Skip to main content
BoF Logo

Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.

What’s Behind the Slow Fashion Recession

The closure of Mara Hoffman and other brands that built ethical consumption into their business models is raising questions about whether there’s room in the market for brands that put sustainability first.
Elena Bridgers' maternity line Hera boasted a completely transparent supply chain. It shut down in April, one of several slow fashion brands to close in recent months.
Elena Bridgers' maternity line Hera boasted a completely transparent supply chain. It shut down in April, one of several slow fashion brands to close in recent months. (Courtesy)
By
  • Isabel Slone

In February,

Please sign in to ensure you can read our agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice. Or get in touch at support@businessoffashion.com if you experience difficulties.

Further Reading

Mara Hoffman to Shutter Brand

“This has been by far one of the hardest and most important decisions I have ever made,” the sustainability-focused designer said in an Instagram post.

The Existential Threat to Independent Brands

This week, The Vampire’s Wife announced its closure and Dion Lee called in administrators, only days after Mara Hoffman said it was shutting down and Roksanda narrowly escaped administration. Many more may follow.

© 2026 The Business of Fashion. All rights reserved. For more information read our Terms & Conditions

More from Sustainability
How fashion can do better for people and the planet.

The Impact of War on Fashion’s Supply Chain

Textile hubs are already feeling the cascading risks of the conflict in Iran as Washington ramps up forced labour probes to revive tariffs, while decarbonisation in fashion’s factories might finally have a standard to go off of.


How Mexico’s Independent Women Fashion Designers Are Rethinking Growth

At Soho House Mexico City, Mexican fashion designers Carla Fernández, Bárbara Sánchez-Kane and Camila Banzo joined BoF’s Yasmine Dahlberg to speak candidly about identity, innovation and what it takes to build an independent fashion business in Mexico — as part of both Women’s History Month and the House’s ongoing Women Shaping the Future initiative.


view more
Latest News & Analysis
Unrivalled, world class journalism across fashion, luxury and beauty industries.

The Industry That Eats Its Young

Small fashion labels have always been shortchanged by their wholesale partners. A wave of high-profile bankruptcies has turned a structural injustice into an existential crisis. There is a better way to do business, writes Imran Amed.


The Zara-Fication of John Galliano

Fashion’s enfant terrible is trading exclusivity for the mass market. Is it the ultimate fashion coup, or the final surrender of prestige?


The Impact of War on Fashion’s Supply Chain

Textile hubs are already feeling the cascading risks of the conflict in Iran as Washington ramps up forced labour probes to revive tariffs, while decarbonisation in fashion’s factories might finally have a standard to go off of.


VIEW MORE
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
CONNECT WITH US ON