For Fashion Brands, Green Is the Hardest Color to Sell

If the fashion world wants to have less of an impact on the planet, the best solution would be to produce less. But well-known brands still seem to think sales can keep ticking up as usual.

Global fashion chains are starting to talk about a radical overhaul of the clothing business. Hennes & Mauritz Chief Executive Helena Helmersson told climate-action group Race to Zero last month that there needs to be a “different approach to how fashion is designed, made and used.” The boss of Zalando , Europe’s biggest online clothing retailer, said in a recent interview with the Financial Times that “fast fashion”—where clothes are made and sold cheaply in huge numbers only to be disposed of after a handful of wears—must be abandoned within a decade.