By Olivia Pinnock, Journalist

Overproduction is one of the fashion industry’s most challenging issues that is as much of a problem for a company’s bottom line as it is for the environment. To tackle the pollution caused by textile overproduction, the EU has passed a law which will make it illegal to destroy unsold textiles as part of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. It will apply to any products placed on sale in the EU market, regardless of where the company is headquartered, and include both landfilled and incinerated goods. The ban on the destruction will apply to large companies from July 2026, and for medium-sized companies from July 2030. Small enterprises are exempt.

With regulation looming, brands and retailers must seek solutions to better manage stock and find alternatives to landfilling and incinerating to avoid hefty fines. Global Fashion Agenda’s Innovation Forum is championing many solutions which are helping businesses address the issue at both the planning and after-sale stage.

Optimising Production To Reduce Excess

The traditional model of bulk production has been the best priced option for retailers for decades, but it has also been a key driver of overproduction. Long lead-times have made it difficult to respond to customer demand and minimum order quantities incentivise unnecessary volumes. When it comes to managing overstock, brands must find ways to address the root causes of it as a first step.

Today, technology is supporting a new, less wasteful, business model. Manny AI, the Tech Powered Transformation category finalist from Global Fashion Agenda and PDS Ventures 2025 Trailblazer Programme, is creating more agile, responsive supply chains. It connects brands, factories, and fabric mills through software to link product demand with live fabric availability, machinist capacity, and supplier capability. It aims to help brands decrease overall production volumes while making small-batch manufacturing more cost effective, cutting lead times from 12 months to three weeks and lifting EBITDA up to 8%.

Diverting From Waste To Resource

Even with a more responsive supply chain, brands will still need to find alternatives to stock destruction for any remaining unsold items. There are many options available, from resale to reuse and recycling, but finding the best solution for the product can be a challenge.

Another finalist from the 2025 Trailblazer Programme is using software to manage stock at the end of its life on the shop floor to find the optimal next stage for it. Musthad not only connects brands with circular solutions providers but provides the data needed to ensure compliance and track the environmental and financial impact of their waste. Its service can help brands save an average of €1,350 per ton of waste.

Making Circularity Effortless

Circular services such as resale, rental, and repair are on the rise with many brands keen to test the waters before regulation sets in. Integrating them seamlessly and making them a success so that they drive value as a solution to excess stock, however, requires the right partners. Innovation Forum members Authentified and Cloov are simplifying it for brands.

Authentified connects brands with existing secondhand marketplaces to sell their excess stock in the places where customers are seeking it without the need to set up another shop front.

The business originally launched to help customers sell pre-loved clothing and provide insights to brands on their past sales but has expanded this to offer its service to brands looking to shift excess stock too.

Cloov offers white-label software to save unsold, returned, or past-season stock from waste by embracing resale, repair, and rental instead.

Many brands will look to resale for managing excess inventory, but Cloov offers the ability to connect damaged items to repair centres and sell on as refurbished items, or offer past season stock for rental. These are also worth considering to recapture value for both brands and customers.

For brands who manage their own resale operations, sorting, categorising, and pricing can be a labour-intensive task but this might not be the case for much longer. Innovation Forum member The VNYX is building a tech-savvy solution that could make the process more seamless. The AI-enhanced robotic mannequin hopes to make overstock and returned items more profitable by being able to describe, measure, and price items in seconds, as well as photograph the item and generate images on an AI model, ready for resale in a fraction of the time.

The malpractice of destroying excess stock persists in some parts of the industry because for so long it was the easiest option. While regulation will force brands to take on the challenge of finding alternatives, technology is advancing at a rapid pace to make it easier to embrace more controlled production and more responsible end-of-shelf-life solutions.

Explore the full list of Innovation Forum members driving scalable solutions across the fashion value chain here.