Future Snoops: “AI can become one of the most powerful sustainability tools we have”

“The future isn’t predetermined. The impact of AI depends entirely on how we choose to use it. If we’re intentional, if we design responsibly and act with purpose, AI can become one of the most powerful drivers of sustainability in the decade ahead,” said Emma Grace Bailey, director of sustainability at Future Snoops (FS), during the trend agency’s latest Sustainability No Filter webinar on AI’s Climate impact.

While the environmental footprint of AI remains a valid concern, the session focused primarily on where AI is already delivering tangible sustainability gains. FS shares user cases showing how AI helps brands design better products, reduce waste, optimise supply chains and mitigate climate and weather-related risks.

FashionUnited highlights a couple of examples, relevant for the fashion industry:

From product decisions to sourcing resilience: how AI is already driving sustainability in/across fashion

1. Product design, including superior sourcing:

AI is increasingly being used to help brands identify lower-impact materials by “scanning global databases, testing combinations and predicting performance and impact”, Bailey explains - processes that would traditionally take years. This is particularly critical given that “86 percent of the fibre basket is made up of cotton and polyester,” she notes, leaving brands vulnerable to climate volatility and supply risk.

One fashion example is Fairly Made, whose AI-powered eco-design tool shows the real-time environment impact assessments of fabrics and trims. “As users adjust parameters, the product’s overarching climate change score will change in real time,” Bailey says, revealing how choices affect a product’s environmental footprint and its impact on people in the supply chain across its lifecycle.

2. Virtual sampling to cut waste

Sampling remains one of fashion’s most wasteful processes, “with 35 percent of materials wasted before products ever reach consumers” (source: Common Objective), Bailey shares next. AI-driven virtual sampling is proving to be a powerful intervention.

While physical samples are still required - “we still need to touch and feel what we’re creating” - AI-generated digital prototypes allow designs to be visualised, refined and approved before production begins, reducing the number of samples shipped back and forth globally.

Designer Theophilio, for instance, partnered with Raspberry AI on his SS26 collection. Using the platform’s sketch-to-render tool, he was able to “visualise multiple ideas instantly”, making design workflows “40 percent faster” and reducing physical prototypes by “60 percent”, stated Bailey.

3. Improving fit

“Up to 44 percent of all products returned by customers never go on to be used by anyone else (source: ReBounc),” Bailey says, with items often “burned or thrown in landfill”.

One of the biggest drivers of returns, she adds, is poor fit. AI-powered fit tools are increasingly addressing this at the point of purchase. Nike Fit, for example, uses augmented reality and AI to scan customers’ feet via smartphone, mapping each foot using a 13-point measuring system to generate hyper-accurate sizing recommendations. Bailey notes: “The more people use this app, the more accurate these AI predictions will be.”

“Similarly, Levi’s is expanding its AI-powered outfitting tools to allow customers to visualise head-to-toe looks,” she continued, helping shoppers feel more confident that what they buy will be right for them.

4. Scaling resale and recycling

According to Wrap, 80 percent of a product’s impact is determined at the design phase. In the words of Future Snoops: “AI is now helping brands to improve resale and recycling by identifying product conditions, authenticating items and sorting materials more accurately and efficiently. From detecting wear for pricing to automating textile or material separation, AI streamlines circular systems - keeping products in use longer and reducing the volume that ends up as waste.”

A notable example is Patagonia’s collaboration with Trove, which integrates pre-owned items directly into the brand’s main e-commerce platform. AI supports authentication, inventory management and logistics, allowing customers to shop new and resale products side by side while maintaining consistent quality and service standards.

5. Supply chain intelligence and climate risk mitigation

“Over 60 percent of global carbon emissions come from supply chains (source: WEG),” Bailey notes, yet brands often have very scarce visibility; into where those emissions occur. AI’s ability to gather and analyse data at a scale and speed humans cannot is beginning to change that.

Logistics providers such as DHL already use AI-powered route optimisation to analyse shipping volumes with up to 95 percent certainty, improving last-mile planning, reducing idling and increasing fuel efficiency.

Meanwhile, AI-driven demand forecasting tools at companies such as IKEA help predict demand more accurately, reducing overproduction and unnecessary transport.

According to BCG, climate-related supply chain disruptions already cost companies an average of 182 million US dollars annually. AI can strengthen climate risk management by continuously analysing weather patterns and disruption risks, allowing brands to anticipate extreme events and adjust sourcing or production before they escalate, said Bailey.

Fashion manufacturer Katty Fashion is developing a digital twin of its supply chain and factory processes to analyse supplier vulnerabilities in real time. By combining climate, news and weather data, the system can identify future risk zones and suggest adjustments to production lines and worker shifts when disruptions occur.

Finally, Bailey highlighted AI’s role in ESG reporting, a process that can consume up to 80 percent of sustainability teams’ time, according to Bain & Company. AI-powered tools such as ESG AI by Konica Minolta and Positive Luxury’s collaboration with Briink are streamlining data collection and ESG assessments, improving accuracy while reducing manual workloads.

“AI carries environmental costs,” Bailey concluded, “but it also gives us extraordinary new capabilities. If we design responsibly and act with purpose, it can become one of the most powerful drivers of sustainability in the decade ahead.”

Sources:
- FS Live Webinar: AI’s Climate Reality, 11 December 2025.
- AI tools were used for the transcription of the interview and to support the writing of this article.