What’s Next for Regenerative Apparel?

Marissa Miller

Senior Consultant

North America

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Marissa Miller

Marissa supports product sustainability and ESG reporting, applying experience in green claims, product development and responsible design across consumer sectors.

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Franklin Holley

Director

North America

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Franklin Holley

Franklin leads regenerative agriculture programmes in North America, partnering with companies, NGOs and financial institutions to transform food systems sustainably.

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Table of Contents

• The Current State
• What's Blocking Scale?
• Avoiding Common Pitfalls
• Pushing the Industry
• How Anthesis Can Help
• Contact Us

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The current state of regenerative agriculture in apparel

Regenerative agriculture in apparel raw material sourcing and supply chains is shifting from pilots to scale. In fact, there are strong examples of progress in cotton production, where multiyear programs are maturing, buyer commitments are steadier, and positive outcomes for nature, climate, and people are emerging.

Better Cotton, a leading cotton sustainability programme, is even evolving its own standard to explicitly target regenerative outcomes (soil health, biodiversity, water). This is not the same as Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC); instead, it’s an update to Better Cotton’s Principles & Criteria and claims guidance. The revised standard is expected in 2026 with phased implementation thereafter. Learn more about the Better Cotton Independent Assessment Process here.

Beyond cotton, interest is also expanding to wool, linen, and hemp. However, practice changes can involve risks to yield, especially in the short-term. Moreover, processing capabilities to efficiently segregate product or run small batches remain limited, slowing progress.

To maintain momentum, these challenges must be converted into opportunities:

• Farmers need upfront transition finance
• Brands need measurement that covers soil, carbon, water, livelihoods, and biodiversity
• Marketing needs claim language that can be substantiated
• Traceability must connect field outcomes to finished goods

Additionally, trust and cash flow determine the speed of continued advancement. The focus should be on pairing procurement teams with finance and sustainability, establishing auditable Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems, and scaling portfolios rather than relying on one-off pilots.

Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) — the systems that turn field‑level data into credible, auditable product claims.

In this article, we outline the key issues preventing the scaling of regenerative agriculture in apparel and identify six key steps that brands can follow to move from pilots to programmes.

What’s blocking scale?

Financing the transition

Practice changes cost money, yet early-year expenses (e.g., seed for cover crops, equipment, agronomy support, tech support) can depress yields. Most brands want outcomes, but capital rarely reaches farms and suppliers at the right moment. A potential solution is a blended approach: supplier funds, multiyear offtakes with floor pricing or premiums, and pay-for-outcomes models that return savings to replenish the pool.

Verification & data quality

Credible MRV must track soil health, biodiversity signals, and water impacts. Metrics should connect those field outcomes to real batches through chain-of-custody tracking methods. Data should be interoperable, auditable, and simple enough for growers to use. Overclaiming regenerative benefits typically starts where measurement stops. One way to address this is to specify the evidence before crafting the message.

Claims & consumer trust

“Regenerative” is a farming system, not a product adjective. Harmonize language across channels, align with green claims rules, and set substantiation thresholds that marketing, legal, and procurement all approve. Communicate progress, limitations, and uncertainty plainly.

Supply alignment

Crop calendars, fiber mix, and regional variability don’t always match buying cycles. Spinner/mill readiness and ginning/processing capacity are real constraints, but they also present some of the biggest opportunities. De-risk with portfolio sourcing, staged scale-up, and multiyear commitments that reward performance, not just enrollment.

How to avoid common pitfalls

• Start with a portfolio (regions & fibers) instead of single-project bets
• Avoid carbon tunnel vision by assessing potential impact across a suite of environmental and social indicators
• Match multiyear buying commitments with financing mechanisms that pay for farm practice changes early and over time, recouping via premiums or verified outcomes
• Design claims governance before marketing
• Build MRV that’s auditable, not just inspirational

Pushing the Industry

To move from pilots to a repeatable, defensible program, we recommend brands implement these pragmatic actions within a 6–12-month period:

Step 1: Understand your sourcing

Know the sourcing regions, producers, and farming systems supplying your ingredients and materials. These systems often produce more than one crop or material and should be valued holistically for regenerative agriculture to work.

Step 2: Set a regenerative thesis by region and fibre

Define what “good” means for your priority regions and fibres across outcomes (soil health, water, biodiversity, farmer livelihoods, etc.). Specify acceptable assurance and verification pathways, and the evidence required to make claims.

Step 3: Secure the financing pathway

Commit capital and mechanisms that reach farms when needed and recycle value as outcomes are achieved.

Step 4: Build credible MRV & data flow

Define the metrics and methods you’ll use and decide who holds which data from farm to finished goods. Ensure a third party can verify the data, and that your systems can share them.

Step 5: Claims governance

Make credibility a process, not a slogan. Build a structured process for managing and validating marketing and product claims, ensuring they are accurate, compliant, and consistent across all channels. Strong governance is vital to protecting brand credibility, reducing legal risk, and building consumer trust.

Step 6: Phase adoption

Start small, track credible positive outcomes, then pursue expansion. Consider predefined go/no-go criteria and regular reviews to course-correct along the way.

How Anthesis can help

At Anthesis, we recognise the pivotal role of regenerative agriculture in shaping the future of our planet. Our global team of experts collaborates with clients throughout the value chain to co-create regenerative solutions that not only uphold sustainability principles but also drive positive business outcomes.

We support clients in creating clear roadmaps to engage suppliers and farmers, to develop practical regenerative strategies, and to effectively communicate their progress.