For a decade, Swedish brand Asket has stood as a bold critic of the traditional fashion system. Founded on the principles of slow fashion, Asket based its entire business on a single permanent collection, manufactured in Europe from natural fibers. The brand was unafraid to challenge industry norms, famously pasting a mural in Stockholm reading, “F*** fast fashion,” and championing the ethos of minimal consumption under the tagline: “The pursuit of less.”
However, the brand is undergoing a notable shift. Amid turbulent market conditions, Asket is rebranding to spotlight timeless design and craftsmanship, rather than leading with sustainability. Its new slogan, “Permanent design, obsessively refined,” signals this pivot. While the brand’s environmental commitments remain intact, they no longer headline its messaging.
“Our previous communication was overly focused on the responsibility question,” said August Bard Bringéus, Asket’s co-founder. “To move the masses, we need to go back to the product. We’re not going to sway the industry by climbing on top of a mountain and screaming ‘f*** fast fashion.’”
Asket isn’t alone in this strategic redirection. A wave of pioneering sustainable fashion brands are pulling back on eco-conscious messaging. Their clothes now lead the conversation, not their environmental values.
This realignment comes at a time of financial strain. Over the last 18 months, many sustainability-focused brands have shut down or shrunk, victims of what insiders now call the “slow fashion recession.” The broader economic slowdown has been particularly hard on ethical brands that typically have higher costs due to commitments to sustainable materials and fair labor. Consumers, too, are grappling with what experts call “sustainability fatigue.”
“There’s just fatigue,” said Bard Bringéus. “People want to buy something beautiful and trust that the brand is doing the right thing behind the scenes. The product needs to act like a Trojan horse.”
In other words, values alone no longer sell — desirability is back at the forefront.
British stylist Anna Foster, who launched the upcycled brand E.L.V. Denim in 2018, echoed these sentiments. At the time, turning discarded jeans into fashion was a fresh idea. But now, nearly every label claims to be “sustainable.”
Foster, who now also works with materials like wool, silk, and surplus hotel linens, noted that most brands’ version of sustainability is limited to using “deadstock” — leftover fabric that would otherwise go to waste. While it sounds ethical, Foster pointed out that using deadstock is often just smart business, not a deep ethical stance.
“It’s exhausting trying to be a poster girl for true sustainability,” she said. “You’re competing with brands that only have a toe in it, while we’re in it with our whole body. I can’t compete with larger brands that co-opt our messaging with massive ad budgets.”
Consumers are tired too. After years of being bombarded with “green” claims — many of them insincere — they’re more skeptical than ever. For many shoppers, buying clothes is not meant to feel like writing a research paper.
“Sustainability is no longer seen as a competitive advantage,” said Dana Davis, a former executive at slow fashion label Mara Hoffman, which closed last year. “With all the greenwashing, how do you even tell what’s real anymore?”
The public retreat from sustainability marketing isn’t just economic — it’s political. In the U.S., rising backlash against “woke capitalism” has made brands more cautious. Companies are increasingly wary of drawing attention to values-based initiatives like sustainability or diversity, especially when facing scrutiny from regulators or critics.
“I’m seeing more brands that don’t want any spotlight from the U.S. government,” said Davis. “Everyone’s being a little more cautious.”
As a result, fashion brands are scaling back on sustainability messaging, not necessarily on their sustainability efforts.
Earlier this year, Foster hosted an installation during London Fashion Week, bringing her full local supply chain to the heart of the city — including rescued denim, washing machines, and a sewing station. Her goal was to showcase the hyper-local model she’s built over seven years. All her products are made within a five-mile radius of her East London studio to reduce emissions and support local artisans.
But now that the show is over, Foster is done talking about sustainability.
“Now when I say I’m a sustainable denim brand, people roll their eyes,” she said. “We want to let the product speak. The quality is just as strong as the values.”
This is becoming a common approach. Brands are learning that while sustainability may not drive an initial purchase, it still plays a role in brand loyalty and customer retention — provided the product is beautiful, functional, and desirable.
“We know unequivocally that even if people say they want sustainability, it’s not their primary reason for buying clothes,” said Carrie Ellen Phillips, co-founder of consulting firm BPCM. “No one will buy pants if they look terrible.”
Throughout the 2010s, brands like Everlane and Allbirds rode a wave of optimism about ethical consumerism. The narrative was that people would shop with their values. But reality has proven messier. Early brands in this space — including high-profile flops like Maiyet and Edun — struggled to connect with mainstream consumers.
Now, brands are recalibrating, pivoting toward what people actually care about when shopping: quality, design, and emotion. Sustainability is still present — just not at the front of the label.
“The industry is going through a reckoning,” said Davis. “Everyone’s rethinking the narrative. They’re not leading with sustainability, but it’s still baked into the story.”
Asket has completed its core menswear line, capping it at 50 products. The plan going forward is not to expand the line, but to continuously refine and elevate what already exists.
“We need to lean into product and poetry,” said Bard Bringéus. “It’s always better that someone buys an Asket piece instead of fast fashion from H&M.”
Asket hopes this refined strategy will reignite growth. In 2024, the brand pulled in 156 million Swedish kronor (about $16 million USD), marking modest single-digit growth after years of rapid expansion. Going forward, the company is targeting 15 to 25 percent annual growth over the next three to four years while maintaining profitability, which it has achieved in four of the past five years.
Still, growth won’t come at the cost of the brand’s ethics. Asket remains committed to expanding responsibly, without resorting to planned obsolescence or unsustainable practices.
“We’re not chasing explosive growth,” Bard Bringéus said. “We want to prove you can build a viable business without compromising your core values.”
Foster echoed that sentiment. She believes the current market trends won’t deter her long-term mission.
“In 10 years when others have moved on, we’ll still be here, doing what we do,” she said. “We’ll still be avoiding virgin fibers. I just hope more brands will join us by then.”
The sustainable fashion movement isn’t disappearing — it’s maturing. Brands that once shouted their values are now whispering them, trusting that customers who care will notice the difference. Instead of lecturing, they’re focusing on excellence, hoping beautiful, well-crafted products can carry the message more effectively than a billboard ever could.
As sustainability blends into the background, one thing remains clear: The values haven’t gone away. The voice has simply changed.
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