More than 100 industry leaders, policymakers and regulatory experts gathered for the inaugural UKFT Regulation Summit at Istituto Marangoni in London on 9 June 2026 to examine the rapidly evolving legislative landscape shaping the future of the fashion and textile sector.

Hosted by UKFT and sponsored by Valpak by Reconomy, the event brought together speakers from the UK, Europe and the United States to provide practical insights into sustainability legislation, circular economy policies, trade developments and product compliance requirements affecting businesses operating across international markets.

Opening the summit, UKFT CEO Adam Mansell emphasised that while regulation has long been part of the industry, the scale and pace of change has accelerated significantly. He highlighted the increasing complexity of sustainability legislation, product compliance requirements and international trade measures, while noting that regulation is also becoming a major driver of business action on sustainability and circularity.

A recurring theme throughout the day was the growing importance of circular economy legislation. Stuart Hayward-Higham from Suez gave his personal reflections on textiles progress and priorities from the UK Circular Economy Taskforce. He emphasised that while the transition to a circular economy is essential, it will require close collaboration between government and industry, with policies designed to enable change and informed by practical business expertise. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) emerged as a key priority, with broad support for a textile scheme but no clear consensus yet on how it should be designed or implemented.

UKFT’s Ava Kenny-Colwell outlined developments across key global markets, while Chelsea Murtha from the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), Anaïs de Bergeycek from Euratex and Aimée Campanella from Reconomy explored Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, and the role these regulations can play in driving industry change noting on the fragmented schemes across US States and EU Member States and the need for harmonisation.

Representatives from brands, including Benjamin Jarvis from Seasalt and Jane Blacklock from Passenger, discussed the practical barriers to circularity including the balance between ambitious sustainability goals and ensuring products continue to meet durability and performance expectations.

International perspectives featured prominently. Chelsea Murtha of AAFA provided an overview of the fragmented US regulatory system, highlighting developments including tariffs, forced labour enforcement, PFAS restrictions and California’s textile recovery legislation. The discussion demonstrated how differing federal and state approaches create additional complexity for businesses trading internationally.

Mauro Scalia, Euratex, Jonas Stracke from Textil+Mode and Jerome Pero from the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI) were joined by Ava Kenny-Colwell from UKFT to examine the European Union’s expanding regulatory agenda for circular textiles, discussing how new legislative measures are reshaping product design, sustainability reporting and end-of-life responsibilities across the value chain.

Closing the event, UKFT Director of Communications Tara Hounslea reflected on the significance of collaboration in responding to regulatory change. She noted that regulation now influences every stage of the product lifecycle, from design and sourcing through to manufacture, marketing and recovery, making industry-wide dialogue and knowledge sharing increasingly important. She reaffirmed UKFT’s commitment to helping businesses understand emerging requirements while representing industry concerns to governments and regulators in the UK and internationally.

The summit concluded with a clear message that while the regulatory landscape is becoming more complex and fast-moving, collaboration across industry, policymakers and international partners will be essential to helping businesses adapt and supporting the transition towards a more circular and competitive fashion and textile sector.

What the delegates said:

“Congratulations on hosting such a successful event yesterday. It was really informative and I particularly appreciated the consideration for talks related to territories other than the EU, such as the US. This was hugely appreciated!!”

“What a great day that was yesterday! Very informative once more. Thank you so much for all your hard work.”

“Just a quick thank you for yesterday’s very insightful and info-packed day. Very informative, thanks again.”

“I wanted to again thank you and the wider team for such a well-organised and genuinely informative Compliance Summit yesterday. It was a real pleasure to engage with colleagues from across the sector and to hear the range of international perspectives that were shared.”

“Thank you again for the summit yesterday, as always very informative and well run by you all.”

“What brilliantly dense day at the UKFT Regulation Summit with a great array of speakers… Thank you all for the fantastic insights.”

“We joined industry peers at the UKFT Regulation Summit for a frank, insightful and timely exploration of the legislative landscape of circular textiles. Fragmentation remains a real challenge but there was clear agreement on the need for harmonisation and a unified voice. A reminder of how vital UKFT’s role is in ensuring brand realities inform the regulation being built around them.”

“Thank you so much for a very informative day yesterday at the summit. It was genuinely are really insightful day and great to hear so many speakers throughout the day as well as have the opportunity to meet with other people in the industry.”

“Thank you for the UKFT Regulation Summit yesterday, it was so incredibly useful.”