Zalando, About You and Yoox Net-A-Porter expand climate initiative for second year

About You, Yoox Net-A-Porter and Zalando are expanding their ‘Fashion lead for climate’ initiative for the second year in a row.

Launched in 2022, the platform supports fashion brands in measuring their own carbon footprints and setting targets that align with climate science. Brand partners of the three online retailers who took part in the platform’s first year reported a boost in confidence, with a significant 85% uptick in their understanding of science-based targets (SBTs) after completing the learning programme.

All participating brand partners to date reported they would recommend the platform and that they were better equipped to set science-based targets in the future as a result, with over half citing they plan to set their SBTs within the next year thanks to the knowledge gained. 

Almost all (91%) highlighted that they valued the collaboration opportunities of the platform, encouraging them to discuss and exchange ideas with sustainability experts and peers.

David Schneider, co-CEO, Zalando, said: “At Zalando, we are committed to bringing together different stakeholders in the industry to collectively tackle challenges. We believe this is crucial to drive positive impact across the industry. We are proud to mark our second year of Fashion leap for climate in collaboration with About You, Yoox Net-A-Porter and Quantis, one of our key collaborative efforts helping our partners to set their own science-aligned climate targets. 

“Since launching this initiative last July, it is very encouraging to see that the first of our partner brands have completed the learning journey and how it has improved their confidence in taking steps towards climate action. We strongly believe that such partnerships are the driving force of progress and that only through working together a long-lasting impact is possible.” 

The first year of Fashion leap for climate enabled the three online retailers to gain insights on how to optimise the platform to maximise progress towards science-aligned climate target setting. For the second year, About you, Yoox Net-A-Porter and Zalando are focused on bringing greater value and flexibility to a wider selection of brand partners throughout 2023. 

Participants will now be able to join a live eight-week course through an engagement track providing bespoke support, or entirely self-directed with an on-demand learning function.

The programme forms a critical part of the three online retailers’ respective climate journeys, with each working to support a reduction in their brand partners’ emissions to achieve their own Scope 3 targets. Looking ahead, the retailers see potential to scale the platform’s reach to become available to every fashion brand partner and the wider industry.

Hannes Wiese, co-CEO, About You, said: “At About You, we believe that collaboration and transparency are key to sustainable change across the industry. This creates accountability, but also comparability between businesses and leads to positive change within the fashion sector. 

“We are proud of last year’s strong results of Fashion leap for climate and are excited – together with Zalando and Yoox Net-A-Porter – to start its second year. The successful completion of the learning journeys by our initial partner brands marks a crucial initial stride in the right direction. We are convinced that it will take collective initiatives from the entire industry to create sustainable change.” 

Alison Loehnis, ad interim CEO, Yoox Net-A-Porter, added: “At Yoox Net-A-Porter, we are committed to ambitious goals to lower our impact on the environment. Our brand partners are the most sought-after in luxury fashion and we take pride in supporting them to navigate this complex topic and reduce our collective carbon footprint. 

“Following promising results from Fashion leap for climate’s first year, we are thrilled to be launching year two in partnership with About You and Zalando. This initiative represents the potential of industry-wide collaboration, harnessing a shared ambition to create a more sustainable future for fashion.”