From a rise in handloom and sustainable brands to thrifting and conscious buying, sustainability is no longer a vague term in fashion. And rightly so, given the industry contributes 10 per cent of global carbon emissions, pollutes water bodies, with a whopping 85 per cent of textiles ending up in dumps each year as per estimates. The issue is especially crucial for India, with its fashion apparel industry projected to reach $146.3 billion by 2032.
Despite the rising awareness around the environmental and social benefits of sustainable fashion, price remains a problem. A bigger question is how the manufacturers are to gain by switching to more eco-friendly practices, which they can then transfer to the consumers.
“The manufacturers need to become more sustainable for business reasons, to become more competitive,” says Bernadette Blom, director of Amsterdam-based Good Fashion Fund, an impact fund organisation that works on sustainable solutions in the textile and apparel industry in Asia.
Climate solutions, including sustainable fashion, were much discussed at the AVPN Global Conference 2025 in Hong Kong, organised by AVPN, the biggest network of social investors in Asia. On the sidelines of the event, Bloom, along with Jayanth Kashyap B, Investment Lead at Good Fashion Fund, spoke to The WEEK on trends in the sustainable fashion space in India, the bottlenecks in making the transition, what’s there for the manufacturers, and more:
Edited excerpts:
Why has the focus of Good Fashion Fund been on Asia?
Bernadette Blom: It’s because most of the garment manufacturing hubs are in Asia. So our investors are looking to make an impact there in supporting manufacturers in becoming sustainable through solutions like supporting newer technologies.
We are focusing on two countries with GFF 1, which are India and Bangladesh. It’s fully invested, and we’re establishing a follow-on fund. We closed it just before Covid at $19 million.
How much of it is invested in India?
Jayanth Kashyap B: We’ve done six investments, out of which four are in India, of about $10 million.
What are the focus areas of your investments?
Bernadette Blom: It’s mainly to help tier I, II, and III companies that are exporting to global brands.
Jayanth Kashyap B: These are basically mid-size manufacturers. Tier I includes those that deal with finished garments, where they cut, make, and trim. Tier II is the fabric mills that make fabrics that get converted into garments, and tier III is yarn, which gets made into fabric.
So the focus is throughout the value chain, across all three tiers, as long as it leads to a significant reduction in the consumption of energy, water, and materials. We’re equally focused on the social part, to ensure the workers’ condition, well-being, safety, and health.
What changes have you seen in the sustainable fashion space in India since 2019 from both the consumer and the manufacturers’ side?
Jayanth Kashyap B: From the consumer's side, there’s a little more awareness of the purchasing choices. But the onus still falls on the manufacturers and the brands. But do the consumers know what they’re buying? Most don’t know what they’re purchasing, where it's made, and how it’s made; it’s pretty non-transparent in terms of awareness, and it’s not the consumer's fault. That’s how the industry operates.
And on the manufacturers’ side, the companies are seeing a value in making these improvements over time, and by doing that, they also hope that they can get more business out of this from international brands as well, because there’s a business case that needs to be made.
But do the manufacturers have the monetary incentive there so the sustainable solutions don’t end up increasing the cost, thereby discouraging customers, and the brands losing business?
Bernadette Blom: The manufacturers actually need to become more sustainable for business and become more competitive. This is what we’re seeing: when we install such technologies, the production process at times becomes more efficient, and the cost comes down. They also end up becoming more competitive and attractive to the global brands.
Jayanth Kashyap B: For example, we invested $25 million in Tamil Nadu-based Sri Kannapiran Mills. Within the first year of installing the technology, which was a mix of equipment for weaving, spinning, and transformer replacement, it showed results. The machinery was 25-30 years old, so you can imagine how resource and energy-intensive it would be.
And we did a comparison: The material wastage went down by about 95 per cent, and energy, more than 50 pc. The carbon dioxide savings amounted to 1,000 tonnes. And in terms of financial savings, it was about $250,000 in the first year itself.
What are the bottlenecks in moving towards sustainable fashion in India?
Jayanth Kashyap B: It requires much more private capital to come in.
Bernadette Blom: There’s also the need for access to long-term finance for the SMEs, who form a big part of the supply chain. It also needs more technical support.
