methane emissions in fashion. Participants learn where methane emissions originate, why they matter, where the industry’s biggest hotspots are, what effective mitigation looks like, and how methane can be measured more accurately alongside—not simply through—CO₂e reporting. Collective Fashion Justice

Circular fashion and resale news

There’s a new marketplace for recycled and upcycled products: ReLoopDesign. A curated Nordic destination bridging businesses and consumers — for products made from verified recycled and circular materials. Every item includes material-level data that businesses can use in their own sustainability reporting. ReLoopDesign

Following its successful expansion into the US, Vinted launched in Australia on 1 July through a UK–Australia trading corridor, allowing eligible listings to be bought and sold between members in both countries. Vinted has also partnered with Australia Post (AusPost) to handle international shipments. Vinted will therefore compete with eBay which has been serving as the country’s primary fashion resale infrastructure. Retail & Leisure International

In its Impact Report: 2026 Update, Vestiaire Collective claims 87 per cent of orders on Vestiaire Collective replace a first-hand purchase, while only 12% of its sellers use proceeds from their sales to buy something brand new. The claim is based on 5,100+ user survey responses. At Vegan Fashion Repository, we can not help but juxtapose it with the findings in the 2025 Yale study which concluded that frequent shoppers of secondhand clothing tend to buy more new clothes as well, undermining environmental benefits and reinforcing a cycle of overconsumption. Vestiaire Collective

UNIQLO launched two circularity initiatives this month. The first, RE.UNIQLO STUDIO × Central Saint Martins, is a limited 10-piece collection reimagining UNIQLO LifeWear through upcycling, reconstruction and circular design. Created in collaboration with BA Fashion Design graduates Joshua Cornwell and Haseeb Hassan, the collection transforms existing UNIQLO garments into one-of-a-kind pieces, giving new life to items that could no longer be resold. Central Saint Martins

The second initiative, RE.UNIQLO Garment Collection Service, launched in Mainland China in partnership with textile recycling platform FeimaYi. The pilot currently allows customers at four flagship stores in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Changsha to return unwanted garments from Fast Retailing brands—including UNIQLO, GU and Theory—for recycling and repurposing. FeimaYi then sorts garments by material type, including cotton, polyester, nylon and blended fibres, to support further processing. Greenext

Material innovation and technology news

One of the month’s standout collaborations came from Fendi, which introduced Bananatex® Denim in its Autumn/Winter 2026–27 collection. Developed with Bananatex®, the fabric combines abacá fibre with organic cotton, bringing together regenerative cultivation, responsible dyeing and advanced weaving techniques with traditional indigo craftsmanship. Beyond the collection itself, the collaboration is significant because it demonstrates that major luxury houses are increasingly willing to invest in next-generation material innovators and help bring them to a wider market. Fendi

While luxury houses are increasingly experimenting with next-generation materials, textile-to-textile recycling continues to move closer to mainstream adoption. Circ, textile-to-textile recycling company, has launched its first menswear denim collection with H&M, using Tencel lyocell using TENCEL™ Lyocell fibres containing 30 per cent Circ pulp recovered from textile waste through Lenzing’s REFIBRA™ technology. The jeans are part of H&M’s standard men’s denim assortment and mark the expansion of a wider apparel collaboration between the two companies. The collection, produced by AGI Denim, is available in Europe, North America and the Middle East EcoTextile News

California-based startup Mushmycel, founded in 2025, has launched its first collection of accessories. The company cultivates dense mycelium using agricultural by-products—including mushroom biomass, apple pomace, coconut husks and spent coffee grounds—before processing the material through drying, tanning, dyeing and embossing to create animal-free leather alternatives. The debut collection includes mycelium travel bags and passport holders, coconut-based AirPods and eyewear cases, apple-skin card holders, and notebooks, phone cases and earbud cases made from coffee leather. MycoStories, Mushmycel

One of the biggest names in textile-to-textile recycling continues to gain momentum. Circulose has announced that EILEEN FISHER, Marimekko, Samsøe Samsøe and King Louie have begun integrating CIRCULOSE® into their collections. They join brands including H&M Group, Mango, BESTSELLER, Reformation and Marks & Spencer, all working to incorporate circular materials into product development and sourcing. Made entirely from discarded textiles, CIRCULOSE® allows brands to replace virgin fibres with regenerated material without compromising on design, quality or performance. Circulose

Last but definitely not least, Biodesign Challenge and Open Fung have just announced the MycoStack Micro Challenge, a collaborative competition designed to gather, curate, and centralise the best mycelium education resources from practitioners around the world. Running from 1–31 August 2026, it’s an invitation to educators, makers, researchers, and designers to contribute replicable exercises and protocols that meaningfully advance learner capability, whether that means students discovering fungi for the first time, or experienced makers pushing toward industry standards. All submissions will become freely available, openly licensed, and globally accessible. MycoStories, Open Fung

July key releases

New reports

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