Regenerative Cotton: Challenges and Opportunity in the Fashion Industry

Regenerative agriculture holds great promise to improve soil health and carbon sequestration through a variety of practices (diverse crop rotations, animal grazing, limited tillage, and reduced fertilizer and pesticides use). The fashion industry can be part of this revolution by scaling the adoption of regenerative cotton, as part of its transition towards sustainable fashion. This event will bring together leading executives and experts from the entire industry supply chain, including production, sourcing, design, and retail, to share experiences, discuss challenges, and explore innovative solutions.

The program will combine presentations, panel discussions, and small group interactive sessions, all under Chatham House rule to encourage open, genuine exchanges of ideas and perspectives.

1. Making it Happen: From Farm to Product

In this panel discussion, we will consider the challenges of scaling regenerative cotton adoption across the supply chain, starting with the challenges in farming, to the need to ensure transparency and integrity in the chain, and the economics of the process.

Key Discussion Topics:

• Challenges and Opportunities in Regenerative Cotton Farming – Addressing transition costs and productivity benefits, farmer training and wellbeing, supply chain and certification complexity.
• Measuring Impact: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – Exploring critical metrics such as soil health improvement, carbon sequestration, water efficiency, biodiversity impact, and supply chain transparency.
• Supply Chain & Market Readiness – Examining whether the global supply chain can meet the growing demand for regenerative cotton
• Industry Standards & Certification Landscape – The role of voluntary standards versus regulation in scaling regenerative cotton and ensuring credibility.
• Industry Collaboration – How collaboration across players in the supply chain can address these challenges.

2. Selling it: From Product to Consumer

As regenerative cotton gains traction, brands, retailers, and industry leaders must navigate evolving consumer expectations, regulatory landscapes, and supply chain challenges. This panel will explore how brands and retailers are currently addressing these challenges, and whether regenerative cotton could become part of a brand’s competitive advantage.

Key Discussion Topics:

• Why Regenerative Cotton? – Why do brands invest in the regenerative cotton transition? Does adopting regenerative cotton improve brand reputation? Does it strengthen supply chain resilience?
• Integration into Product Development & Procurement – How brands and designers can incorporate regenerative cotton into collections while navigating cost and sourcing challenges.
• Storytelling & Consumer Engagement – How can brands better communicate their efforts to shift to regenerative cotton to consumers? Do consumers care? What is the role of certifications, transparency reports, and impact-driven narratives? The Role of Consumers in Driving Change – Can consumer demand alone push for industry-wide transformation, or do businesses and policymakers need to take the lead?
• Regulation & Market Scalability – How policies, incentives, and government regulations can accelerate (or slowdown) the transition to regenerative cotton.