Despite having to haul a dozen dumpster-loads of damaged goods out of the offices and the nearby Lab Store, to the tune of $1.5 million, Eileen said at the time, 'It was just stuff.' You can only imagine the emotions that might arise in a chief executive if they saw their sewage-soaked products floating by. Eileen and her staff did not linger there. They mobilized quickly-organizing carpools, impromptu meeting spaces, and arranging interest-free loans for staff needing cash during the crisis.
Your eyes don't deceive you. The use of polyester has ballooned with time, according to Henry Navarro Delgado, an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University's school of fashion. It's partly because polyester can be quite useful, he said. It is a type of plastic made from petroleum compounds that are cooled and stretched into yarn, according to Michael Palladino, a fashion industry veteran and lecturer at Kingsborough Community College's business of fashion program in New York.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, will next week propose new rules that are expected to include a requirement for companies in strategic sectors to produce in Europe if they want to receive public money. But the definition of "European preference" has triggered debate, with calls especially from France for more "Made in Europe", while other EU states such as Germany call for "Made with Europe".
"Ironically, many if not most of these 'sustainability' projects remain disassociated from companies' core procurement strategies, meaning the coffee produced from these projects is not necessarily bought by the companies involved, or only in minimal quantities," the paper states. "And for the coffee that is purchased, prices do not factor into the project design, despite the fact that price is the single variable impacting farmer income that is in the direct control of companies."
Unless you are a hair salon engaged in the business of washing customers' hair, of course. Then using 70% less water could well matter as you attempt to cut your carbon footprint. It is more efficient as well. The Water Saver showerhead came from a partnership between Swiss startup, Gjosa, and L'Oréal, the global beauty brand and Fortune 500 Europe listee. At its most basic, Water Saver makes water, well, wetter-fragmenting the water streams to create droplets better suited to rinsing hair:
As UK businesses enter 2026, many small and medium-sized enterprises are taking time to review the systems that support their day-to-day operations. Staffing, compliance, budgeting and customer experience are often top of the agenda, particularly for companies operating in competitive or regulated sectors. One area that is frequently overlooked, however, is workwear. Despite being a daily necessity for many teams, workwear is rarely treated as a strategic consideration. Yet the right work uniform can directly influence professionalism, safety, staff confidence and onboarding speed.
In the show, "dirty" extends to anything that breaks fashion's pact with propriety. Here are clothes caked in grime, blotted with makeup, stiffened by salt, pieced from trash, frayed, and faded. The garments span decades, from the 1980s through the mid-2000s, when the likes of Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier built their fame on defying convention, to today, when corporatization has made such daring increasingly rare. But forgoing practicality frees certain designers from the demands that the body be polite-and thereby policed.
This research-based design project by Laura Oliveira investigates discarded as a potential raw material for sustainable design applications. Human hair is produced continuously and in large quantities through everyday grooming practices, yet it is almost always treated as waste once separated from the body and typically disposed of in landfills. Despite its material properties, strength, flexibility, and durability as a keratin-based protein fiber, its remains uncommon within design and research contexts.
The collaboration brings together Designtex's deep expertise in high-performance contract textiles and nanimarquina's poetic command of craft, tactility, and the beauty of the imperfect. For both teams, the partnership emerged from an immediate sense of kinship - a shared language of material integrity, color sensitivity, and a respect for heritage techniques reinterpreted for contemporary spaces. "We did that by using performance yarns and intentionally embedding imperfections into the weaving process."
Just like that coffee cup, eyewear is a complex fusion of materials. Metal hinges are screwed into polymer frames, which hold chemically-coated lenses. This mix of metals, plastics, and coatings means standard sorting machines cannot process them. As a result, they are rejected as contamination and sent directly to landfills, where they contribute to non-biodegradable waste. Unlike a disposable paper cup, however, a pair of sunglasses is built for durability. Its high-quality components make it a perfect candidate for repair, reuse, or reinvention.
Before I graduated from college and became a full-time writer, I had my dream retail job: working at Reformation. Thanks to my treasured employee discount, I had a wardrobe stuffed with basics from the sustainable, celebrity-loved clothing brand, including adorable vacation dresses, matching sets, and cashmere sweaters. While I can confidently say Reformation's pieces are worth the investment, it's a bit of a splurge for my current budget without the sweet discount, so I've gotten creative and supplemented my wardrobe with a few wallet-friendly alternatives.
It captures seven different femininities during an all-day pool party, enjoying themselves while revealing their distinctive styles. Creative Direction, Production & Styling by Maria Gkin. Photography by Eliza Poultidou. The models are Vanessa Otilia, Cyka, Alvina Chamberland and Angelica Komninak. The concept examines the thin line between what is seen as acceptable and what has been labelled ugly or immoral, explored through each woman's personal story. Textures, colours, makeup and styling come together, breaking down stereotypes and highlighting fashion as a means of freedom
Europe's supermarket shelves are packed with brands billing their plastic packaging as sustainable, but often only a fraction of the materials are truly recovered from waste, with the rest made from petroleum. Brands using plastic packaging from Kraft's Heinz Beanz to Mondelez's Philadelphia use materials made by the plastic manufacturing arm of the oil company Saudi Aramco. The Saudi state-owned holding opposes production cuts under the UN plastic treaty and is the world's largest corporate greenhouse-gas emitter (over 70m tonnes up to 2023).
The Rural Cut places vintage fashion in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, among vineyards, open fields, and the animals that inhabit the land. As a Beirut-based stylist, I worked with a fully Lebanese team to create a shoot that feels authentic, where each garment and every frame reflects the textures, history, and rhythm of the rural landscape. Photography by Angele Basile / Instagram: @angelebasile Styling by Rinad Saad / Instagram: @rinaaaaddd
The word came first. - a compound that recently surfaced in German headlines, describing the anxiety inside the boardrooms of arms manufacturers at the prospect of an end to war. For Benjamin Alexander Huseby and Serhat Işık, the designers behind Friedensangst GmbH, it became a trigger for Autumn/Winter 2026, shown inside Berlin's vast, concrete Kraftwerk. Backstage at their show, Huseby had the word emblazoned on his T-shirt.
When you lack the good fortune of having an in-unit washer and dryer like I do, you have to be extra judicious about how many times you wear clothes before tossing them in the hamper. Laundry piles up quickly, after all, and I refuse to go to the laundromat more often than necessary. The only issue with re-wearing clothing items is that they wrinkle - fast - and they don't always smell daisy-fresh, if you catch my drift.
If you've reached a point where building a reliable capsule wardrobe with quality staples just seems so much smarter than whatever is going on in your current closet, you're in the right place. While overhauling your entire wardrobe feels aspirational, Amazon makes it attainable. Ahead, you'll find some of the nicest pieces the site has to offer - all for under $30 each. You almost can't afford not to stock up, considering how often you'll be wearing these clothes and accessories.
