Fashion’s Blind Spot: The Systems Thinking Already Transforming Food

The past two decades have not been easy on the food industry — and with good reason. From labor rights in agriculture to the carbon footprint of global supply chains, food’s impact is vast, personal, and unavoidable. 

Due to public demand, food producers, processors, and retailers have made interesting shifts: they’ve adopted traceability systems, transparency commitments, and regenerative agricultural strategies that have outpaced many other sectors.

Contrast that with fashion. We are still in the “discussion phase” on all these topics. So, what actually happens is seeing sustainability on every runway show press release, yet the industry continues to struggle with systemic transformation. Greenwashing persists, supply chains remain opaque, and truly circular models are still the exception rather than the rule.

If fashion wants to catch up, the food industry offers a blueprint to inspire from. It might not be the full answer, but it’s a good starting point.

From farm-to-table certifications to regenerative agriculture, food has demonstrated what is possible when an industry embraces systemic thinking rather than piecemeal fixes. And because food and fashion are more deeply linked than many realize, ignoring these lessons is no longer an option.

Why Food is Decades Ahead on Sustainability

From Farm to Table — With Informative Labels

One of the biggest achievements in the food industry is the scale of traceability. We will break it down for you.

In 2022, an Oliver Wyman study showed how food companies had been forced to develop robust sustainability strategies due to consumer demand and mounting regulation. From tracking harvest origins to ensuring fair labor practices, food supply chains are now largely digital and traceable.

Fashion, on the other hand, still battles with incomplete data and long, untraceable sub-supplier chains, especially in Tiers 3 and 4. Technologies like Digital Product Passports are only now starting to gain traction, but food has already shown that standardizing traceability across the value chain is not only achievable but essential.

Certifications and Consumer Expectations

The food sector’s certifications — organic, Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, and others — have built a level of trust fashion still struggles to replicate. According to Vogue Business, the presence of rigorous third-party certifications in food gives consumers a clear framework for making responsible choices.

Fashion, on the other hand, faces ongoing criticism and scandals around greenwashing, with inconsistent verification, poorly policed standards, and complex certification processes that sometimes feel like expensive gatekeeping. This has left the door open to skepticism, with many asking: are certifications a sustainability solution or just another cost barrier?

We are not suggesting that fashion simply borrow food certifications wholesale. However, it might be time to consider adapting elements of these robust food frameworks — or even piloting food-grade certifications for certain raw materials — as inspiration to rebuild trust. And even beyond certifications, the industry should open a broader conversation about how to prove and validate sustainable practices without creating an expensive system where only those with deep pockets can participate.

Ultimately, harmonizing credible standards, increasing transparency, and exploring more equitable models for proof of sustainability could help fashion finally gain the consumer confidence that food has already established.

Systemic Thinking: The Missing Piece in Fashion

Regeneration and Crop Rotation

Regenerative agriculture has been a hot topic in food, with farmers shifting to practices that rebuild soil health and sequester carbon. Cotton, a cornerstone of the fashion industry, desperately needs to follow suit. Cotton monoculture depletes soil nutrients and requires heavy pesticide loads, which in turn can leach into food crops if grown in rotation — since cotton is often part of alternating field cycles with food commodities.

As Footprint Magazine explains, adopting regenerative principles and crop rotation will preserve fertile land for both fiber and food. Otherwise, the damage is cyclical: degraded soil harms cotton yields, and chemicals risk entering the food chain.

True sustainability changes require systemic thinking. Regenerative cotton must be viewed as part of an agricultural ecosystem — not a standalone fix.

Interconnected Systems

The food industry is ahead in seeing supply, environmental health, and consumer safety as one system. An AZTI report showed that tackling climate change in food relies on a fully integrated supply chain, from farming practices to final packaging.

Fashion, by contrast, often isolates interventions — a recycled fabric here, a carbon offset there. Without a systems-level approach, these remain feel-good gestures rather than real change.

Marketing, Culture, and Collaboration

Food is Already in Fashion Campaigns

The storytelling power of food has not escaped the fashion industry. Business of Fashion noted how food culture and aesthetics have become a creative tool for many fashion houses. Collaborations, capsule collections inspired by farmers, and co-branded organic initiatives have become marketing gold.

Istituto Marangoni also highlighted this trend in its blog, exploring how culinary experiences have crossed into runway culture.

But beyond the hype, there is a missed opportunity: if food can be woven into the brand story, why not weave its systems — its certifications, its regenerative practices, its supply-chain transparency — into the sourcing process, too?

Lessons in Cultural Storytelling

Consumers are used to reading the stories behind food: the farmer, the soil, the seasonal harvest. That narrative builds trust and a sense of shared values. Fashion can learn here. Farm-to-fiber stories can connect consumers to not just a style, but a regenerative story.

Practical Actions for Fashion

Adopt Food-Like Traceability

Batch-level tracking and transparent labeling have transformed food. Imagine applying the same rigor to a textile supply chain. Every yard of fabric could be tagged with origin, production practices, and environmental impact. Digital Product Passports are a step in that direction, but fashion still lags far behind.

Food has shown that traceability protects the brand, the consumer, and the planet. Fashion should catch up before regulation forces it to.

Regenerative Roadmaps

Fashion must invest in soil biodiversity, supporting regenerative practices alongside cotton growers and textile producers. That means partnering with local communities, creating transparent audits, and funding cooperative programs — just as food brands support coffee and cacao cooperatives worldwide.

Circular agriculture is not an abstract concept; it is how to secure a future for cotton itself.

Why the Time is Now

Regulation is Coming

The EU’s new Digital Product Passport regulation is only the beginning. Like food labeling laws that forced cleaner, more traceable food systems, textile regulations will push fashion into a transparent era, whether it is ready or not.

Consumer Expectations Are Rising

Forbes points out that fast fashion may soon face the same consumer backlash that hit fast food, with younger consumers expecting proof, not promises. Transparency is becoming the ticket to market entry, not a marketing add-on.

We Are All Just One Ecosystem

Everything is connected. From the soil that grows cotton to the food crops that rotate with it. If cotton fields are sprayed with toxic chemicals, those chemicals may land on our dinner plates through contaminated soil or water systems. If soil is depleted, both fiber and food suffer.

True sustainability changes require systemic thinking. Fashion must break out of its silos and learn to see itself as part of one agricultural, environmental, and economic ecosystem.

And we, at World Collective, are working to build exactly that: an ecosystem that connects brands, suppliers, and partners through traceable, transparent, and collaborative frameworks. 

We believe only a system-level transformation can deliver the resilience, innovation, and impact that the future demands.

If you want to explore how regenerative partnerships, traceable materials, and digital transparency can transform your sourcing strategy, click here to read other articles on our blog.

Written by Júlia Vilaça, Communications & Brand Manager  @ World Collective